French Community

The French Community was a political association created by France’s 1958 constitution to link France with its overseas territories and former colonies that chose to join.

1958 French Constitution: The constitution adopted by France in 1958, establishing the Fifth Republic and defining the French Community. It created the Community and set the framework for its institutions and member territories.
Charles de Gaulle: French military leader and statesman who founded the Fifth Republic and served as its first president. He proposed the Community as part of France’s 1958 constitutional settlement.
French West Africa: A federation of French colonial territories in West Africa that existed from 1895 to 1958. Several territories within this federation entered the Community before becoming independent states.
French overseas departments and territories: Constitutional categories for territories linked to France, with differing degrees of integration and local autonomy. They remained within the French state, unlike Community members that became separate states.
French Community Executive Council: A body established under the French Community to coordinate policy among France and its member states. It was the Community’s principal forum for coordinating common responsibilities.
French constitutional referendum, 1958: A referendum held on 28 September 1958 in which French voters and overseas territories approved or rejected a new constitution. Territories’ votes determined whether they entered the newly proposed Community.
French Equatorial Africa: A federation of French colonial territories in Central Africa that existed from 1910 to 1958. Its constituent territories joined the Community and then became independent in 1960.
Commonwealth of Nations: A voluntary association of sovereign states, most of which were formerly part of the British Empire. It offers a comparison with a post-imperial association that did not preserve France’s constitutional authority.
French Community Senate: A consultative body created to represent member states within the French Community. It offered member states a shared institution distinct from the executive council.
Guinea: A West African country that became independent from France in 1958 after rejecting the new constitution. Its rejection made it the sole territory to refuse membership at the Community’s creation.

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