‘Franco-German discussions. And don’t come back to see me without Alsace and Lorraine!’ On 25 January 1950, one week after Robert Schuman’s trip to West Germany, French cartoonist Louis Mitelberg illustrates the somewhat strained discussions between the French Foreign Minister and the Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. The Federal German Government’s pleas for an end to the special status of the Saar and for the territory to be reincorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) are met with blunt refusal from France. The Saar question is the source of a great deal of tension between the two countries. The reference in the cartoon to Alsace and Lorraine also recalls previous territorial disputes with the German neighbour. On the steps we see French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman (on the left) being forcefully ejected by Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.