Abstract
It soon became apparent that de Gaulle was the major obstacle to a successful British bid to enter the European Communities.1
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes and References
The hypothesis that the final Non by de Gaulle on 4 January 1963, was not a result of the negotiations, not even of Rambouillet and Nassau, has already been elaborated by Piers Dixon, Double Diploma: The Life of Sir Pierson Dixon, Don and Diplomat, (London: Hutchinson, 1968), pp. 300–5.
See also Alan Sked, Time for Principle, (London: The Bruges Group, 1992).
Edgar Pisani, French agricultural minister, to his British colleague, Christopher Soames, in 1961. Bernard Ledwidge, De Gaulle, (Paris: Flammarion, 1982), p. 301.
The following quotations are taken from Edmond Jouve, Le General de Gaulle et la Construction de l’Europe (1944–1966), Vol. 1 and 2, (Paris: LGDJ, 1967);
and Lord Gladwyn, De Gaulle’s Europe Or Why The General Says No, (London: Secker & Warburg, 1969).
See also Philip G. Cerny, The Politics of Grandeur, Ideological Aspects of De Gaulle’s Foreign Policy, (Cambridge: University Press, 1980).
Paul Reynaud, The Foreign Policy of Charles De Gaulle, (New York: Odyssey Press, 1964), p. 51. For de Gaulle’s relationship with Debré see also Institut Charles de Gaulle, De Gaulle et ses premiers ministres, colloque organisé par le ICDG, Paris 1990.
Jean Lacouture, De Gaulle, Vol. 3, Le Souverain, (Paris: Le Seuil, 1986).
Gladwyn, p. 54. See also Institut Charles de Gaulle, Approches de la philosophie politique du Général de Gaulle, Paris, 1983.
William Pickles, ‘Making Sense of De Gaulle’, International Affairs, Vol. 42, No. 3, (1966), pp. 410–20. For the EEC Commission’s knowledge about de Gaulle’s position see Hans von der Groeben, ‘Charles de Gaulle et l’integration européenne’, Institut Charles de Gaulle, De Gaulle en son siècle, Actes des Journées internationales tenues à l’Unesco, Paris 19–24 Novembre 1990, Paris 1993, vol. 5, pp. 94–101.
This contradicts Ionescu’s characterisation of these years as a ‘period of antithesis’. Ghita Ionescu, Leadership in an Interdependent World: The Statemanship of Adenauer, De Gaulle, Thatcher, Reagan and Gorbachev, (Harlow: Longman, 1991).
John Pinder, Europe Against De Gaulle, (London: Pall Mall Press, 1963), p. 39.
Jean-Raymond Tournoux, Jamais Dit, (Paris: Plon, 1971), p. 193.
This point was fully endorsed by de Gaulle on 17 July 1961. De Gaulle, Lettres, notes et carnets, Janvier 1961–Décembre 1968, (Paris: Plon 1986), pp. 107–8.
Michel Debré, Gouverner, mémoires, Vol. 3 (1958–62), (Paris: Albin Michel, 1985);
Charles de Gaulle, Mémoires d’espoir, Le renouveau 1958–1962, (Paris: Plon, 1970).
Charles de Gaulle, Lettres, notes et carnets, June 1958–Décembre 1960, (Paris: Plon, 1985), pp. 398–9.
Pierre Maillard, De Gaulle et l’Allemagne, Le rêve inachevé, (Paris: Plon, 1990), p. 184. Horst Osterheld held it to be highly possible. In his opinion Adenauer would have agreed [in the pursuit of both goals, the EPU and the preservation of the Communities]. But in his mind, the Dutch document contained a number of inadequacies: firstly, de Gaulle as the French President would never have signed a treaty with a private person, however much this person claimed to be Europe’s speaker. Secondly, it grossly overestimated Monnet’s influence on Adenauer. According to Osterheld, Adenauer liked to listen to, and especially squabble with, Monnet, but usually came to other conclusions.
Max Kohnstamm confirmed to the author that a secret meeting between de Gaulle and Monnet took place, and that this was Monnet’s policy until de Gaulle withdrew the Fouchet II memorandum for a European Political Union in early 1962. François Duchêne, Monnet’s private secretary at the time, also confirmed the secret meeting, but thought that it ended without results. Conversation with the author at the Cambridge Conference, July 1993. François Duchêne, Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence, (New York: Norton, 1994), pp. 318–9.
Edward A. Kolodziej, French International Policy under De Gaulle and Pompidou – The Politics of Grandeur, (Cornell: University Press, 1978), chapter 5.
Copyright information
© 2000 Oliver Bange
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bange, O. (2000). The Main Obstacle: de Gaulle. In: The EEC Crisis of 1963. Contemporary History in Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230286276_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230286276_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39958-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-28627-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)