In March 1954, the French Action Committee for National Independence publishes a brochure outlining the many dangers of the Treaty establishing a European Defence Community (EDC) and calls on French MPs not to ratify the text.

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.

‘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.

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).

‘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).

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 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).

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

In 1954, the bulletin of the National Committee for the Defence of French Unity and the French Union leads with the serious economic consequences of the Treaty establishing a European Defence Community (EDC) and offers a point-by-point criticism of the arguments put forward by advocates of the Paris Treaty.

‘Get this idea well and truly into your head!’ This cartoon depicts the threat that would hang over France if it were to ratify the Treaty establishing the European Defence Community (EDC).