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Thanks. The French lost most of their colonies later than the concept/creation European Coal and Steel Community, for example, and the UK joined much later. My

Thanks. The French lost most of their colonies later than the concept/creation European Coal and Steel Community, for example, and the UK joined much later. My impression was that in the late 1940s/early 1950s some of the ideas around overcoming the old animosity between France and Germany were genuine (at least from listening to people around at the time). On some of the later moves I have less insight into - perhaps it was a mix and/or varying motives?

p_l 3y ago
Some of the ideas were related to avoiding another Treaty of Versailles issues with Ruhr and other border regions, and stopping effective implementation of Morgenthau plan (which had inane idea of effective depopulation by starvation and total destruction of industry in Germany, leaving a small pastoral population) that was ongoing, while avoiding considerable opposition from population to any idea where germany might endanger others again.