Extreme Times and Constitutional Imagination: The Franco-British Union of 1940 and what might have been

This paper will explore the proposed Franco-British Union of 1940, which is a testament to the willingness of two independent countries with very different, proud, and strong constitutional traditions (in the face of the German invasion of France and the Low Countries) to merge into a single country. Leaving aside the gravity of the situation in terms of the military and diplomatic threat posed by Germany, the idea of a Union between the United Kingdom and France demonstrates how extraordinary times can lead to a willingness to engage with constitutional imagination and throwing of the shackles of history and Franco-British great power rivalry.

Introducing the declaration of the proposed Franco-British Union of 1940 to the House of Commons on 16 October 1940, the then Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Clement Atlee MP, informed MPs that ‘The two Governments declare that France and Great Britain shall no longer be two nations but one Franco-British Union.’ In place of the United Kingdom’s constitution (‘unwritten’ and derived from history and political practice), and the Constitution of the Third Republic, there would be a new Constitution for the new state, that ‘will provide for joint organs of defence, foreign, financial, and economic policies. Every citizen of France will enjoy immediately citizenship of Great Britain, every British subject will become a citizen of France.’ The Declaration is remarkable as it would see a single war cabinet and formal association between the French and British parliaments.

As Avi Shlaim wrote in 1974, ‘But for all its audacity and uniqueness it amounted to no more than a desperate, and in the event, forlorn, attempt to keep France in the fray. It will be remembered chiefly as a fascinating and somewhat bizarre prelude to the downfall of France.’ However, despite never taking effect, the proposed Union raises many important constitutional issues. How would the Union function, how close would the formal association between Parliaments be, how would executive government operate under a new constitutional model, and what would be the outcome in the event of an allied victory? These issues will be explored within this paper.