Hands Across the Rhine

At the Elysee Palace ten years ago last week, General Charles de Gaulle embraced a deeply moved Konrad Adenauer, signaling the end to almost a century of Franco-German hostility and the birth of a treaty of friendship and cooperation. Since then, the treaty has proved to be the cornerstone of genuine trans-Rhenish reconciliation.

Last week Willy Brandt and Georges Pompidou met in Paris to congratulate each other on the tenth anniversary of the treaty. There were champagne toasts, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe and an exchange of kind words, along with the highest French and German decorations. At the final gala dinner, the German Chancellor nearly forgot to wear the lapel button of his brand new Grand Cross of the Legion d'honneur, then suffered a brief moment of panic when he discovered his dinner jacket had no buttonhole. The situation was saved by the deft thrust of a pocket knife.

But all of the niceties aside, it was clear that the Franco-German honeymoon was over. "We now have a more sober, businesslike relationship," as one Bonn official put it. Even if the French insisted it was only a matter of "nuances," the five hours of talks between the two leaders revealed differences that will not be easy to reconcile.

For one thing, Pompidou's ultra-Gaullist Minister of Defense, Michel Debre, did not take part in the conversations--a clear indication that France's independent stand in military matters continues unchanged. Brandt's affirmation, moreover, that "the security interests of the European Union coincide with those of the larger Atlantic alliance" received stony silence from the French. In an equally candid preanniversary appearance on West German television, Brandt had stated bluntly. "Whatever they [the French] say, they don't want U.S. troops to pull out of Europe, at least not out of Germany." In a joint statement, the two leaders publicly reaffirmed their goal of achieving European unity by 1980. Privately, though, Brandt revealed that he shares Pompidou's feeling that the most that can be obtained will be a monetary union.

The game of tit for tat continued right up to the last day, when Brandt held a one-hour meeting with Fellow Socialist Francois Mitterrand, Pompidou's arch rival in the current election campaign. After all, had not Pompidou seen fit to meet with Rainer Barzel, Brandt's political opponent, during his visit to the Munich Olympiad? Besides, as one Brandt aide volunteered: "We don't really believe that Mitterrand's coalition will beat the Gaullists, but in France anything can happen."

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