‘Innocent games’. On 16 November 1949, French cartoonist Pol Ferjac shows a Germania with a smile at the corner of her lips who, while playing leapfrog with the Western Allies in a ruined Germany, kicks Marianne in the rear with her boot. Uncle Sam (the United States) and John Bull (the United Kingdom) don’t seem to react to this German provocation, while Marianne doesn’t hide her dismay. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the question of the future of the industrial potential of the Ruhr is a cause of concern for Paris. France proposes to its US and British partners that an international organisation be established to manage the Ruhr’s industries and the distribution of output. This organisation would meet both security and economic concerns, with the aim of preventing the resources of the Ruhr from being used for military purposes, as had been the case under the Hitler regime. But the French also want to prevent the re-establishment of major trusts that would enable Germany to regain its industrial might.