Today is a kind of national holiday here, or not. Kind of something everyone celebrates but no one knows why. Today is 50 years of franco - german friendship.
Is it segnificant? well historicaly yes.
You see, France and Germany, even do most think Frances main rival is Britain, use to be Europes arch enemies number one. For almoust 500 years we used to smash each others heads in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French%E2%8...man_enmity
Up to the point when Germany actualy declared the day it defeated France in the Franco - Prussian war it`s national Holiday.
After the second World war, it was concluded by the allies that one of the many reasons for the outbreak of the war was the almoust 500 year old French German enmity. So Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963 signed the treaty for French - German friendship.
Now this was essential for the rest of Europe because it meant a change of course in the then young European Union which would move away from simply being a bunch of trade agrements to being a political union.
The European union came into existance at first as a trade treaty between France and Germany, the treaty for trade with coal and steel.
Since then heavy industry has disapeared from most places in Europe, the union has grown in members and the goals of what the European union should be like have gone appart.
One could say that there is the position which was mainly proposed and still is proposed by the French, which calls for a political union of the continent, uniting parties and having a united European parlament equipt with more powers over the sovereign participants, a kind of alternative democratic superpower to the US.
Then the position mainly proposed by German politicians, which sees a union focused more on trade and information exchange, with no boundries set on cross country investment, trade and transfer. Leaving as much sovereignty as possible to the nations but making the exchange for individual people, information and buisness as easy as possible.
And of course, it would be unfair not to mention those who dont want the union at all.
Currently alot of people predict or see the union as failed, I would like to hear other Europeans opinions on this and what your opinions are on what this union should be like? if it should actualy exist? what went wrong? how it could be better? what it means for individuals? how importent "unity" is for Europeans? and so on.....
Is it segnificant? well historicaly yes.
You see, France and Germany, even do most think Frances main rival is Britain, use to be Europes arch enemies number one. For almoust 500 years we used to smash each others heads in.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French%E2%8...man_enmity
Up to the point when Germany actualy declared the day it defeated France in the Franco - Prussian war it`s national Holiday.
After the second World war, it was concluded by the allies that one of the many reasons for the outbreak of the war was the almoust 500 year old French German enmity. So Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963 signed the treaty for French - German friendship.
Now this was essential for the rest of Europe because it meant a change of course in the then young European Union which would move away from simply being a bunch of trade agrements to being a political union.
The European union came into existance at first as a trade treaty between France and Germany, the treaty for trade with coal and steel.
Since then heavy industry has disapeared from most places in Europe, the union has grown in members and the goals of what the European union should be like have gone appart.
One could say that there is the position which was mainly proposed and still is proposed by the French, which calls for a political union of the continent, uniting parties and having a united European parlament equipt with more powers over the sovereign participants, a kind of alternative democratic superpower to the US.
Then the position mainly proposed by German politicians, which sees a union focused more on trade and information exchange, with no boundries set on cross country investment, trade and transfer. Leaving as much sovereignty as possible to the nations but making the exchange for individual people, information and buisness as easy as possible.
And of course, it would be unfair not to mention those who dont want the union at all.
Currently alot of people predict or see the union as failed, I would like to hear other Europeans opinions on this and what your opinions are on what this union should be like? if it should actualy exist? what went wrong? how it could be better? what it means for individuals? how importent "unity" is for Europeans? and so on.....
