History
Following defeat in the Battle of France, national identity cards were first issued as the carte d'identité des Français the under the law of October 27, 1940, and were compulsory for everyone over the age of 16. A central record was also instituted. From 1942 French Jews had the word "Jew" added to their card in red, which helped the Vichy authorities identify 76,000 for deportation as part of the Holocaust.
Under the decree 55-1397 of October 22, 1955 a revised non-compulsory card, the carte nationale d'identité (CNI) was introduced, and the central records abandoned. With the introduction of lamination in 1988 it was renamed the carte nationale d’identité sécurisée (CNIS) (secure national identity card). In 1995 the cards were made machine-readable. It became free in 1998.
Read more about this topic: National Identity Card (France)
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