France Without NATO

After World War II France was in dire need of assistance. This assistance materialized in the form of coalitions; military, and economic. By joining together with the North Atlantic nations, France gained military security capable of deterring the Communist threat from the east. Additionally, the three economic partnerships of the Six, the European Community for Coal and Steel, the European Atomic Energy Community, and the European Economic Community, sponsored the rejuvenation of a defeated and unstable France. Two decades of European peace and prosperity are causing the French to reevaluate the threat from the East and to question the continued need for alliances in which France is not the dominate power. The French attacks on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Common Market are the indicators of challenge. This is a challenge for leadership based on the Gaullist aspiration to regain world power status, plus a passionate desire to be the initial link between East and West in Europe. Broadcasting the challenge at every opportunity, and refusing to be distracted or compromised in his belief of French greatness, stands the man who is France, President Charles de Gaulle. France has gained strength and power through her coalition ventures. Without them, in the past, France would be in no position to voice a challenge for independence and European hegemony. Without them, in the future, France would become a second class economic power. Standing alone militarily, France is no match for the power potential of the United States or the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, France has diminished or at least stabilized during the past twenty years. Additionally, France does not feel that the United States will close its nuclear umbrella that has been the major deterrent against aggression in Europe. This document replaces ADE750571