Transcript l`Algérie Française

Through revolution, revolt and still standing…
Fun Facts you may or may not want to know…
56% of its population lay claim for a foreign background,
making France one of the most diverse countries in Europe.
Seventeen times smaller than Brazil; half the size of Ontario;
French health care is number one in the world according to
the World Health Organization
The French Republic is a unitary semi-presidential republic
with strong democratic traditions.
Parliament is bicameral: National Assembly (Assemblée
Nationale) and a Senate.
President is Jacques Chirac.
A History in Three parts
Until the French revolution in 1789, the French were ruled by
monarchs, mainly from a long line of Louis and Charles’. The trend
was broken by the execution of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette.
They were replaced with, in the long run, Napoleon Bonaparte, who
named himself First Consul before becoming Emperor. A step that if
Julius Caesar had been around long enough to establish, would have.
Bonaparte conquered most of the continental Europe before being
exiled, returning and again exiled but to St. Helen were he died.
A History In Three Parts: Two
Napoleon’s defeat at the famous Battle at Waterloo marked a period
of re-established monarchy under constitutional restraints. An
uprising established the July Monarchy which lasted until 1848.
This monarchy was ruled by Louis-Philippe, sympathetic to the
haute bourgeois. A Second Republic was established and lasted
only until 1852 when Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon’s
nephew, proclaimed the Second Empire. He would be the last
person to rule France as such. With the loss of the Franco-Prussian
War in 1870, the Third Republic was born.
A History in Three parts: Three
In the 19th and 20th centuries, France’s colonial empire was the second
largest in the world. Though a “victor” in World War I, France lost
immeasurable numbers of human lives and material means. In the 1930’s the
Popular Front was introducing social reforms. During World War II, France
surrendered its leadership to Germany after numerous losses. France was
liberated with the joint effort of the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada, the Free French Forces and the French resistance in 1944. The
Fourth Republic was established after WWII but struggled to maintains its
colonial holdings, resulting in the First Indochina War, which is lost and the
conflict with Algeria, who implications of the conflict were most recently felt
in the revolts a year ago. The Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth and with
the help of Charles de Gaulle managed to keep it together.
The Recent Past
In recent decades, France has recon ciliated and cooperated with
Germany.
It has proved to be an important part of the integration of the
European Union and the introduction of the Euro, believing that a
unified monetary system will unite the countries together.
Unfortunately, France voted against ratifying the European
Constitutional Treaty in May 2005 that would have replaced
existing treaties that comprise the Union's current constitution, to
codify uniform human rights throughout the EU and to streamline
decision-making in what is now a 27-member organization.
Algeria and War of Independence
The Algerian war was one of the most important decolonization
wars fought. The conflict shook and later became the downfall for the
French Fourth Republic. The French forces began a campaign of
pacification in an area still considered to be part of the French Empire, it
turned into a full-scale war. Algerians, who at first were mostly in favor
of peace and tranquility, turned increasingly toward the goal of
independence, while French divided themselves on the issues of "French
Algeria" (l'Algérie Française), of the conservation of the status quo, the
acceptance of negotiations and of an intermediate status between
independence and complete integration in the French Republic, and
independence. Charles de Gaulle’s return ending the Fourth Republic
and marked the Fifth. Algeria won its independence.
The Algeria-French conflict was only one of a few contributing
factors in the uprisings and “terrorist” attacks within and outside the
Paris city limits last year.
International Organizations
France was a founding member of the
European Union.
It is also a member of the United
Nations, NATO, WTO, Secretariat of the
Pacific Community (SPC), and the
Indian Ocean Commission (COI).
International Organizations
France is an associate member of the Association of Caribbean States
(ACS).
A leading member of the International Francophone Organization.(OIF) of
fifty-one fully or partly French-speaking countries.
It hosts the headquarters of the OECD, UNESCO, Interpol, and the
International Bureau for Weights and Measures.
It also has its own coat of arms, commissioned by the UN.
France and UN
General Assembly, Security Council (Veto power due at the birth of
the United Nations), The Economic and Social Council has 54
members, elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly, so
France‘s member expires in 2008. Trusteeship council,
International Court of Justice
After the assessment scale reform was adopted in December 2000,
France is the fifth-leading contributor to the organization’s various
budgets. France’s contribution to the UN’s regular budget stood at
108.4 million dollars in 2005: its quota is 6.03%; France was part of
the small group of countries completely up to date with their
contributions.
France and UN Peacekeeping
As of 30 April 2005, France was the 22nd-biggest supplier of troops for United Nations
operations, with 566 personnel made available, and provides more than 7% of the
assessed contributions for peacekeeping operations; As such, France intervened in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003
France played the role of Framework Nation of the emergency operation, Artemis,
deployed by the European Union in Bunia, supporting MONUC, from 1 June through 1
September 2003 and in spring 2004 in Haiti (participation in the Multinational Interim
Force, providing 1,000 men).
In addition, in Côte d’Ivoire, France’s Licorne force (more than 4,000 men) is helping to
establish a secure environment together with ONUCI (United Nations Operation in Côte
d’Ivoire).
France is also taking part in the stabilization forces deployed by NATO in Asia and the
Balkans - ISAF (International Security Assistance Force, with 600 men) in Afghanistan,
SFOR became EUFOR, the European Union Force in Bosnia, Operation Althea (400
men), KFOR in Kosovo (2,400 men) - as well as the EU Police Mission in Bosnia
(EUPM, with 70 police officers and gendarmes) and the EU police force in Macedonia
(Proxima, 26 people).
France and the Middle East
Its relations with the Middle East hit a low after the Algeria War of
Independence and further still in the 50’s when France allied itself
with Israel. De Gaulle's foreign policy was centered around an
attempt to limit the power and influence of both superpowers, and at
the same time increase France's international prestige. De Gaulle
hoped to move France from being a follower of the United States to
becoming the leading nation of a large group of non-aligned countries
and it continues to do so today. This might be the reason (along with
several other middle East conflicts and political upheavals) why
France is so cautious about entering into the fray of the War on Terror.
It was no secret of France’s disapproval of the US in that action.
Differences are discussed frankly. The largest current fallout between
the United States and France involves the Iraq War, and some aspects
of the post- 9/11 War on Terror, CIA “extraordinary renditions”. For
the most part, the two countries are cordial.