Cesta k německo-francouzskému sblížení. Úloha nestátních subjektů v bilaterální spolupráci v letech 1945–1963
The Road to German-French Understanding: The Role of Non-Governmental Actors in Bilateral Co-operation, 1945–63

Summary/Abstract: The experience of three Franco-German wars between 1870 and 1945 led a number of individuals from Germany and France to the recognition that relations between the two states needed to be rid of the existing animosity that had led to the bloody confl icts. The result of their considerations was the intention to foster change in relations after May 1945 by developing personal contacts amongst the ordinary citizens of the two countries. This article charts out who the advocates of this idea outside high politics were, and how they argued for the idea and put it into practice. The article considers the best-known initiatives from the Churches, clubs and societies, town councils, and academic institutions to show how traditional forms of bilateral co-operation gradually gave way to new elements. It focuses on the second half of the 1940s, though it also considers in less detail the development of individual initiatives up until 1963, when the Federal Republic of Germany and France signed two key bilateral agreements. Both documents confi rmed the correctness of the methods used by the non-governmental actors to get involved to the benefi t of Franco-German understanding, and also how the establishment of the Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk/Office Franco-Allemand pour la Jeunesse opened up the way to important sources of funding for them. This new collaboration between state institutions on the one hand and non-governmental actors on the other gave German-French relations a new dimension, shifting them from the level of the elite to the level of ordinary citizens.

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