Croatia–France relations

The foreign, diplomatic, economic, and political relations between Croatia and France are bound together by shared history, intellectual development (Illyrian movement), an overlap in religion (Roman Catholicism), belonging to Western civilization, commonalities in language (nearly 10% of Croatians speak French) and kinship ties that reach back thousands of years, including kindred, ancestral lines. The relations unofficially began during the Carolingian Renaissance in the years 800–900 with religious activity between French Benedictine monks, and the construction of Croatian monasteries. The speaking of French in Croatia can be traced to the 14th century with the religious diffusion of the crusades, and the usage of Croatian texts in French religious studies during the 15th century. Many of the Croatian elite studied at the French Sorbonne during the later 15th century and influenced the political landscape of France for decades to come (i.e. Saro Gučetić negotiated secret pacts on behalf of the French King, Francis I). In the following two centuries, Croatian elite were active in court and in French cultural and scientific (referred to as the frančezarije in Croatian) life. During the 1789 French revolution, the principles of the enlightenment spread rapidly throughout Croatia. During the early 19th century, large parts of Croatia became an autonomous state of France during the first French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. This created a French cultural diffusion throughout the Croatian regions and consolidated the connection between the two countries. The cultural diffusion of Croatian culture in France is known as Illyrianism. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Croatian–French relations reached an all-time high when the French intellectual community convinced the world that Croatia was an independent state by listing it in its dictionaries and atlases. France and Croatia are , both of whom share memberships in the European Union (E.U.), United Nations (U.N.), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), World Trade Organization (WTO), and share a common currency.