French Union

French Union 1946-58, political entity established by the French constitution of 1946. It comprised metropolitan France (the 90 departments of continental France and Corsica); French overseas departments, territories, settlements, and United Nations trusteeships; French colonies, which became overseas departments of France; and associate states (protectorates), which became autonomous. The union replaced the colonial system. In 1954, the associate states of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia withdrew from the union, and in 1956 Morocco and Tunisia, also associate states, became independent. The French Community replaced the French Union in 1958.

French Union A reorganization in 1946 of the French Empire to implement the Brazzaville Declaration. It proved unacceptable to both African and Indochinese nationalists, especially as it established little in the way of self-government. It broke up through the loss of Indochina in 1954 and the creation of the French Community in 1958.