Foreign alliances of France
The foreign alliances of France have a long and complex history spanning more than a millennium. Another has been the alliance with local populations, against European colonial powers, over the centuries, France has constantly been looking for Eastern allies, as a counterbalance to Continental enemies. In particular, the desire to counter German power has been a motivating force leading France to create Eastern alliances. Even soon after the Second World War, good relations between France and the Soviet Union were again seen by Charles de Gaulle as an Alliance de revers to counter Germany, France has a strong tradition of alliance with autochthonous populations in order to resist a powerful opponent. In the American continent, France was the first to identify that cooperation with local tribes would be strategically significant, an important Franco-Indian alliance centered on the Great Lakes and the Illinois country took place during the French and Indian War. The alliance involved French settlers on the one side, and the Abenaki, Menominee, Mississauga, Sioux, Huron-Petun, the French easily mixed and inter-married with the Indians, which greatly facilitated exchanges and the development of such alliances.
In India, the French General Dupleix was allied to Murzapha Jung in the Deccan, the French again had a success at the capture of Fort St. David in 1758 under Lally, but were finally defeated at Masulipatam and Wandewash. In 1782, Louis XVI sealed an alliance with the Peshwa Madhu Rao Narayan, as a consequence Bussy moved his troops to Isle de France and contributed to the French effort in India in 1783. Suffren became the ally of Hyder Ali in the Second Anglo-Mysore War against British rules in India, in 1782–1783, fighting the British fleet on the coasts of India and Ceylon. Between February 1782 until June 1783, Suffren fought the English admiral Sir Edward Hughes, an army of 3,000 French soldiers collaborated with Hyder Ali to capture Cuddalore. Finally the Battle of Trincomalee took place near that port on September 3, some French alliances were purely tactical and short term, especially during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. After having failed a first time, Napoleon entered into a Franco-Ottoman alliance, in exchange, Persia was to fight Great Britain, and to allow France to cross the Persian territory to reach India
Departments of France
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates.
For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government.
The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
Elections in France
Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens or appointed by elected officials. Referendums may be called to consult the French citizenry directly on a particular question, France elects on its national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature The president is elected for a five-year term, directly by the citizens. The National Assembly has 577 members, elected for a term in single seat-constituencies directly by the citizens. The Senate has 348 members, elected for six-year terms, see Government of France for more details about these political structures. In addition, French citizens elect a variety of local governments, France does not have a full-fledged two-party system, that is, a system where, though many political parties may exist, only two parties are relevant to the dynamics of power. See politics of France for more details, Elections are conducted according to rules set in the Constitution of France, organisational laws, and the electoral code.
The campaigns end at midnight the Friday before the election, then, on election Sunday, by law, no polls can be published, no electoral publication and broadcasts can be made. The voting stations open at 8 am and close at 6 pm in small towns or at 8 pm in cities and it has been alleged that this discourages voting in these places. For this reason, since the 2000s, elections in French possessions in the Americas, as well as embassies and consulates there, are held on Saturdays as a special exemption. With the exception of senatorial election, for there is an electoral college. For municipal and European elections, citizens aged 18 or older of other European Union countries may decide to vote in France, registration is not compulsory, but the absence of registration precludes the possibility of voting. Currently, all reaching the age of 18 are automatically registered. Citizens may register either in their place of residence or in a place where they have been on the roll of taxpayers for local taxes for at least 5 years, a citizen may not be legally registered in more than one place.
Citizens living abroad may register at the responsible for the region in which they live. Only citizens legally registered as voters can run for public office, there are exceptions to the above rules. Convicted criminals may be deprived of their rights, which include the right to vote. In particular, elected officials who have abused public funds may be deprived of the right to run for public office for as long as 10 years. The application of rules in the case of certain politicians has been controversial
Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is the ministry in the government of France that handles Frances foreign relations. Its headquarters are located on the Quai dOrsay in Paris, close to the National Assembly of France and its cabinet minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development is responsible for the foreign relations of France. The current minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, was appointed in February 2016, in 1547, secretaries to the King became specialized, writing correspondence to foreign governments, and negotiating peace treaties. The four French secretaries of state where foreign relations were divided by region, in 1589, the Ancien Régime position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs became Foreign Minister around 1723, and was renamed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1791 after the French Revolution. All ministerial positions were abolished in 1794 by the National Convention, for a brief period in the 1980s, the office was retitled Minister for External Relations
Politics of France
The politics of France take place with the framework of a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an indivisible, democratic, the constitution provides for a separation of powers and proclaims Frances attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789. The political system of France consists of a branch, a legislative branch. Executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and the Government, the Government consists of the Prime Minister and ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, and is responsible to Parliament, Parliament comprises the National Assembly and the Senate. It passes statutes and votes on the budget, it controls the action of the executive through formal questioning on the floor of the houses of Parliament, former presidents of the Republic are members of the Council. The independent judiciary is based upon civil law system which evolved from the Napoleonic codes, the French government includes various bodies that check abuses of power and independent agencies.
