PARIS -- President Charles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signed yesterday a historic treaty of cooperation they hoped would end the centuries of Franco-German strife that drenched Europe with blood.
At the end of the four-minute ceremony de Gaulle, 72, suddenly and impetuously opened his arms and embraced the 87-year-old chancellor. Then the two old men, choking back tears, kissed on both cheeks. It was a gesture that appeared spontaneous and unrehearsed.
... De Gaulle and Adenauer, each battling against time to achieve their dream of a close Franco-German alliance as the cornerstone for future Western European unity, signed the treaty in the tapestried Murat room of de Gaulle's Elysee Palace.
By making it a formal treaty they ensured that their successors would be bound by it.
It called for France and West Germany to work closely together as friends in the fields of politics, defense, foreign aid, culture, science, education and youth as they already do in economics through the Common Market.
(From a secondary story) But the treaty by implication excluded Britain from a role in the political future of Europe ... Britain was silent on the new alignment, which unites two nations which have been both rivals and allies of Britain in the past. But Britain continued negotiations at Brussels for her entry into the European Common Market despite the opposition of de Gaulle.
* Text (from German History in Documents and Images): @
* Overview (from Germany.info): @
* Overview (from Consulate General of France in Chicago): @
* Treaty website (in English): @
* "50 years of friendship" (from Europe Online): @
* "Friendship Pact Signed by de Gaulle, Adenauer" (January 23, 1963): @
* "Autonomy or Power? The Franco-German Relationship and Europe's Strategic Choices, 1955-1995" (Stephen A. Kocs, 1995): @
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