On 4 March 1947, in Dunkirk, France and the United Kingdom sign a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance against a possible German attack. The Treaty enters into force on 8 September 1947.

On 4 March 1947, in a room in the Dunkirk subprefecture, Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, and Georges Bidault, French Foreign Minister, sign the Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between France and the United Kingdom.

On 4 March 1947, in Dunkirk, France and the United Kingdom, represented respectively by their Foreign Ministers Georges Bidault (on the left) and Ernest Bevin (on the right), sign a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance.

On 4 March 1947, in Dunkirk, France and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance against a possible German attack. On the same day, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the symbolic impact of this treaty, which also aims to re-establish close relations between the two countries, personified here by British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin (on the left) and his French counterpart Georges Bidault.

In a joint communiqué issued on 4 March 1947, the French and British Governments announce the signing of the bilateral Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between France and the United Kingdom.

On 4 March 1947, the German daily newspaper Die Welt gives a detailed analysis of the Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between France and the United Kingdom.

The day after the signing of the Treaty of Alliance between France and the United Kingdom on 4 March 1947, the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort describes the symbolic impact of choosing the martyr town of Dunkirk as the place where the mutual assistance treaty was signed.

On 22 January 1948, addressing the House of Commons, the British Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, condemns the Soviet Union's political ambitions and calls for greater unity amongst the countries of Western Europe.

On 23 January 1948, the British daily newspaper Daily Mail leads with the address given the previous day in the House of Commons by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, in which he criticised the political designs of the Soviet Union and called for a Western European Union.

On 23 January 1948, the British daily newspaper The Manchester Guardian analyses the address given by Ernest Bevin, UK Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons and speculates on the new direction of the country’s foreign policy.

On 23 January 1948, the day after the speech delivered by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons, the British daily newspaper Daily Mail criticises the country’s foreign policy and speculates on the Foreign Secretary’s proposal to create a United Western Europe.

On 24 January 1948, two days after the address given by Ernest Bevin in the House of Commons, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau reports on the proposal made by the British Foreign Secretary to create a union of Western European countries and praises British efforts to consolidate European cooperation in view of the Soviet threat.

On 24 January 1948, the Italian Communist daily newspaper L'Unità condemns the proposal made by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, to establish a Western European union, and warns its readers against the dangers involved in this future ‘Western war bloc’, with which Italy may well be associated.

On 26 January 1948, René Blum, the Luxembourg Ambassador to Moscow, sends a telegram to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he warns the Luxembourg authorities of the strong opposition of the Soviet press to plans for the establishment of a ‘Western bloc’ with which Benelux would be associated.

On 27 January 1948, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung considers the reasons leading Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, to express his support for the establishment of a Western European Union and believes that this declaration represents a significant reorientation of post-war British foreign policy.

On 30 January 1948, Hervé de Gruben, Director-General for Policy in the Belgian Foreign Ministry, submits for the approval of the Foreign Ministers of the Benelux countries, among others, his memorandum on the consolidation and organisation of Western Europe, dated 28 January.

On 31 January 1948, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau emphasises the importance of the proposal made in the House of Commons by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, in which he called for greater unity in Western Europe and speculated on the emergence of a third new force alongside that of the United States and the Soviet Union.

On 31 January 1948, welcoming the proposal made by British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin on the establishment of a Western Union, the German weekly publication Rheinischer Merkur outlines the new direction of British foreign policy.

On 1 February 1948, commenting on the declaration made by the British Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, the Brussels weekly newspaper Le Phare Dimanche reports on the various experiences of European unification throughout history and emphasises the fact that a united Europe cannot be created through violence but through a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect.

On 5 February 1948, the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera analyses the address given by the British Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, in which he calls for greater unity in Western Europe and outlines the limits placed upon such unity.

On 13 February 1948, the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir comments on the address given by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, in which he proposes a Western Union. The newspaper regrets his anti-Soviet tone and explains the need to specify the ambitions of this future Union.

Joint memorandum dated 19 February 1948 from the three Benelux countries to the United Kingdom and France concerning the military defence of Europe and the establishment of a Western Union.

This British memorandum, dated 19 February 1948, outlines to the Luxembourg Government the logic behind the Franco-British proposals regarding the establishment of a Western Union, based on the model of the Dunkirk Treaty of 4 March 1947.

On 19 February 1948, Pierre Saffroy, French Ambassador to Luxembourg, sends a letter to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he sets out a plan for a treaty between France and Luxembourg broadly based on the Treaty of Dunkirk of 4 March 1947.

Summary record of the first meeting between the diplomatic representatives of Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, held on 4 March 1948 in Brussels with a view to concluding the treaty establishing Western Union.

On 10 March 1948, Robert Als, Minister Plenipotentiary of Luxembourg in Brussels, sends a letter to his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Bech, in which he lists the main provisions of the future Brussels Treaty and summarises the position of the various negotiating countries.

On 14 March 1948, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports on the proposal made to the Benelux countries by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, that an agreement to complement the Treaty of Dunkirk between France and the United Kingdom be concluded. This initiative was welcomed and subsequently led to the signing of the Brussels Treaty.

On 25 March 1948, in connection with the signing of the Brussels Treaty, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the opposition of Max Aitkin Beaverbrook, Conservative MP and staunch supporter of the British Empire, to the establishment of closer relations between the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

In his memoirs, Georges Bidault, former French Foreign Minister, considers the reasons for the signing of the Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between France and the United Kingdom in Dunkirk on 4 March 1947.

In his memoirs, Jean Chauvel, Secretary-General of the French Foreign Ministry, recalls the negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance between France and the United Kingdom in Dunkirk on 4 March 1947.