# France becomes founding member of NATO (1949)

URL: https://history-france.com/timeline/1949-france-becomes-founding-member-of-nato
Location: Washington

France joined the Atlantic alliance during the early Cold War. Within the broader Occupation, Liberation & Fourth Republic period, Defeat in 1940 divided France between Vichy, occupation and resistance. Liberation restored republican government, followed by reconstruction, welfare-state building, European integration and violent decolonization under the Fourth Republic. At this point in the timeline, the relevant governing authority is Vincent Auriol (President of the French Republic). France becomes founding member of NATO mattered because it reshaped France’s external relationships, territory or place in wider international systems. The event is positioned here so visitors can read it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion, culture and France’s wider international setting.

## Why it matters
France becomes founding member of NATO mattered because it reshaped France’s external relationships, territory or place in wider international systems.

Ruler at the time: [Vincent Auriol](https://history-france.com/rulers/vincent-auriol)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — France becomes founding member of NATO](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=France+becomes+founding+member+of+NATO&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — France becomes founding member of NATO](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=France+becomes+founding+member+of+NATO)
- [Vie-publique — French institutions and history](https://www.vie-publique.fr/)