France Needs Us to Survive

TELEGRAPH BLOGS – BENEDICT BROGAN: The last time France was in deep trouble, Winston Churchill offered to merge our two countries and make common cause against the Germans, who had driven what remained of French authority from Paris. On 16 June 1940, at the urging of de Gaulle, who had just arrived in London, the British proposed a Declaration of Union to Paul Reynaud, who was desperate to avoid surrender. But the French PM's colleagues dismissed it as a nefarious plot by Britain to snaffle France's colonies. Reynaud resigned and the next day Petain did his deal with Hitler. That instinctive desire to help our oldest friend, ally and rival was celebrated last year when Nicolas Sarkozy came to London to mark the anniversary of l'appel du 18 juin, De Gaulle's call to arms that launched France's resistance and defined her post-war future. With David Cameron, he recalled that the Entente Cordiale of our intertwined histories prove that for France and Britain "their unity has always been a condition of their survival". Read on and comment » | Benedict Brogan | Friday, December 16, 2011