AHC/WI? Franco-American special relationship.

[deathscompanion1]

Just a thought but would it be at all possible for the USA and France to have extremely close and friendly ties that are a source of pride and generally can be counted to support each other?

The British special relationship can remain or be sacrificed for this.

What would the effects be on the world and the EU in particular?

 

[CthulhuFhtagn]

It's possible, but tough. The US has had close ties with Britain since the late 19th century. We speak the same language, are major trading partners, and we share an obsession with free market capitalism.

I can think of a couple ways to do this:
-Communist USA and Communist France: Natural allies, just like the USA and the French Republic were (before it got all guillotine-happy)
-Someone other than De Gaulle is in charge in France after WWII, preferably someone who's strongly anti-colonial. If the US clashes with Britain over colonialism, France might be viewed as the "Enlightened ally" and a valuable way to keep the Soviets out of Western Europe.

Edit: I forgot to mention religion. For the absurdly anti-Catholic WASPs that dominated America up until the late 20th century, the fact that Britain wasn't fully of filthy papists was a huge bonus.

 

[Driftless]

Culturally, the US & France were much closer in sync following WW1. Paris was the place to be for so many of the hip folks of that generation and American music was big in progressive French culture. Sustain that delvelopment

 

[Simreeve]

"Lafayette, we are here."

 

[funnyhat]

I think you'd need France to remain the most populous country in Europe. France was once one of the most densely-populated European countries but now is one of the least. If its population never stagnates in the 19th century and remains ahead of all its neighbors, the U.S. will most likely seek to find consensus with it on economic and military issues, since it would be the key to Europe. By the same token, a France that is more populous than all other European countries might be less protectionist and more capitalistic, since its economy would dominate the continent, and its language would probably still be very widely spoken in other countries today (as it formerly was IOTL), so it would not feel pressure to resist the "Anglo-Saxon menace."

 

[Blackfox5]

Americans used to have an extremely high opinion of France as a result of French help during the Revolution. Before World War II, Americans could probably think of several ways the USA and British Empire could go to war, but the idea of Americans fighting Frenchmen was nonsensical. I'm not sure of French feelings towards America, but I am pretty sure they were positive in general. The US saw France, another democratic republic, as its natural ally and friend in Europe, not Britain.

World War II changed that for various reasons. 1) FDR's distrust of DeGaulle more or less poisoned him towards the US, and given his importance in French politics after the war, France took various actions the US took as insulting. 2) The extremely dependent position of France after the war hurt a lot of French pride, and this was expressed in many ways antagonistic to the US. The economic, militarial, and political dependence of France created an anti-American response as an attempt to restore French power and influence. 3) The French far left, and therefore many of France's intellectuals, became very anti-American because of their loyalty towards Soviet Communism. This moved French attitudes towards America. 4) US and French ofreign policy interests were not the same, and France often found itself on the losing side of what America wanted (in Indochina, Suez War, Algeria).

As a result, France became increasingly anatagonistic towards America. I won't say anti-American because the US and France remained allies and cooperated in many ways, but it was a strained relationship. This in turn, generated an anti-French feeling in the US.

Probably the most important thing to create a US-France special relationship is that France cannot suffer such a large scale defeat as it did in May 1940. A France that could truly say it resisted the Nazis and retained most of its power and influence would make a strong partner for the US during and after the war, even if it weakened. By not being as dependant on the US, it could use its own resources to achieve goals and not be subject to US pressure. France would be more healthy emotionally and refrain from some policies that seemed only to exist to tweak the US. A relationship built more on equality would be a healthier relationship. A France that retained some great power status in its own right would be less likely to resent the US own increased influence.

So essentially you need a very different World War II while still creating a situation where the US and France were major allies in a major war. POD might go back even to a different outcome in WWI or Russian Civil War. Perhaps a world where the Soviet Union was much weakened or whose lands contained multiple countries. Germany would then strike east first instead of west, creating the conditions of a major world war that could suck in the US, but leave France as a viable world power afterwards.