Detailed note from the French Foreign Ministry dated 28 January 1953 reviewing the possible consequences of the European Defence Community (EDC) on France’s position in the world.

On 25 February 1953, General Charles de Gaulle holds a press conference in Paris during which he declares his support for cooperation between European States in the field of defence, whilst indicating his opposition to the establishment of the European Defence Community (EDC).

In June 1953, the French journal Fédération publishes a series of articles by supporters and opponents of the European Defence Community.

On 16 November 1953, the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir raises the question of the inclusion of German armed forces within the European Defence Community.

‘German Europe.’ In December 1953, the communist journal Démocratie nouvelle demonstrates its hostility towards the European Defence Community (EDC) and illustrates the dangers of German rearmament for France and Europe. French cartoonist Mitelberg shows a German helmet from the Wehrmacht descending on Paris, plunging Europe and France into darkness in a scene that recalls the Second World War. By evoking the painful memory of the occupation of Europe by German troops, Mitelberg illustrates the fear that history will repeat itself if West Germany regains its armed forces. The term ‘German’ written in barbed wire also hints at the horror of the concentration camps and the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis.

In December 1953, in the Communist journal Démocratie nouvelle, Senator Petit, a retired French General, outlines the risks involved in integrating German troops into the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 1 December 1953, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the Soviet Union’s opposition to the plan for a European Defence Community (EDC). On the left, Georgiy Maksimilianovich Malenkov, President of the Council of Ministers, and Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov, Soviet Foreign Minister.

On 23 February 1954, crowds demonstrate in East Berlin against the rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and against the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 9 March 1954, after a visit to France, Belgian MP Pierre Wigny publishes an article in the daily newspaper La Nation belge in which he criticises the arguments of those opposed to the European Defence Community (EDC).

On 17 March 1954, General Charles de Gaulle sends a letter to General Béthouart in which he expresses his opposition to the plan for a European Defence Community (EDC).

‘Get this idea well and truly into your head!’ On 22 April 1954, French cartoonist Roger Chancel represents the death threat that would hang over France if it were to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC). The knife of the EDC may well turn out to be fatal for the people of France, represented by Marianne, the allegorical figure of the French Republic, wearing a Phrygian cap.

With this poster, the National Federation of Deportees and Internees, Resistance Fighters and Patriots call on the French people not to ratify the treaties establishing the European Defence Community (EDC), since it sees therein a return to the atrocities perpetrated by the German army during the Second World War.

‘Konrad will certainly have a uniform — but which one?’ In August 1954, as debates are held on the establishment of a European Defence Community (EDC), cartoonist Fritz Behrendt takes an ironic look at the summary proposal of Pierre Mendès France, President of the French Council of Ministers and French Foreign Minister, regarding the possible rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).