‘The European house under construction.’ In 1965, the German cartoonist, Fritz Behrendt, takes an ironic look at the implications for Europe of Franco-German rapprochement.

On 11 April 1961, during a press conference held at the Élysée Palace in Paris, French President Charles de Gaulle reaffirms France’s determination to continue nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert.

On 5 September 1960, President de Gaulle holds a press conference at the Élysée Palace during which he sets out his views on the reform of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and on the role that France might play in such a reform.

On 11 April 1961, during a press conference held at the Élysée Palace in Paris, French President Charles de Gaulle reaffirms France’s determination to continue nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert.

Dans ses Mémoires, le général de Gaulle explique comment, dès 1958, Konrad Adenauer et lui-même n'ont eu de cesse d'essayer de rapprocher la France et la République fédérale d'Allemagne (RFA).

‘We all agree on the fact that Europe must at last stand as one!’ On 15 August 1960, in the Dutch daily newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad, Fritz Behrendt portrays the conflict between the views held by Harold Macmillan, Konrad Adenauer and General de Gaulle on the leadership of the European Community.

In 1964, the cartoonist Behrendt illustrates how ‘Twenty years after’ the Allied landings on the Normandy Beaches, General de Gaulle is calling for the withdrawal of US troops from French soil.

During the 1965 ‘NATO appeal’, General de Gaulle clearly underlines the separate role that France expects to play within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).