‘The recalcitrant fiancé. So come on then, are you going to say “yes”?’ On 22 September 1954, following the rejection by the French National Assembly of the plan for a European Defence Community (EDC) on 30 August 1954, French cartoonist César Garcia illustrates the efforts by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the ECSC Member States, meeting in London on 16 September, to find a solution to the rearmament and restoration of sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany. France is very reluctant at the idea of German rearmament and is keen to secure guarantees before giving its agreement. From left to right: US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (the bride) and Pierre Mendès France (the fiancé), French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden is holding the bride’s train, with, on his left, Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister.