is france a membr of nato?

Answer 1

No. They operate their own defence policy in europe and maintain their own independant nuclear deterrant.

This dates back to the rush of nationalism after WW2, when they felt humiliated by the fact that they had been defeated and relied on the allies for everything from tanks to uniforms.

They are also very suspicious of the americans and their culture.

Answer 2

Yes France is one of the 12 founder members of NATO on April 4th 1949 (the others being the UK, US, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal)

However France withdrew from the military command of NATO in 1966 and only retained membership of NATO's political structure. France rejoined NATO's military command in 1993 to once again become a full member of NATO.

Just in case you interested the other NATO states and joining dates are;

18th February 1952
Greece (Left NATO in 1974 - rejoined in 1980)
Turkey

9th May 1955
Germany

30th May 1982
Spain

12th March 1999
Czech Republic
Hungary
Poland

29th March 2004
Bulgaria
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia


Iceland is the only country in NATO without an Armed forces.

Answer 3

France, under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle, left NATO in c1966.

France: A Greater NATO Role Beckons - New York TimesFrance has raised the possibility of rejoining NATO’s military command after a 40-year absence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/world/europe/13briefs-nato.html?ex=1347336000&en=b2238fc3769eaf6b&ei=5


My anti-Frog comments : -

Yes but only if there's no hint of a war. The shrinking violets who run France, the nation of collaborators, don't mind enjoying membership of NATO so long as they don't have to do war thing!

Answer 4

Yes, France is a member of NATO, since 17 March 1948.
NATO was formed because of the Soviet attack threat in the whole western Europe. However, French military is not part of the Integrated military command of NATO and no non French troops are based inside France.

Answer 5

You mean NATO... Not Able To Organize? Yes, since April of 1949... BUT... According to Wikipedia... France withdrew from the integrated military command in 1966. From then until 1993 it had remained solely a member of NATO's political structure.

Also from Wikipedia... France is a charter member of NATO, and has worked actively with its allies to adapt NATO — internally and externally — to the post-Cold War environment. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATO's military wing, including the Military Committee (France withdrew from NATO's military bodies in 1966 whilst remaining full participants in the Organisation's political Councils).

Answer 6

Yes they are. For a while they left but still kept diplomatic/political ties with NATO. Today they are still a full fleged member. I work with several of them now. If I'm wrong, then these guys must be lost. They are deployed to Afganistan just like the rest of NATO under NATO command.

Ohh, and Max, we have a new one.... No Action, Talk Only.

Answer 7

In a word: Yes
Check NATO on internet for full list of countries.

Answer 8

They are conditional members. I would not expect them to follow a group vote. Look at WW II. They were in collusion with the Nazi's !!!

Answer 9

Yes. France is in fact one of the 12 founder members of NATO (which in French is called OTAN - Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord) and one of the five members of the Treaty of Brussels, which was the precursor of NATO.

The Treaty of Brussels was signed in the Belgian capital on March 17th, 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom. A year later, on April 4th, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washinton D.C. by the five members of the Treaty of Brussels and seven more countries: the USA, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. (As Iceland does not have any armed forces, her membership has always been only political.)
On February 18th, 1952 Greece and Turkey joined, and on May 9th, 1955 - to the day exactly ten years after WW-II ended in Europe - the newly armed West-Germany became the 15th member of NATO.

Right from the beginning NATO had (and still has) only two official languages: English and French. And the HQ of NATO's European Command was established in Paris.

The unity of NATO was breached early on in its history, with a crisis occurring during Charles de Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958 onward. De Gaulle protested the United States' hegemonic role in the organisation and what he perceived as a special relationship between USA and UK.
In a memorandum sent to President Eisenhower and Prime Minister Macmillan on September 17th, 1958, de Gaulle asked for the creation of a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the USA and the UK, and also for the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably Algeria, where France was fighting a counter-insurgency war and sought NATO assistance.

Considering the response given to be unsatisfactory, de Gaulle began to build an independent defence for his country. On March 11th, 1959, France withdrew its Mediterranean Fleet from NATO command; three months later, in June 1959, de Gaulle banned the stationing of foreign nuclear weapons on French soil. This caused the USA to transfer 200 military aircraft out of France and return control of the ten major air bases it had operated in France since 1950 to the French by 1967.
In the meantime, France had initiated an independent nuclear deterrence programme, spearheaded by the "Force de frappe" ("Striking force"). France tested its first nuclear weapon on February 13th, 1960.
France showed solidarity with the rest of NATO during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, but de Gaulle continued his pursuit of an independent defence by removing France's Atlantic and Channel Fleets from NATO command.
In 1966 all French armed forces were removed from NATO's integrated military command, and all non-French NATO troops were asked to leave France. This lead to the relocation of the Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE) from Paris to Casteau, north of Mons in Belgium, in October 1967.

France has never left NATO, and even during the time of her military absence between 1966 and 1995 she participated fully in all political decisions made by NATO. There has also been a regular French military liaison group attached to SHAPE.
France rejoined NATO's Military Committee in 1995 and intensified her working relations with the military structure. This goes especially with regards to Germany, and the Franco-German Brigade was the first of meanwhile several bi- and multi-national integrated units in NATO. This brigade became also a core element of NATO's Euro-Corps.
However, France has not yet rejoined the integrated military command structure, and no non-French NATO troops are allowed to be based on its territory permanently. This does of course not effect various troops from other nations that train with French units or participate in joined military exercises.

France still maintains an independent nuclear deterrence, whose main elements are sea-born ICBMs on four nuclear powered submarines (SSBN), together with bombers and a range of land-based missiles, including the "Pluton" tactical nuclear missile system.

Answer 10

yep, almost all the countries in Europe are in nato.