Foreign alliances of France

Frankish–Abbasid alliance	777–800s
Franco-Mongol alliance	1220–1316
Franco-Scottish alliance	1295–1560
Franco-Polish alliance	1524–1526
Franco-Hungarian alliance	1528–1552
Franco-Ottoman alliance	1536–1798
Franco-English alliance	1657–1660
Franco-Indian alliance	1603–1763
Franco-British alliance	1716–1731
Franco-Spanish alliance	1733–1792
Franco-Prussian alliance	1741–1756
Franco-Austrian alliance	1756–1792
Franco-Indian Alliances	1700s
Franco-Vietnamese alliance	1777–1820
Franco-American alliance	1778–1794
Franco-Persian alliance	1807–1809
Franco-Prussian alliance	1812–1813
Franco-Austrian alliance	1812–1813
Franco-Russian alliance	1892–1917
Entente Cordiale	1904–present
Franco-Polish alliance	1921–1940
Franco-Italian alliance	1935
Franco-Soviet alliance	1936–1939
Treaty of Dunkirk	1947–1997
Western Union	1948–1954
North Atlantic Alliance	1949–present
Western European Union	1954–2011
European Defence Union	1993–present
Regional relations
Asia Americas Africa

The foreign alliances of France have a long and complex history spanning more than a millennium. One traditional characteristic of the French diplomacy of alliances has been the "Alliance de revers" (i.e. "Rear alliance"), aiming at allying with countries situated on the opposite side or "in the back" of an adversary, in order to open a second front encircling the adversary and thus re-establish a balance of power. Another has been the alliance with local populations, against other European colonial powers.