Central African Republic–France relations are foreign relations between the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

(CAR) and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Both nations are members of the Francophonie and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

History

French Colonialism

During the Partition of Africa in the 1880s,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the German Empire and France each competed against each other in order to control territory north of the

Ubangi River The Ubangi River (), also spelled Oubangui, is the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River in the region of Central Africa. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou (mean annual discharge 1,350 m3/s) and Uele Rivers (mean annual discharge ...

. In 1903, France named its new colony '

Ubangi-Shari Ubangi-Shari (french: Oubangui-Chari) was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the U ...

' and in 1910, France incorporated the territory along with four other colonies (

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

, Chad and

French Cameroon French Cameroon or French Cameroons (french: link=no, Cameroun) was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon. History Beginnings The area of present-day Cameroon came under German ...

) into one colonial federation known as the

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

.Encyclopedia Britannica: Central African Republic - The Colonial Era
/ref> Initially, the French government leased large parts of land for European companies and forced the local population to gather wild rubber, hunt for ivory and animal skins, and work on plantations. Due to forced exploitation by the French colonial empire, Central African locals began to rebel in the early 20th century. This led to the

Kongo-Wara rebellion The Kongo-Wara rebellion, also known as the War of the Hoe Handle and the Baya War, was a rural, anticolonial rebellion in the former colonies of French Equatorial Africa and French Cameroon which began as a result of recruitment of the native popu ...

(1928-1931). The rebellion was soon suppressed by the French government. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Central African soldiers formed part of the grand French colonial army (

Troupes coloniales The ''Troupes coloniales'' ("Colonial Troops") or ''Armée coloniale'' ("Colonial Army"), commonly called ''La Coloniale'', were the military forces of the French colonial empire from 1900 until 1961. From 1822 to 1900 these troops were de ...

) and fought for

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

and partook in the Liberation of Paris. In October 1940, General Charles de Gaulle arrived to Bangui to visit Governor Pierre Marie de Saint-Mart and review the troops.

Independence

Soon after the second World War, France adopted a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

in 1946 and granted full French citizenship to residents of the Ubangi-Shari and allowed for the establishment of local assemblies within the new

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subj ...

. In December 1958, former Catholic Priest

Barthélemy Boganda Barthélemy Boganda (c. 1910 – 29 March 1959) was a Central African politician and independence activist. Boganda was active prior to his country's independence, during the period when the area, part of French Equatorial Africa, was administe ...

became head of government of the Ubangi-Shari Territory. In March 1959, Boganda's was killed when his airplane exploded and he was replaced by his cousin,

David Dacko David Dacko (; 1927 – 21 November 2003) was a Central African politician who served as the first president of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 1 January 1966, and 3rd President from 21 September 1979 to 1 September 1981. Af ...

. On 13 August 1960, Ubangi-Shari obtained its independence from France and changed its name to the Central African Republic (CAR) and David Dacko became the country's first President.

Post Independence

20th century

In December 1965, a coup d'état was launched against President Dacko known as the

Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état The Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état was a coup d'état staged by Jean-Bédel Bokassa, commander-in-chief of the Central African Republic (CAR) army, and his officers against the government of President David Dacko on 31 December 1965 and 1 Jan ...

(with the assistance of France) and Army Commander

Jean-Bédel Bokassa Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996), also known as Bokassa I, was a Central African political and military leader who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and as the emperor of its s ...

declared himself President of CAR. In 1975, French President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

attended the France-Africa Summit held in Bangui. President Giscard was known to visit the country several times and partook in hunting expeditions with Bokassa.Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Self-Crowned Emperor Of the Central African Republic, Dies at 75
/ref> In December 1976, President Bokassa declared himself Emperor of the Central African Republic and his coronation amounted to approx. $20 million USD, which was equivalent to the GDP of the nation for an entire year. The French government paid for the Emperors coronation. D Due to widespread repression, human rights abuse and allegations of cannibalism in CAR by Emperor Bokassa, France removed Bokassa from power known as ''Operation Barracuda'' when the Emperor was on an official trip in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. David Dacko was re-instated as President of CAR and Bokassa was later offered asylum in France. In October 1979, French Newspaper,

Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...

ran a piece stating that President Giscard had accepted two diamonds while Minister of Finance in 1973 by Bokassa. The scandal became known as the Diamonds Affair (''Affaire des diamants''). For the next 19 years, France would intervene in Central African politics by supporting and removing Central African Presidents. In 1997, Central African President

Ange-Félix Patassé Ange-Félix Patassé (January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011) was a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé in the 2003 coup d'ét ...

negotiated the Bangui Agreements to bring an end to the 1990s conflict between government and rebel forces. As a result of the agreements, France closed its military base in

Bouar Bouar is a market town in the western Central African Republic, lying on the main road from Bangui (437 km) to the frontier with Cameroon (210 km). The city is the capital of Nana-Mambéré prefecture, has a population of 40,353, while ...

in 1998.

21st century

In March 2009, French troops were deployed to Bangui after reports that rebels were taking over the capital to remove President François Bozizé from power. In 2012, civil war erupted in the Central African Republic when mostly Muslim rebels known as

Séléka Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR was an alliance of rebel militia groups that subjugated the Central African Republic (CAR) on 24 March 2013. After its official dissolution in September 2013, the remaining rebel groups became known as Ex-Séléka. Sél� ...

removed President Bozizé from power in 2013, and installed

Michel Djotodia Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia (born c. 1949) is a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 2013 to 2014. He was the first Muslim to hold that office in the predominantly Christian country. Djotodia was a l ...

as President. After the removal of Bozizé, a mainly Christian rebel group known as

Anti-balaka The Anti-balaka is an alliance of militia groups based in the Central African Republic in the early 21st century said to be composed primarily of Christians. However, some church leaders have contested the claimed exclusively Christian character ...

rebelled against the government and Muslim nationals in the country. Séléka and government forces fought against Anti-balaka and targeted Christian nationals in the country. As a result of the religious and ethnic conflict in CAR, France returned to CAR to stop the bloodshed by deploying 1,000 troops and armored vehicles into the country to maintain peace known as

Operation Sangaris Operation Sangaris was a military intervention of the French military in the Central African Republic, from late 2013 till 2016. It was the seventh French military intervention there since the independence of the country in 1960. On 30 October 20 ...

. French President François Hollande visited French troops in CAR in December 2013. The troops remained in CAR until 2016. President Hollande returned to CAR in May 2016 to oversee the removal of French troops from the country which concluded in October 2016 and met with newly-elected President

Faustin-Archange Touadéra Faustin-Archange Touadéra (; born 21 April 1957) is a Central African politician and academic who has been President of the Central African Republic since March 2016. He previously was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from Janua ...

Aid

In 2014, France contributed €170 million Euros in aid to CAR. This aid money paid for civilian assistance in addition to military expenditure, humanitarian assistance, support of the electoral process, support for the end of the crisis and democratic governance in the country. At the donors' conference in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

on 17 November 2016, France announced €85 million in aid over three years, including €15 million for the "Bêkou" fund.

Trade

In 2016, trade between the Central African Republic and France totalled $50 million USD. French multi-national companies such as

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

and

Orange S.A. Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...

operate in CAR.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Central African Republic has an embassy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

* France has an embassy in

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

.Embassy of France in Bangui (in French)
/ref>

References

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