‘Kohl–Tonton: we won’t grow old together … unless we decide to stay together for the children!’ On 21 February 1990, French cartoonist Cabu takes an ironic look at the new power relationship between the Franco-German duo Kohl and Mitterrand. The contrast between today’s image and the famous scene in which the two stood hand in hand in Verdun in 1984 illustrates how Franco-German relations have changed. The Federal Republic of Germany is no longer the political dwarf it once was. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl has been working tirelessly for German reunification, sparking fears for the French partner of German political and economic hegemony.