France and the USSR were allies before World War 2. A number of things intervened before then and 1945, not limited to the war itself. After the war, did Soviet officials publicly (or privately) acknowledge France as closer to them diplomatically than its neighbours?

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    They were not that much allies before WWII, actually. – Anixx Dec 2 '14 at 22:12

Before WW2

The treaty you refer to was largely meaningless. Only the German propaganda machine was perverse enough to call the relationship it established an "alliance".

After WW2

When Soviet Union started to enslave the Eastern Europe, the West woke up and agreed to a common defense. Soviet Union tried to strike at the weak link of the Western Aliance - France.

France never forgave the humiliation of having been liberated - and France worked hard to show its independence from the British and Americans, culminating in leaving the NATO military organization - de Gaulle was immediately invited to the SU and toured it extensively, using every opportunity to condemn the US.

These "special relationships" included sending a Frenchman to a Soviet space station (the only westerner to go on a Soviet rocket during the cold war) and ascribing a disproportional role to the French WW2 efforts in the Soviet propaganda (including secondary school history program).

  • but did worse relations with the USA mean better relations with Russia? – Ne Mo Dec 3 '14 at 18:07
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    The SU was always happy to nod to anyone who would snub the US. – sds Dec 3 '14 at 18:27
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    event, source, anything...? – Ne Mo Dec 3 '14 at 18:29
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    The entirety of that article relating to France: 'When the Suez War broke out, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel seized the canal and the Sinai.' -1 for no sources or proper explanation. – Ne Mo Dec 3 '14 at 18:44
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    (-1) This answer is focused only on emotional/symbolic aspects as if French policy was only determined by that. A major factor was actually the fear that Britain would be too weak to wage war on the continent and the US would lose interest in Europe so that France would face the Soviet Union alone. Hence the need to develop independent capabilities and policy rather than act as an auxiliary force within NATO. De Gaulle certainly did not feel personally close to the Soviet Union in any way. – Relaxed Jul 15 '15 at 11:24

Like most of the Western Allies, the French sent troops to fight the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War after WWI. The windows where any French government was friendly with any Russian government were fairly short.

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    Practically every colonial power sent troops to fight the Bolsheviks. So what? That was decades before the period we're talking about. – Ne Mo Dec 3 '14 at 18:46
  • Thus France had no different, better relationship with the USSR. – Oldcat Dec 3 '14 at 19:51
  • @NeMo So what? It doesn't matter if it was decades before the period. It sets them on the path to cold war. The Soviets never forgot it, it influenced the Soviet's foreign policy, in turn influencing the west's foreign policy, etc. – DrZ214 Aug 1 '15 at 3:55
  • This is like saying America and Britain must be enemies forever because they had a war in 1812. Alliances change fast. – Ne Mo Aug 1 '15 at 7:52

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