France–Yugoslavia relations
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Yugoslavia |
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France–Yugoslavia relations were the historical foreign relations between
During the
Interwar period
Following the earlier experience of the alliance between France and the
Following the French participation in the Four-Power Pact of 1933, pro-French states such as Yugoslavia became increasingly worried about their reliance on France, and began strengthening their own security arrangements. Consequently, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia signed the Balkan Pact on February 9, 1934.[1]
On 9 October 1934, Yugoslav king Alexander I and French foreign minister Louis Barthou were assassinated in Marseilles during the former's state visit to France.[1]
Yugoslav policy in the following period reoriented itself towards
World War II
During World War II, both countries came under Axis occupation. Parts of their territories were ruled by Axis powers directly, while other territories were given over to nominally-independent puppet regimes: Vichy France and the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). These regimes conducted limited diplomacy with one another: the NDH maintained a consulate in Vichy France.[3]
Both countries had prominent
Socialist Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia established itself in the aftermath of the war. Yugoslavia was one of only two postwar socialist states in Europe to retain diplomatic independence from the Soviet Union (the other being Albania). This was a period in which Belgrade intended to use its relations with France to maintain this independence.[2] In April 1946, a Franco-Yugoslav friendship society was created. Further policy disagreements with the Soviet Union led to the 1948 Tito–Stalin split, after which Yugoslav relations with all Eastern Bloc countries were either suspended or significantly strained. Meanwhile, Yugoslavia reoriented its policy towards neutral European countries, and cooperated closely with Non-Aligned countries elsewhere in the world. In the period from 1951 to 1954, France, together with the United States and the United Kingdom, participated in the Tripartite Aid programme for Yugoslavia.[2] However, in 1953 France's National Assembly ended its participation in the program, leading to a diminution of its influence in Yugoslavia.[2]
During the Algerian War, Yugoslavia provided significant logistical and diplomatic support to the Algerian side which badly affected its relations with France. France believed that the close link between Egypt and Yugoslavia would continue to strongly influence the latter's policy towards Algeria.[2] Yugoslavia officially recognized the independence of Algeria on 5 September 1961, making it the first country in Europe to do so.[5] Relations started to improve once again after 1966, and in 1969 Tito even invited France to attend the Non-Aligned Conference.[2] Despite disagreements over Algeria, France recognized the mediator role which non-aligned Yugoslavia (a country with no colonial past) could play between France and the newly independent Francophone African countries.[6] In June 1970, the two nations established a Franco-Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce in Paris.[2]
Breakup of Yugoslavia
During the early 90s crisis, France initially favoured the preservation of a unified Yugoslav state, in contrast to Germany, which promptly recognized the new states of Slovenia and Croatia. Contemporary commentators interpreted President François Mitterrand's approach as being based upon a fear of a resurgent reunified Germany, and the memory of the historical friendship with Serbia.[2] French diplomacy nevertheless stressed the primacy of a unified common European approach in order not to threaten the Maastricht Treaty nor the national referendum on its passing in September 1992, and was therefore willing to follow the German insistence on Croatian and Slovenian independence.[2]
As Yugoslavia continued to violently disintegrate, France committed peacekeeping forces under
See also
- Foreign relations of France
- Foreign relations of Yugoslavia
- Yugoslavia–European Communities relations
- Croatia–France relations
- France–Serbia relations
- France–Kosovo relations
References
- ^ a b c d e f Tihamer Komjathy, Anthony (1972). Three Small Pivotal States in the Crucible: The Foreign Relations of Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia with France (Dissertations). Loyola University Chicago. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jones, Christopher David (2015). France and the Dissolution of Yugoslavia (PDF) (Doctoral thesis). University of East Anglia. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Vojinović, Aleksandar. NDH u Beogradu, P.I.P, Zagreb 1995. (pgs. 18–20)
- ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.
- . Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Mihić, Ivan (2018). Diplomatski odnosi Francuske i Jugoslavije 1954. - 1962. i Alžirski rat za neovisnost (PDF) (thesis). University of Zagreb. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "France in the Balkans | Chemins de mémoire".