Franco-German Relationship Analysis

The relationship between France and Germany still remains one of the most important relations in the European Union. Both countries have significant power in the European Union due to their cooperation. Sometimes, European countries call the relationship between Germany and France the “twin engine”, as their treaties always work as the basis for further integration of the European Union. Although the Franco-German relationship is old, it continues to be vital today. According to one German professor of the International Relations and the chair of the department of political and social sciences at the European University Institute (European University Institute, 2015), Ulrich Krotz, “a long-term perspective on the Franco-German relationship
The concept of the ‘hereditary enmity’ between France and Germany has deep historical roots, which starts from the very beginning up to 1945. Although, their relationship starts earlier, the period of the ‘hereditary enmity’ is considered to be the days of the intense hatred and wars between France and Germany. It is mostly from the times of the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 – 1871, the war between the Napoleon Empire and the German state, which tried to reach the European hegemony. Formally, the war was started by Napoleon III, despite the fact that the main prerequisite of the Franco-Prussian war was the provocation of the first Prussian chancellor – Otto von Bismarck, who was one of the initiators of the partial unification of Germany, while some of the German leaders and foreign authorities were against. German nationalists believed that unification of Germany would help to replace France as the dominant power in the
Looking from the long-term perspective, Franco-German relationship in Europe has a strong point, because the relationship strengthens by the accent on the fundamental nature and the main supports of the Franco-German relationship of the past half-century, frequently referred to in terms such as ‘tandem’, ‘pair’, and ‘couple’. This relationship might be considered ‘friendship’, due to the Elysee Treaty in 22nd January, 1963, which was reached after the Second World War as the end of the rivalry between France and Germany (Traité de l’Elysée, 1963). The Elysee Treaty, with numerous renewals and additions, has defined and remained at the core of France and Germany’s “regularized bilateral intergovernmentalism” (Krotz, Regularized Intergovernmentalism, 2010). The term of ‘intergovernmentalism’, which was firstly proposed by the Paul and Catherine Buttenweiser University professor – Stanley Hoffmann, refers to the theory of the regional integration (Keohane, 1991). The semi-annual summits involved not only the German chancellor and French President with the French Prime Minister, but also several ministries such as the Minister of the foreign affairs, the Minister of defense and the Minister of the finance department. In virtue of the involvement of more and more people in these meetings, the summits grew in its breadth significantly as well as in the depth. (Krotz & de