However, its administrative subdivisions—regions and communes—have various legal functions, France was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Union. As such, France has transferred part of its sovereignty to European institutions, the French government therefore has to abide by European treaties and regulations. A popular referendum approved the constitution of the French Fifth Republic in 1958, greatly strengthening the authority of the presidency, France has a semi-presidential system of government. As a consequence, the President is the pre-eminent figure in French politics and he appoints the Prime Minister, though he may not de jure dismiss him, if the Prime Minister is from the same political side, he can, in practice, have him resign on demand. He appoints the ministers, ministers-delegate and secretaries, when parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum control parliament and the presidency, the power-sharing arrangement is known as cohabitation.
Before 2002, Cohabitation was more common, because the term of the President was seven years, now that the term of the President has been shortened to five years, and that the elections are separated by only a few months, this is less likely to happen. Nicolas Sarkozy became President on 16 May 2007, succeeding Jacques Chirac, francois Hollande became President in 2012, succeeding Nicolas Sarkozy. The government is led by the Prime Minister, and is made up of junior and senior ministers and it has at its disposal the civil service, government agencies, and the armed forces. The government is responsible to Parliament, and the National Assembly may pass a motion of censure and this, in practice, forces the government to be from the same political party or coalition as the majority in the Assembly. Ministers have to answer questions from members of Parliament, both written and oral, this is known as the questions au gouvernement, in addition, ministers attend meetings of the houses of Parliament when laws pertaining to their areas of responsibility are being discussed.
Ministers, can propose legislation to Parliament, since the Assembly is usually politically allied to the ministers, such legislation is, in general, the Prime Minister can engage the responsibility of his government on a law, under article 49-3 of the Constitution
French Fifth Republic
Alsace-Lorraine would be restored at the end of World War I. Unlike other European countries France did not experience a population growth in the mid and late 19th century. From a population of around 39 million in 1880, France still had only a population of 40 million in 1945, the post-war years would bring a massive baby boom, and with immigration, France reached 50 million in 1968. This growth slowed down in 1974, since 1999, France has seen an unprecedented growth in population. In 2004, population growth was 0. 68%, almost reaching North American levels, France is now well ahead of all other European countries in population growth and in 2003, Frances natural population growth was responsible for almost all the natural growth in European population. Today, with a population of 62 and a million, or 65 million including overseas territories, is the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia. Immigration in the 20th century differed significantly from that of the previous century, the 1920s saw great influxes from Italy and Poland, in the 1930-50s immigrants came from Spain and Portugal.
Since the 1960s however, the greatest waves of immigrants have been from former French colonies, Morocco, Senegal, Cambodia, Vietnam. Much of this recent immigration was initially economical, but many of these immigrants have remained in France, gained citizenship, estimates vary, but of the 60 million people living in France today, close to 4 million claim foreign origin. Eastern-European and North-African Jewish immigration to France largely began in the mid to late 19th century, in 1872, there was an estimated 86,000 Jews living in France, and by 1945 this would increase to 300,000. Many Jews integrated into French society, although French nationalism led to anti-Semitism in many quarters, since the 1960s, France has experienced a great deal of Jewish immigration from the Mediterranean and North Africa, and the Jewish population in France is estimated at around 600,000 today. By far the largest of these is Paris, at 2.1 million inhabitants, followed by Lille, much of this urbanization takes place not in the traditional center of the cities, but in the suburbs that surround them.
With immigration from countries, these cités have been the center of racial. Compounding the loss of regionalism is the role of the French capital, the post-war years saw the state take control of a number of French industries. The modern political climate has however been for increasing regional power, many French intellectuals welcomed the war to avenge the humiliation of defeat and loss of territory to Germany following the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. A pacifist, was assassinated at the start of the war, Prime Minister Rene Viviani called for unity—for a Union sacrée --Which was a wartime truce between the right and left factions that had been fighting bitterly. However, war-weariness was a factor by 1917, even reaching the army. The soldiers were reluctant to attack, Mutiny was a factor as soldiers said it was best to wait for the arrival of millions of Americans, the economy was hurt by the German invasion of major industrial areas in the northeast
Senate (France)
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president. Indirectly elected by elected officials, it represents territorial collectivities of the Republic, the Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly, debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally receive less media coverage. Frances first experience with a house was under the Directory from 1795 to 1799. With the Restoration in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, at first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic returned to a system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second French Empire in 1852. In the Fourth Republic, the Senate was replaced by the Council of the Republic, with the new constitution of the Fifth Republic enforced on 4 October 1958, the older name of Senate was restored. In 2011, the Socialist Party won control of the French Senate for the first time since the foundation of the French Fifth Republic, in 2014, the centre-right Gaullists and its allies won back the control of the Senate.
