De Gaulle's Absolution

The cartoon, in a satirical French weekly, shows Charles de Gaulle all gussied up in Louis XIV garb as he packs a herculean suit of armor and Cyrano-sized nosepiece for a sally across the Rhine. "Madame," says the general to his wife, "will you please not forget my pajamas." No Dish Twice. But France's President will have very little time for sleep in the course of a strenuous six-day visit to West Germany this week. From Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south, the Germans--at De Gaulle's request--have laid on a man-killing marathon of speeches, parades, banquets and wreath layings to honor the first official visit of a French head of state to modern Germany. Nervous German chefs on his route have all compared menus to make sure that their guest is not served the same dish twice; heroically oversized beds have been deployed at each stopover to accommodate De Gaulle's 6 ft. 4 in. frame. In Hamburg alone, some 3,000 extra policemen will protect the French President. Along West Germany's borders, frontier guards have been alerted to exclude known members of France's fiercely anti-Gaullist S.A.O.* French and German officialsemphasize that the trip will be essentially ceremonial rather than political. Sniffed a German politician: "A museumlike event for two old gentlemen." It is certainly a historic one. But De Gaulle's speeches--some of which will be delivered in his halting German--will focus on a more significant and unselfish aim: his deep desire to show the world that France and West Germany have buried past differences and forged a lasting amity. "De Gaulle," mused a French diplomat, "will be bringing the Germans a kind of moral absolution." Other French officials believe that De Gaulle's personal "magic" will work so successfully that, as one remarked, "it would be difficult in the future for any German government to adopt a foreign policy in striking contrast to that of France."

No Time for Trouble. In their private talks, Adenauer and De Gaulle will undoubtedly discuss Britain's bid for membership in Europe's Common Market, a touchy issue that last week intensified the growing strain between Bonn and London (see below). Other likely topics: Berlin and the possibility of Franco-German military cooperation outside the framework of NATO. However, many diplomats in both countries breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that De Gaulle and der Alte will have only four hours together for formal talks. Hopefully, officials believe that the two leaders will be too busy patching up old Franco-German quarrels to open any new rifts in the Western alliance.

* Because of S.A.O. terrorists' attempt on his life fortnight ago, De Gaulle finally indicated last week that he would seek a referendum next month calling for direct, popular election to the presidency. The move is designed to endow De Gaulle's eventual successor with the same prestige and authority that he himself already possesses.

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