Élysée Treaty
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The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, signed by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
and
Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...
on 22 January 1963 at the
Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (french: Palais de l'Élysée; ) is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was built for nobleman and army officer Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had been appointed Gover ...
in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germany and France established a new foundation for relations, following a history with centuries of rivalry and wars.


Background

FrancoGerman relations were long dominated by the idea of
French–German enmity French–German (Franco-German) enmity (french: Rivalité franco-allemande, german: Deutsch–französische Erbfeindschaft) was the idea of unavoidably hostile relations and mutual revanchism between Germans (including Austrians) and French peop ...
, which asserted that there was a natural rivalry between the two nations. Germany started
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by invading Poland in 1939. France then declared war on Germany, which prompted the German
invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...
and
occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
from 1940 to 1944. Afterwards, France participated in the
Allied occupation of Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...
from 1945 to 1949. The post-war West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer made rapprochement between the historic rivals one of his priorities.


Contents

The treaty called for regular consultations between France and West Germany on all important questions concerning defense, education and youth issues. It also requires regular summits between high-level officials, which implies that the Heads of State and Government have to meet at least twice a year and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs every three months, to ensure close collaboration between the two states. The first meeting between the two heads of state took place at the private home of General de Gaulle at
Colombey-les-Deux-Églises Colombey-les-Deux-Églises (, literally ''Colombey the Two Churches'') is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It is best known as the home of Charles de Gaulle. The municipality of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises was cre ...
in September 1958. Since then, French and German heads of state have kept up the strong relationship, often considered as the engine of European integration. Additionally, an interministerial commission was established to coordinate and oversee the Franco-German collaboration. It consisted of high-ranked officials of every involved ministry.


Controversy

Just two months after the signing of the friendship treaty, a new controversy between France and West Germany occurred. President de Gaulle intended the treaty to make West Germany distance itself and eventually separate itself from its American protector. He saw West Germany (and the other member states of the European Economic Community) as vassalized by Washington. The treaty was notable in that it made no mention of the United States, United Kingdom,
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, or the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...
(GATT). However, after US President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
expressed his displeasure about this to the West German ambassador to the United States, the Bundestag ratified the treaty with a preamble which called on France and West Germany to pursue tight cooperation with the United States; the eventual admission of the United Kingdom to the EEC; the achievement of a free trade accord in the framework of the GATT; and for the West's military integration in NATO under US leadership. This effectively emptied the Treaty of any sense (in Gaullist understanding) and put end to General de Gaulle's hopes of building the EEC into a counterweight to the US and the USSR. "The Germans are behaving like pigs. They are putting themselves completely at the Americans' service. They're betraying the spirit of the Franco-German Treaty. And they're betraying Europe." Later, in 1965, the General told his closest aides behind closed doors: "The Germans had been my greatest hope; they are my greatest disappointment."


Aftermath

Among the direct consequences of the Treaty are the creation of the
Franco-German Youth Office The Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO; french: Office franco-allemand pour la Jeunesse, OFAJ; german: Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk, DFJW) is an organisation to subsidize programs for children, adolescents and young adults. Its main goal is ...
(l'Office Franco-allemande pour la jeunesse/Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk), the creation of Franco-German high schools, and the twinning between numerous French and German towns, schools and regions. Another outcome of the Treaty was the Franco-German military brigade, which was established in 1987 and is still intact. In January 2003, the
Assemblée Nationale The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...
and the Deutsche Bundestag met in
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Treaty. The choice of location was high in symbolism, as the palace had been the site of humiliation for each country, in 1871 and 1919. New forms of bilateral coordination between the two countries were created in the course of the 40th anniversary celebration, such as the
Franco-German Ministerial Council The Franco-German Ministerial Council (french: Conseil des ministres franco-allemands, german: Deutsch-Französischer Ministerrat) is the regular meeting of the ministerial cabinet of both the government of Germany and the government of France. The ...
, which meets twice a year. The celebration also led to the creation for the first time of a common
Franco-German History Coursebook "Histoire/Geschichte" is a series of Franco-German history coursebooks, published since 2006. The projects aims to create a "shared vision" between French and Germans regarding the history of Europe since Antiquity. The project originated from the ...
to be used in both countries and foster a shared vision of history. The
Franco-German University The Franco-German University (FGU, french: Université franco-allemande (UFA), german: Deutsch-Französische Hochschule (DFH)) is an international organisation of universities from Germany and France with the purpose of facilitating internatio ...
enables students to attain international double degrees from both countries. Additionally, a so-called Élysée-Fond was established to promote Franco-German culture projects in third countries. Also, double citizenships for French and German citizens in the opposite country are now easier to obtain, or in some cases finally possible. Chancellor
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
and President
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
, along with lawmakers from both countries, called for a "new Élysée Treaty" in January 2018 on the occasion of its 55th anniversary. The so-called
Aachen Treaty The Aachen Treaty, formally Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation and Integration, and also known as the Treaty of Aachen (german: Aachener Vertrag, german: Vertrag von Aachen, label=none, link=no, french: Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle), is a bilateral ...
was signed on 22 January 2019.


See also

*
France–Germany relations Relations between France and Germany, or Franco-German relations form an integral part of the wider politics of Europe. Both countries are among the founders and the main leading Member states of the European Union and its predecessor the E ...
*
Schuman Declaration The Schuman Declaration, or Schuman Plan, was a proposal to place French and West German production of coal and steel under a single authority that later became the European Coal and Steel Community, made by the French foreign minister, Rober ...
*
History of Europe The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links

* Original text in French: ; in German:
Joint Declaration accompanying the Treaty


at the
Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the big ...
* ttps://www.c-span.org/video/?174786-1/40th-anniversary-elysee-treaty Press Conference of Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröderon occasion of the treaty's 40th anniversary,
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Elysee Treaty France–Germany relations 1963 in France 1963 in West Germany Treaties concluded in 1963 Treaties concluded in 2019 Treaties of France Treaties of West Germany Charles de Gaulle Konrad Adenauer