Until September 2004, the Senate had 321 senators, each elected to a nine-year term and that month, the term was reduced to six years, while the number of senators progressively increased to 348 in 2011, in order to reflect the countrys population growth. Senators were elected in every three years, this was changed to one-half of their number every three years. Senators are elected indirectly by approximately 150,000 officials, including regional councilors, department councilors, city councilors in large towns, however, 90% of the electors are delegates appointed by councilors. This system introduces a bias in the composition of the Senate favoring rural areas, the Senate has been accused of being a refuge for politicians that have lost their seats in the National Assembly. The senators elect a President from among their members, the current incumbent is Gérard Larcher. This happened twice for Alain Poher—once at the resignation of Charles de Gaulle, under the Constitution, the Senate has nearly the same powers as the National Assembly.
Bills may be submitted by the administration or by either house of Parliament, because both houses may amend the bill, it may take several readings to reach an agreement between the National Assembly and the Senate. This does not happen frequently, usually the two eventually agree on the bill, or the administration decides to withdraw it. The power to pass a vote of censure, or vote of no confidence, is limited, as was the case in the Fourth Republics constitution, new cabinets do not have to receive a vote of confidence. Also, a vote of censure can occur only after 10 percent of the sign a petition, if rejected. If the petition gets the support, a vote of censure must gain an absolute majority of all members
Court of Cassation (France)
The Court is located in the Palais de Justice building in Paris. The Court is the court of appeal for civil and criminal matters. As a judicial court, it does not hear cases involving claims against administrators or public bodies and these generally fall within the purview of administrative courts, for which the Council of State acts as the supreme court of appeal. Nor does the Court adjudicate constitutional issues, constitutional review lies solely with the Constitutional Council, France does not have one senior adjudicatory body but four, and collectively, these four courts form the topmost tier of the court system. However, much about the Court continues the earlier Paris Parlement, the Court is the seat of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union. The Court is made up of justices, the Office of the Prosecutor, in addition, a separate bar of specially certified barristers exists for trying cases at the French Court. The Chief Justice bears the title of the premier président, or President of the Court, the Chief Justice is the highest-ranking judicial officer in the country and is responsible for administration of the Court and the discipline of justices.
The current Chief Justice is Bertrand Louvel, the Court includes 12 masters, the lowest rank of justice, who are primarily concerned with administration. There is, in addition to the six divisions, a separate organization known as the Divisional Court. The Divisional Court adjudicates where the matter of an appeal falls within the purview of multiple divisions. The Bench of the Divisional Court seats the Chief Justice and a number of judges from at least three other divisions relevant to a given case. Any participating division is represented by its Presiding Justice and two puisne judges, finally, a Full Court is called, presided over by the Chief Justice or, if he is absent, by the most senior presiding justice. It seat by all divisional presiding justices and senior justices assisted by a judge from each division. The Full Court is the highest level of the Court, the prosecution, or parquet général, is headed by the Chief Prosecutor. The Chief Prosecutor is assisted by two Chief Deputy Prosecutors and a staff of about 22 deputy prosecutors, and 2 assistant prosecutors, though not technically officers of the Court, play an integral role in the due dispensing of justice.
Except for a few types of actions, advocate counsel in the form of a barrister is mandatory for any case heard at the Court or Council of State, admission to the Supreme Court bar is particularly difficult, requiring special training and passing a notoriously stringent examination. Membership is restricted to 60 total positions and is considered a public office, the Courts main purpose is to review lower court rulings on the grounds of legal or procedural error. As the highest court of law in France, it has other duties, the Court has inherent appellate jurisdiction for appeals from courts of appeal or, for certain types of small claims cases not appealable to appellate courts, from courts of record
Administrative divisions of France
The administrative divisions of France are concerned with the institutional and territorial organization of French territory. There are many divisions, which may have political, electoral. The French republic is divided into 18 regions,13 in metropolitan France and 5 in overseas France, the regions are subdivided into 96 departments. The departments are subdivided into 322 arrondissements, the arrondissements are subdivided into 1,995 cantons. The cantons are subdivided into 36,529 communes, three urban communes are further divided into municipal arrondissements. There are 20 arrondissements of Paris,16 arrondissements of Marseille, the city of Marseilles is divided into 8 municipal sectors. Each sector is composed with two arrondissements. 4% of the population of metropolitan France living in them, each overseas region is coextensive with an overseas department, again with the same status as departments in metropolitan France. The first four departments were created in 1946 and preceded the four overseas regions.
For elections it is divided into 6 electoral districts which differ slightly from the 5 administrative subdivisions, the 5 administrative subdivisions are divided into 48 communes. There exist some associated communes as in metropolitan France, Saint-Barthélemy is a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Barthélemy is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, Saint-Martin is a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Martin is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, saint-Pierre and Miquelon is divided into 2 communes with no arrondissements or cantons.
These 3 districts are, Uvea and Alo, Uvea is the most populous and is further divided into 3 wards, Hahake and Hihifo. Wallis and Futuna is one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no communes and it has no arrondissements or cantons. 1 overseas territory, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, which have no permanent population, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands are divided into 5 districts,1. Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 4, the Scattered Islands, a collection of six non permanently inhabited islands in the Indian Ocean, Banc du Geyser, Bassas da India, Juan de Nova and Tromelin
_Page_1_-_Archives_Nationales_-_AE-I-29_bis_n%C2%B0_19.jpg)
France portal 
