| This thesis analyzes the French and Francophone responses to the declining status of the French language in the late nineteenth century and in the late twentieth century. I examine how France has used the Alliance Francaise to promote French in reaction to both threats. I discuss how the Francophone movement has connected to French and to France to preserve the international status of this language. I evaluate the evidence to determine if French is rightfully a global language. Throughout my analysis, I draw conclusions that differ from the views expressed by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow in Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, Pas Si Fous, Ces Francais!, and The Story of French. I argue that France and the Francophone movement have realized that their cooperation is necessary to secure the future of French as an international language to counteract the domination of English resulting from globalization. |
