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A device instituted by President de Gaulle in 1958 in the hope of staving off the full impact of the decolonization movement on France\'s overseas territories. However, within two years all the French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa had demanded and received sovereignty (sense 1), and the Communauté Française was adjusted to resemble the Commonwealth. A number of the former French possessions in Africa have seceded from it, but most of them, whether Community members or not, continue to have close financial, economic, and technical ties with France, and sometimes military ones, too. See also francophonie. |
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