Cartoon by Bas on the policy of détente pursued by the Franco-German duo (21 March 1980)

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On 21 March 1980, Greek cartoonist Basilis Mitropoulos (known as ‘Bas’) illustrates the mediation efforts by the Franco-German duo Giscard and Schmidt to ease the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. The cartoonist particularly emphasises the complementarity of the actions of France and Germany on the international stage. On one side, President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing is engaging in dialogue with Leonid Brezhnev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt is playing the role of mediator with US President Jimmy Carter. Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, tensions between Moscow and Washington have been reignited and there is a new Cold War climate between the two superpowers.

Source and copyright

Source: BAS (Basilis Mitropoulos). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Zeitung für Deutschland. Frankfurt/Main: FAZ Verlag GmbH. 21.03.1980, n°69, p.2.

Copyright: (c) Bas

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Cartoon by Bas on the policy of détente pursued by the Franco-German duo (21 March 1980)