Charles Corbin
André Charles Corbin (4 December 1881 – 25 September 1970) was a French diplomat who served as French ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1933 to 1940. He also held posts as ambassador to Spain (1929–1931) and to Belgium (1931–1933). Born in Paris, he studied at Collège Stanislas de Paris and the Sorbonne, and began his diplomatic career as an attaché in 1906. A protégé of Alexis St. Léger, Corbin built a reputation for his careful, precise prose and his strong sympathy for Britain.
In London, Corbin was known for his deep interest in Britain and his skill at organizing meetings between French and British officials as war loomed. His main task was to secure the British commitment—often called the “continental commitment”—to defend France against Germany. He was an Anglophile who favored close Franco-British cooperation and generally supported anti-appeasement voices in Britain, such as Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden, though he always remained formally polite toward British leaders who pursued different policies.
Corbin played a central role in several key episodes of the 1930s. In 1934, he helped push for closer Anglo-French ties during debates over an “Eastern Locarno” that might include the Soviet Union as a counterweight to Germany. He was active during the Spanish Civil War as France’s representative on the Non-Intervention Committee, advocating measures to limit bombing and foreign involvement in Spain.
During the late 1930s, Corbin argued against appeasement and pressed Britain to take a stronger stance toward Germany. He supported ideas for a firm Anglo-French front in Eastern Europe and worked to influence British opinion and policy through his dispatches, which often praised anti-appeasement figures in Britain while criticizing appeasement policies.
As war approached, Corbin’s work focused on forming a robust alliance with Britain and coordinating plans for collective action in defense of France. He supported the idea that the Allies should stand together against Germany and that Poland, Romania, and other Eastern European countries would need to be defended.
In 1939–1940, as Germany invaded Poland and France faced invasion, Corbin helped manage the Franco-British response. He participated in the discussions that sought to strengthen Allied war aims and to coordinate the declaration of war against Germany. He also played a crucial role in conversations about possible Franco-British unity, working with Charles de Gaulle to explore an Anglo-French union in June 1940. The plan was discussed with the British cabinet, but it failed to win support from all sides, and France eventually sought an armistice with Germany under Marshal Philippe Pétain.
Corbin resigned as ambassador on 26 June 1940, after France’s collapse and the rise of the Vichy regime. He later moved to South America, living in Brazil and Portugal, and ultimately spent his final years in southern France. He remained critical of Vichy and of some British actions, including the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, which he felt betrayed France.
Charles Corbin died in 1970 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He is remembered as a precise, principled diplomat who worked hard to build and sustain Franco-British cooperation during a period of great danger and upheaval.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 10:00 (CET).