France has always had a strong and complex relationship with biological weapons. This link has persisted in its relationship with the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). In 1925, France was the sole depositary of the Geneva Protocol. Later, during the many years of negotiations on the BWC, France deliberately isolated itself from the disarmament community. When the Convention was born in 1972, the French government found it too imperfect and incomplete. France strongly opposed it, continued its isolation from the Convention and instead adopted a national law incorporating the same provisions or more restrictive ones. With a militant commitment, the country wished to criticize loud and clear the shortcomings of this vitally important text. It also wanted to oppose the context in which the text had been drawn up, criticizing the central role of the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Later, in 1984, France completely changed its strategy, investing heavily in the BWC. Officially, this change was driven by developments in the negotiations on the Convention’s imperfections, and by various changes in the context. This change revealed a form of renunciation in the face of the ineffectiveness of its unique militant position and the stagnation of the Convention’s difficulties.