Why has French historically been the international language of diplomacy?

Answer 1

French is a highly prized language among English speakers because it was the language of the conquerors and Norman French was the language of parliament and of the law. It was used as a lingua franca in a way that people scarcely realize nowadays fifty years ago when travelling in Europe: it would be used in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Russia as a second language. It is still widely spoken. Throughout the world today, there are a little over 180 million French speakers (whose native or second language is French) and 82.5 million people learn French as a foreign language learn French as a foreign language in their national educational systems, and 650,000 of them, through networks of French cultural and educational overseas bodies.

The popular view of French was always that it was relatively free of ambiguity. I'm not entirely convinced of this myself, but that was the accepted view and French was used for negotiation, treaty, public relations generally. Whereas originally documents exchanged between countries in the past were written in the single vehicular language then in use in Europe: Latin, by the 18th century French had become the generally accepted diplomatic language, so much so that even diplomatic notes addressed to the British Foreign Office by the Legation of the USA were written in that language.

French was even the diplomatic language of the home: it is a well known fact that parents in the past wanting to discuss things out of earshot of their children would say "Pas devant les enfants!".

Answer 2

French historically as been the language of diplomacy because of the descriptive yet evasive nature of the language. You can more easily say innuendos, etc. in French than English. Also, France was once a very powerful nation and almost all the European nations' aristocrats knew the language. Since it was so common, it was the language used to communicate with others from different countries.

Answer 3

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Why has French historically been the international language of diplomacy?

Answer 4

One good reason is because for 400 years, after the Norman Conquest, French was the language of the court of England, and so began a more widespread use of French in multinational diplomacy.

Answer 5

In the 1700's French was "la belle langue", the language that everyone wanted to speak - it was prestigious, and signified wealth, dignity and prestige - only the upper classes could afford to take french lessons, the lower classes had minimum educations, just enough so they could work. Around the world, french affluence and culture was imitated - everyone wanted to have the same glory as the French Royal Court. Therefore, it became the language which cultured people (generally the elite) would use internationally.

Answer 6

Because the French are such wimps, they fight nobody. Actually, they pretend they're tough, start a fight and retreat in five minutes. Therefore, they try to talk their way out of everything. They now are known for talking a lot.

Answer 7

it is a very old language and 34 countries use it as a mother tongue or a 2nd official language.