The Commonwealth's predecessor, the British Empire, was a notable rival to France's own empire. Even through eras of Entente cordiale, decolonisation, and political integration with the United Kingdom (the leading Commonwealth member) in the European Union, there has been conflict between French and Commonwealth interests, particularly in Africa. The Fashoda syndrome has shaped French attitudes to prevent Commonwealth influence in French-speaking countries, believing their interests to be mutually-exclusive.
La Francophonie, which was founded to promote the French language and French culture, as well as pooled scientific research, is often considered France's equivalent of the Commonwealth of Nations.[1] However, its structure and institutions, whilst superficially being similar to the Commonwealth, are more similar to the United Nations, in relying upon majority voting, rather than consensus, as the Commonwealth does.[2]
La Francophonie also adopts a very different philosophy to the Commonwealth, particularly due to its lacking institutional ties to NGOs its equivalent of the Commonwealth Foundation or Commonwealth Family.[2] Nonetheless, La Francophonie spends ten times as much money per inhabitant as the Commonwealth (€0.30 cf. €0.03), reflecting France's dedication to promoting Francophonie relations.[2]
Before La Francophonie, since the foundation and expansion of the Commonwealth, France has created a number of political and cultural unions that have attempted to simulate its model amongst France's former colonial possessions and French-speaking countries. The French Union was created in 1946 and was succeeded by the short-lived French Community in 1958, which folded when its members gained independence.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a biennial summit meeting of the governmental leaders from all Commonwealth nations. Despite the name, the head of state may be present in the meeting instead of the head of government, especially among semi-presidential states. Every two years the meeting is held in a different member state and is chaired by that nation's respective prime minister or president, who becomes the Commonwealth Chair-in-Office until the next meeting. Queen Elizabeth II, who was the Head of the Commonwealth, attended every CHOGM beginning with Ottawa in 1973 until Perth in 2011, although her formal participation only began in 1997. She was represented by the Prince of Wales at the 2013 meeting as the 87-year-old monarch was curtailing long-distance travel. The Queen attended the 2015 summit in Malta and the 2018 summit in London, but was represented again by the Prince of Wales at the 2022 meeting in Rwanda.
The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a lingua franca or customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones, or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.
The French Union was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the "French Empire". It was de jure the end of the "indigenous" status of French subjects in colonial areas.
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence movements in the colonies and the collapse of global colonial empires. Other scholars extend the meaning to include economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience.
The diplomatic relations between Canada and the French Republic are friendly, the importance of which centres on the history of French immigration to Canada. Canadians of French heritage make up the majority of native speakers of French in Canada, who in turn account for about 22 percent of the country's total population. The small French Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon is situated off the coast of Atlantic Canada.
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) is a charitable organization that was established in 1913, and has over 500 member institutions in over 50 countries across the Commonwealth. The ACU is the world's oldest international network of universities. Its mission is to promote and support excellence in higher education for the benefit of individuals and societies throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. It has a combined population of 3 billion, mainly under the age of 30, in Commonwealth countries.
The Indian Ocean Commission is an intergovernmental organisation that links African Indian Ocean nations: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, and Seychelles. There are also seven observers: China, the European Union, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Sovereign Order of Malta, India, Japan and the United Nations.
Canada–Caribbean relations are the long established relationships between Canada and the many states of the Caribbean or West Indies. These ties have been on-going throughout the history of both regions. Initially these relations were based on the policies of European colonial powers in the Americas. More recently, both Canada and most of the Caribbean islands have achieved self-government, putting their relations into a different phase. CARICOM diplomats have referred to Canada as a '"special friend" of the Caribbean at the regional and bilateral levels.' Ties exist in such plurality of organs such as: the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, Organization of American States, ParlAmericas, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization.
The criteria for membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, which apply to current and prospective member states, have been altered by a series of documents issued over the past eighty-two years.
The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states in the organisation with a republican form of government. As of June 2022, 36 out of the 56 member states were republics. While Charles III is the titular Head of the Commonwealth, the King is not the head of state of the republican members. The King is however, the reigning monarch in the Commonwealth realms. The Head of the Commonwealth role does not carry with it any power; instead, it is a symbol of the free association of Commonwealth members.
The Agence universitaire de la Francophonie is a global network of French-speaking higher-education and research institutions. Founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1961, as the Association des Universités Partiellement ou Entièrement de Langue Française (AUPELF), the AUF is a multilateral institution supporting co-operation and solidarity among French-speaking universities and institutions. It operates in French-speaking and non-speaking countries of Africa, the Arab world, Southeast Asia, North and South America, Polynesia, the Caribbean, Central, Eastern and Western Europe. As of 2020, the AUF has 1,007 members distributed throughout francophone countries on six continents. It is active in 119 countries, and represented by regional offices and information centers on campuses and in institutes. The Association receives funding from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), and its headquarters are located at the Université de Montréal, Quebec.
The London Declaration was a declaration issued by the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference on the issue of India's continued membership of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of independent states formerly part of the British Empire, after India's transition to a republican constitution.
The bilateral relations between Canada and the United Kingdom have yielded intimate and frequently-co-operative contact since Canada gained independence in 1931. Canada was previously self-governing since 1 July 1867, the date that became Canada's independence day.
The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.
The Commonwealth of Nations, often simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations among member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.
A Franco-British Union is a concept for a union between the two independent sovereign states of the United Kingdom and France. Such a union was proposed during certain crises of the 20th century; it has some historical precedents.
The External relations of the Bailiwick of Jersey are conducted by the External Relations department of the Government of Jersey. Jersey is not an independent state; it is a British Crown dependency, so internationally the United Kingdom is responsible for protecting the island and for consulting Jersey on international trade agreements but it is not a British territory.
Guy Alcide Mollet was a French politician. He led the socialist French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) from 1946 to 1969 and was the French Prime Minister from 1956 to 1957.
The Commonwealth of Dominica and the Republic of France maintain historical, political, economic, social and cultural relations. Sometimes referred to as "French Dominique", Dominica also shares close ties with its nearest neighbours, the overseas departments of the French Republic, Guadeloupe to the north and Martinique to the south. At present, Dominica is connected to the French islands by an inter-island express ferry. Under the auspice of the European Union both Dominica and France are tied economically via a 2008 concluded multilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) trade-deal representing many Caribbean nations under the name CARIFORUM. They are further members of: The Association of Caribbean States (ACS), the Caribbean Postal Union, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the United Nations.
DR Congo–France are the bilateral diplomatic relations between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and France. Both nations are members of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie and the United Nations.
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