The loi-cadre was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 legal reform passed by the French National Assembly on 23 June 1956. It marked a turning point in relations between France and its overseas empire. Under pressure from its colonized populations, the government transferred a number of powers from Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 to elected territorial governments in French West Africa

French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...

 and also removed remaining voting inequalities. It was the first step in the creation of the French Community

French Community

The French Community was an association of states known in French simply as La Communauté. In 1958 it replaced the French Union, which had itself succeeded the French colonial empire in 1946....

, comparable to the British Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

. The territories of French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, and Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

were then scheduled to vote on this new, reformed union with France.

External links

• Modern History Sourcebook: France: The "Loi-Cadre" of June 23, 1956: Internet Modern History Sourcebook at fordham.edu