Cartoon by Gassier on the dangers of the French-German rapprochement (24 June 1950)

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‘“Come Poo-Pool, come Poo-Pool, come …!” (Melody of a French song).’ On 24 June 1950, playing on the words of the song Viens, poupoule!, written in 1902 by French singer Félix Mayol, cartoonist Henri-Paul Gassier illustrates the dangers of the new Franco-German agreement over the coal and steel pool. Allusions to the Second World War abound. French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, depicted as conjoined twins sharing an arm and a leg, appear to move with near-perfect symmetry. The two men, performing the Hitler salute with their free arms and goose-stepping with their free legs, are stuffed together into a single Wehrmacht uniform as they sing the famous line from the Deutschlandlied (the Song of Germany), ‘Deutschland, Deutschland über alles …!’, while chanting ‘Heil Truman’. While the French cartoonist deplores this act of treason with the former enemy, he also criticises US support for the project. The belt buckle is decorated with a dollar symbol, while Chancellor Adenauer is wearing an armband bearing a swastika.

Source and copyright

Source: GASSIER, Henri-Paul. "Viens Poo-Pool, viens Poo-Pool, viens.!"Le Patriote mosellan. Porte-parole et défenseur de la population lorraine. Metz. 24.06.1950, n° 25, 5e année, p.1.

Copyright: (c) Gassier

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Cartoon by Gassier on the dangers of the French-German rapprochement (24 June 1950)