On 20 January 1963, the British Sunday newspaper The Observer portrays the European ideal inspired by the vision of the French President, Charles de Gaulle.

‘Yes, but there are... sappers.’ On 12 May 1950, cartoonist Woop illustrates the opposition from Moscow and the French Communists to French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman’s plan to revive the European integration process.

Group photograph taken at the signing of the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. From left to right: Paul van Zeeland (B), Joseph Bech (L), Joseph Meurice (B), Carlo Sforza (I), Robert Schuman (F), Konrad Adenauer (BRD), Dirk Stikker (NL) and Johannes van den Brink (NL).

‘Just one love: France.’ In February 1962, according to Opland, Dutch cartoonist, the attitude of General de Gaulle, embodied by Cyrano de Bergerac, in matters of foreign policy, bears some resemblance to a romantic tragedy.

'Under the protection of the ally - the Paris-Bonn Axis'. In June 1963, the Soviet weekly publication Krokodil strongly condems Franco-German cooperation, seen by the USSR as being the first step towards German rearmament.

In 1945, the German town of Wesel, located on the banks of the River Rhine, is partly destroyed by Allied bombings, giving the impression of a lunar landscape.

Photograph taken on 12 April 1945 showing the last victims of the Nordhausen Nazi concentration camp, a sub-camp of the Mittelbau Dora concentration camp complex (Germany).

In 1944, the small Normandy town of Coutances is severely damaged by the Allied bombings.

In May 1945, the Brandenburg Gate, located to the west of Berlin city centre, is surrounded by ruins and bears the scars of the final combats between the German army and the Soviet troops.

The economic situation in conquered Germany is precarious. In 1945, 70 % of the towns have been destroyed, and shortages are widespread.

On 1 June 1946, Germany receives emergency aid parcels from the United States as part of the CARE programme (Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe). The photo shows children observing the parcels being unloaded.

View of the destruction caused in the City of Dresden following the Allied bombings at the end of the Second World War.