L’Écho d’Alger
- Franco-German Relations
- After the Germersheim Incidents
- The Pan-European Congress
This front page of L'Écho d'Alger for 5 October 1926 set the case for Franco-German reconciliation beside its frictions. A press review quoted L'Ère Nouvelle, which called rapprochement with Germany a vital necessity and the first step toward a United States of Europe, while regretting that Stresemann had revived the debate over war guilt; the excerpt breaks off as L'Éclair's reply begins. A dispatch from Verdun reported the mayor's welcome to the 311th Artillery Regiment after it left Germersheim, with his warning that French goodwill depended on equal German sincerity. A Vienna dispatch described the opening of the first Pan-European Congress, its honorary presidents, the French delegation and a regretful telegram from Briand.
Translation
Franco-German Relations
Opinions and Commentary
From L'ÈRE NOUVELLE
Franco-German rapprochement is a necessity
M. Stresemann cannot be blamed for having, in the course of his address, brought up the economic clauses of the war of 1914. On the other hand, he would in our view have been well advised not to prolong useless polemics over responsibility for the conflict.
Franco-German rapprochement is a vital necessity for France as for Germany. It alone can assure us a lasting peace; it alone can begin the building of the United States of Europe. But let us not set down on the road that runs from Paris to Berlin a "Canossa" through which each of the governments will try to make the other pass. Let the event of the past be buried in oblivion; and let us draw up, by common accord, a contract that will replace Franco-German dualism with Franco-German collaboration.
From L'ÉCLAIR (M. Émile Buré)
Why bring up again
After the Germersheim Incidents
THE MAYOR OF VERDUN WELCOMES THE 311th ARTILLERY
Verdun, 3 October. – The 311th Artillery Regiment, which has just left Germersheim, arrived in Verdun today.
At a reception given at the Town Hall, the deputy and mayor of Verdun, M. Schleiter, delivered a speech of welcome to the new arrivals.
Alluding to the German nationalist demonstrations, he declared that such demonstrations are serious and that they concern us greatly because of the state of mind they reveal to us. They show us that at the very moment when France, victorious but grievously wounded, holds out a loyally peaceful hand to yesterday's adversary, there are still in Germany burgomasters and populations whose arrogance and spirit of provocation have in no way disarmed.
"Yes! France is peaceful, loyally and sincerely; but she can be so only toward peoples who also aspire to peace with the same absolute sincerity.
"It would be the worst of errors to
The Pan-European Congress
TWENTY-EIGHT NATIONS ARE REPRESENTED
Vienna, 4 October. – The first Pan-European Congress, organised by Count Gondeloff-Kallergi, whose honorary presidents are MM. Bénès, Mgr Seippell, Caillaux, Count Sforza, Politis and Lœben, opened yesterday morning in Vienna.
It was the former Chancellor of Austria, Mgr Seippell, who delivered the opening speech.
The principal members of the French delegation are M. Yvon Delbos, former Minister of Public Instruction, and M. Delaisi, the well-known economist.
A TELEGRAM FROM M. BRIAND
M. Briand sent a telegram in which he says he regrets being unable to make the journey for the congress that has now been inaugurated.
THE PAN-EUROPEAN FLAG
The Pan-European flag is made of
Context
The Germersheim shooting and the Landau court martial
The Verdun report presents the 311th Artillery's arrival as the sequel to "incidents" at Germersheim and has Mayor Schleiter blame German nationalist demonstrations and the "arrogance" of local burgomasters; the excerpt itself does not describe what happened. According to Time magazine's report of 3 January 1927, a French officer, Lieutenant Rouzier, killed one German civilian and wounded two others at Germersheim in the occupied Rhineland in September 1926. A French court martial at Landau acquitted him of manslaughter in late December, accepting that he had fired in self-defence when Germans attacked him with canes. The two wounded men were sentenced to two years and to two months in prison respectively, and four other Germans were also convicted. Berlin protested officially to the Quai d'Orsay, after which President Doumergue pardoned the six convicted Germans. The affair, which this page set beside arguments for reconciliation, therefore remained a point of dispute between Paris and Berlin for months afterwards.
What the Vienna congress of October 1926 was
The Vienna dispatch reports the first congress of the Pan-European movement led by Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi; "Gondeloff-Kallergi" on the page is a garbled form of his name. The movement grew out of his manifesto Paneuropa, published in 1923, which set out the idea of a unified European state. The first congress of the Pan-European Union met in Vienna in 1926, and its 2,000 delegates elected Coudenhove-Kalergi president of the Central Council, a post he kept until his death in 1972. The figure of twenty-eight represented nations in the subheading is the newspaper's own report, while the delegate count comes from a later biographical account.
