I've been reading some about the Force de Frappe and it seems very clear that de Gaulle wanted France to have their own independent nuclear deterrent because he did not trust the Americans to honor their commitment to defend Europe if a war broke out. Britain on the other hand bought nuclear weapons from the United States and did not develop a nuclear deterrent independently giving up some of their sovereignty by doing so it seems. In light of these differences and the fact that the French withdrew from NATO in 1963, how did this independence of the French affect their policies regarding use of nuclear weapons? Also, did the expensive development of their own nuclear deterrent negatively affect the the French economy?
As Charles de Gaulle said "No nation without the atom bomb can properly consider itself independent." France was willing to test its nuclear weapons on its own terms, and showed little concern for following what NATO and the U.S. expected from their etiquette. The Force de Frappe, as it was originally named, was, more than anything else, a symbol of French grandeur.