2022, Vol., No.46

Korean Review of French History 2024 KCI Impact Factor : 0.17

pISSN : 1229-702X
https://journal.kci.go.kr/krfh

In 1378, Emperor Charles IV visited Paris with his son Wenceslas and held a meetingwith Charles V to consolidate their diplomatic alliance. In fact, throughout the MiddleAges, it was very rare for a prince to visit a capital of a country to meet another prince. Charles IV had some political objectives for this visit. One was the private affair, themeeting with members of the house of Valois, alliance of kinship, especially his nephewCharles V. The other was the political, deepening of loyalty between two kingdoms ofFrance and Bohemia, or between two houses of Valois and Luxembourg. It is certainthat Charels IV supports the position of France in the situation of the Hundred YearsWar. Then it is assumed that they have agreed on each ‘ostpolitik’, despite uncertaintyin secret talks. However, his visit shows a peculiarity in the ceremony prepared by CharlesV. Charles IV was invited as a visitor rather than emperor, by Charles V, sovereign ofFrance, according to the principle “The King is Emperor in his kingdom”. So his visitwas an occasion of propaganda for the ideology of sacred French royalty, independantof the Empire. It reflected a large flow of political ramification from a universal politicalorder to particular states. To the extent that Charles IV was interested in the Kingdomof Bohemia rather than the Empire, his political objective also belonged to this flow.

French colonial troops engaged in the occupation of the Rhineland after World War Iwere accused of sexual violence against German women. Those who denounced theaggression of “black” or “colored” men against “white” women called it “black shame”. There was no doubt that there were several cases of rape committed by the soldiers whocame from French colonies, but it is also certain that the accounts of the atrocities deliveredby the propaganda against the “black shame” exaggerate reality. However, the outragearoused by the rumors sparked an intense protest campaign not only in Germany but alsoin several European and American countries. Outside Germany, it was mainly left-wingintellectuals, socialists and feminists who played a key role in transmitting the campaign,motivated by their internationalist idealism. However, the success of the internationalcampaign rested fundamentally on a racist feeling widely shared by the “whites”, who couldnot tolerate the rape of women of “superior race” by the “barbarians”. In Germany, the farright increasingly appropriated the propaganda against “black shame”, combining aggressivenationalism, biological racism and the attack on the Weimar Republic. To this extent, thediscourse of “black shame” reflected the restlessness and instability of post-war German society. On the other hand, it was essentially a masculine discourse, which paid little attention to thefate of the female victims themselves. Rather, it was an attempt to discipline women’s sexuality.

After the War, it seemed impossible to restore relations between France and Germany. However,their relationship was asked to be modified by new situations. Cold war was one of the most importantchallenges to the United States and European countries which had to agree on rebuild of the economy ofEurope. The United States decided to put into effect Marshall Plan, a large-scale financial aid, since 1948,and requested to European partners creation of organizations to support it and the collective guarantee to avoidanother war. As such, CEEC to support the plan, and Council of Europe and NATO for European collectivesecurity were created. Until then, relationship between Germany, excluded from these movements, and Francewas far from being improved. It was in 1950 that dramatic reconciliation was achieved at the moment of thecreation of ECSC. This paper aims to analyze the improvement of old enemies’ relationship through theoriesof international politics: theory of national interest and institutional theory. First, France and Germany hopedto strengthen national interests through reconciliation. Allowing Germany to join European and internationalcommunities, France was able to secure coal and steel, and collective control over old enemy. Germany couldstart to get out of the shadow of defeated country, joining as a normal one international organizations and gettingeconomic and political cooperations from neighbor countries. Second, their reconciliation was institutionalizedand stabilized by new institutions, such as ECSC, EEC and Eurotom, and by becoming a member of Councilof Europe and NATO. Their reconciliation contributed to development of European integration.