The honorary presidents and Briand's telegram
The article lists Beneš, Caillaux, Sforza and Politis among the honorary presidents and says the former Austrian chancellor, printed as "Mgr Seippell" (Ignaz Seipel), gave the opening speech. Seipel's role fits his wider involvement: Coudenhove-Kalergi offered him the presidency of the Austrian branch of the Pan-European Union, and Seipel accepted without hesitation. The Italian anti-Fascist Carlo Sforza was also among the politicians who supported the Pan-European idea. Briand only sent a telegram to the 1926 congress, but in 1927 he was elected honorary president of the Pan-Europa movement, which shows how quickly the French foreign minister moved closer to it.
From the 'United States of Europe' to Briand's 1929 speech
L'Ère Nouvelle argued that Franco-German rapprochement alone could begin the building of a "United States of Europe". In October 1926 this was one newspaper's opinion, printed on the same page as a report of Briand's apologetic telegram to the Vienna congress. The idea later reached the centre of French diplomacy. Briand, a follower of the Pan-European Union, gave a widely noted speech at the League of Nations in Geneva on 5 September 1929 calling for a federal Europe that would make Europe secure and settle the historic Franco-German enmity. The minister who sent regrets to Vienna in 1926 thus took up the same programme before the League three years later.
Original
Les relations franco-allemandes
Les relations franco-allemandes Opinions et commentaires De l'ERE NOUVELLE Le rapprochement franco-allemand est une nécessité M. Stresemann ne saurait être blâmé d'avoir, au cours de son exposé, évoqué les clauses économiques de la guerre de 1914. Par contre, il eut été, à notre sens bien inspiré, en ne prolongeant pas d'inutiles polémiques sur les responsabilités du conflit. Le rapprochement franco-allemand est une nécessité vitale pour la France comme pour l'Allemagne. Lui seul peut nous assurer une paix durable; lui seul peut amorcer la constitution des Etats-Unis d'Europe. Mais ne déposons pas sur la route qui va de Paris à Berlin un «Canossa» par où chacun des gouvernements essayera de faire passer l'autre. Laissons l'événement du passé s'ensevelir dans l'oubli; et établissons, d'un commun accord, un contrat qui substituera, au dualisme franco-allemand, la collaboration franco-allemande. De l'ECLAIR (M. Emile Buré) Pourquoi remettre sur le tapis
Après les incidents de Germersheim
Après les incidents de Germersheim LE MAIRE DE VERDUN SOUHAITE LA BIENVENUE AU 311e D'ARTILLERIE Verdun, 3 octobre. - Le 311e régiment d'artillerie, qui vient de quitter Germersheim, est arrivé aujourd'hui à Verdun. Au cours d'une réception donnée à l'Hôtel de Ville, le député-maire de Verdun, M. Schleiter, a prononcé un discours de bienvenue aux nouveaux arrivants. Faisant allusion aux manifestations nationalistes allemandes, il a déclaré que de telles manifestations sont graves et qu'elles nous préoccupent grandement par l'état d'esprit qu'elles nous font découvrir. Elles nous révèlent qu'au moment où la France victorieuse, mais durement meurtrie, tend une main loyalement pacifique à l'adversaire d'hier, il y a encore en Allemagne des bourgmestres et des populations dont l'arrogance et l'esprit de provocation n'ont point désarmé. «Oui! la France est pacifique, loyalement et sincèrement; mais elle ne saurait l'être qu'envers des peuples qui aussi aspirent à la paix avec la même absolue sincérité. «Ce serait la pire des erreurs de
Le Congrès pan-européen
Le Congrès pan-européen VINGT-HUIT NATIONS Y SONT REPRESENTEES Vienne, 4 octobre. - Le premier congrès pan-européen organisé par le comte Gondeloff-Kallergi, dont les présidents d'honneur sont: MM. Bénès, Mgr Seippell, Caillaux, le comte Sforza, Politis, Lœben, s'est ouvert hier matin, à Vienne. Ce fut l'ancien Chancellier d'Autriche, Mgr Seippell, qui a prononcé le discours d'ouverture. Les principaux membres de la délégation française sont MM. Yvon Delbos, ancien ministre de l'Instruction publique, et Delaisi, économiste bien connu. UN TELEGRAMME DE M. BRIAND M. Briand a envoyé un télégramme dans lequel il déclare regretter de ne pouvoir faire le voyage à l'occasion du congrès qui a été inauguré. LE DRAPEAU PAN-EUROPEN Le drapeau pan-européen est fait de