France and the United States

Alliance and Interruption

France joined the American struggle for independence through two treaties signed in Paris on 6 February 1778. Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee negotiated an alliance that committed the partners to support one another if Britain and France went to war, and required mutual consent before a separate peace. The bargain gave the Americans military support while making their independence an explicit French war aim. Recognition thus preceded the exchange of accredited representatives, which began when Congress received Conrad-Alexandre Gérard in August. [1] [2]

The relationship twice fractured over war. Congress repudiated the 1778 treaties in July 1798; the settlement signed in September 1800 required further negotiation and ratification in 1801. In 1940, the American embassy followed the French government to Vichy. Pierre Laval severed relations on 8 November 1942 after the Allied landings in North Africa. Washington subsequently distinguished limited recognition of the French Committee of National Liberation from recognition of a French government. It recognized the Provisional Government in October 1944, before the Paris embassy reopened in December. [2]

Territory, Commerce, and the World Wars

Between the early rupture and the twentieth century wars, diplomacy changed the map of North America. In 1803, James Monroe joined Robert Livingston in Paris to seek New Orleans and access to the Mississippi. Napoleon’s retreat from plans for a Caribbean empire led France to offer the whole Louisiana territory. The envoys accepted a purchase far larger than their instructions had anticipated. The settlement removed a prospective European rival from the Mississippi Valley while opening a much wider field for American expansion. [5]

In 1917 the United States entered the First World War alongside France and Britain. Wilson’s government coupled the military effort to proposals for a negotiated international order, including the League of Nations. This cooperation differed from the alliance of 1778: the United States entered as an associated power and sought to shape the peace on its own terms. The later struggle over which French government Washington would recognize in the Second World War again made political authority inseparable from wartime cooperation. [6] [2]

Negotiating the Terms of Defense

Charles de Gaulle's letter to Lyndon Johnson in March 1966 said France would remain bound by the North Atlantic Treaty while withdrawing from integrated military commands. De Gaulle argued that permanent allied forces and their use of French airspace impaired French sovereignty. He proposed negotiations over their departure and over cooperation in a future war. Johnson replied that the decision raised serious questions about the balance between the alliance's responsibilities and benefits. France announced full participation in NATO’s military structures again in April 2009, following a National Assembly vote. [3] [4]

Disagreement and Cooperation after the Cold War

France’s independent diplomatic positions continued after the Cold War. It opposed the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and pressed for action through multilateral institutions, even while cooperating with American forces in Afghanistan and on counterterrorism. Trade and investment gave both governments additional reasons to maintain working relations. [7]

Consultation itself became an issue during the 2021 submarine dispute involving Australia. In their statement of 22 September, Biden and Macron acknowledged the need for earlier discussion of matters affecting French strategic interests. Macron announced that the French ambassador would return to Washington, where intensive talks would follow. [8] [9]

The June 2024 presidential roadmap described a wider program: support for Ukraine, NATO defence, diplomacy over Gaza and Lebanon, and cooperation in clean energy, civilian nuclear technology, and space. Scientific and industrial exchanges accompanied those security commitments. [10]