France and Germany: From Allies to Enemies
A Historical Analysis of the Epic Rivalry That Shaped Europe
From the ashes of World War II emerged a vision of a peaceful, integrated Europe, with France and Germany at its heart. Yet for over 1,000 years before 1945, these two continental powers had been bitter rivals, clashing in bloody wars over land, religion and domination. This article explores the tangled history of conflict and uneasy alliances that characterized the Franco-German relationship from the Middle Ages until the 20th century.
The Seeds of Rivalry Emerge
While Charlemagne united much of Western Europe in the late 8th century under the vast Carolingian Empire, this unity proved fleeting after his death. As Charlemagne‘s grandsons warred over control of his lands, the regions under their sway emerged as the predecessor states to what would become France and Germany.
The divisions deepened further in 843 CE with the Treaty of Verdun, which split Charlemagne’s realm into three kingdoms ruled by his grandsons. The West Francia kingdom formed the basis of modern-day France, while East Francia evolved into the Holy Roman Empire which would later become the German states.
This partition initiated a rivalry between West Francia and East Francia that would influence Franco-German relations for centuries. It set the stage for an enduring conflict rooted not just in territorial ambitions, but differences of language, culture and governance between the French and Germanic regions.
Sparring for Supremacy in Medieval Europe
In the centuries that followed the Treaty of Verdun, the royal houses ruling the lands that would become France and Germany battled for supremacy in Western Europe.
West Francia faced repeated invasions from Vikings, Muslims and Magyars in the 9th and 10th centuries. This instability contrasted with a resurgent Holy Roman Empire seeking to restore Charlemagne’s former glory under rulers like Otto the Great.
As royal authority solidified in France under the Capetian Dynasty starting in 987 CE, clashes escalated with the Holy Roman Empire. The 1214 Battle of Bouvines proved critical, with the French royal army under King Philip Augustus defeating an alliance backed by Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV to quell rebellions against the French Crown. The outnumbered French forces prevailed due to tactical cunning, with Otto later deposed.
This victory helped cement France’s status as an emergent, unified power, while the Holy Roman Empire remained a loosely bound collection of principalities and city-states unable to match France’s coalescing strength. The contrasting governing structures of French absolutism versus German decentralization would be a perennial source of tension.
Rivalry Over the Burgundian Inheritance
Territorial conflicts were also never far from the surface. This dynamic played out in a series of wars over the rich strategic territory of Burgundy from the 14th-15th centuries.
Located between France and the Habsburg-led Holy Roman Empire, the Duchy of Burgundy represented a balancing force keeping either side from gaining supremacy in Western Europe. But with the death of Duke Charles the Bold in 1477, Louis XI of France moved swiftly to seize Burgundian lands. This provocative annexation gave France control of lands bordering the vital Rhine River.
This French aggression provoked the outraged Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I to fight France for these territories in the 1479-1482 Burgundian Wars. Their eventual marriage treaty linked the Habsburgs and Burgundy, shocking the French who feared encirclement. It launched a centuries-long rivalry between the French and Austrian Habsburgs for control of Burgundy and supremacy beyond.
Religious Conflicts Feed Enmity
Religion was the other major fault line contributing to enduring Franco-German enmity from the 16th-17th centuries onwards. As the Protestant Reformation swept Europe, doctrinal differences reinforced the political rivalry between France and the German states.
France remained staunchly Catholic under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties, who received papal legitimacy for their divinely-endowed rule. In contrast, many German principalities adopted variants of Protestantism like Lutheranism that emphasized individual spirituality over hierarchy. Ruling houses shifting between Catholicism and Protestantism battling internally over the rightfaith reflected Germany’s decentralized landscape.
These spiritual divides overlapped and inflamed political rivalries between the French Valois kings and the Austrian Habsburg emperors ruling over the Holy Roman Empire of Germany. The 1519 election of fervent Catholic Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor was deeply resented by French King Francis I, who had also vigorously campaigned for the title.
Their personal rivalry produced decades of wars between France and the Habsburgs. This existential power struggle climaxed during 1525-1559 Italian Wars as both dynasties fought proxy battles for control over Italian city-states and encirclement of their rival. Though Charles and Francis reached temporary truces when expedient, their successors continued the bitter feud.
Religious conflicts also led to the devastating Thirty Years’ War of 1618-1648 that pitted Protestants against Catholics across the dissolving Holy Roman Empire and repeatedly drew in French royal intervention. What began as a Bohemian revolt escalated into a pan-European struggle as Catholic France funded enemies of Catholic Habsburgs due to strategic interests against the encroaching Holy Roman Emperor.
The 1648 Peace of Westphalia finally ended the carnage of the Thirty Years’ War, enshrining the concept of state sovereignty. But over eight million fatalities made it one of Europe‘s bloodiest wars to date, fueling continuing French-German animosities with borders and powers still in flux.
From Revolutionary Rhetoric to World Wars
Franco-German enmity extended into the 18th-19th century as new political revolutions added ideological fuel. The French Revolution’s republican fervor threatened the monarchical status quo, with tensions erupting in the early Revolutionary Wars as French armies began aggressively expanding under generals like Napoleon.
Napoleon Bonaparte‘s stunning military conquests sidelined the waning Holy Roman Empire and created a vast new French sphere seemingly realizing universalist ambitions dating back to Charlemagne. But coalition wars marshalled by Prussia would lay the foundations for a united German Empire that would once more be at odds with France.
Likewise on the civilian front, German intellectuals recoiled at French revolutionary values overturning traditional order while French thinkershubristically proclaimed the universality of newly discovered ideals.. This battle of ideas would carry well into the World War II era as democratization took divergent paths in both nations.
Such political and cultural tensions borne over centuries ultimately triggered world war violence in the early 20th century. As in eras past, contested borderlands like Alsace-Lorraine or ambitions in the Low Countries/Balkans became friction points as modern nation-states like France and Germany emerged from older dynastic empires.
Chauvinism and jingoism bred by longstanding rivalry made compromise impossible when a political crisis sparked. And once more the prizes at stake seemed to warrant massive bloodshed for generations born into hate. But like after the Thirty Years’ War centuries earlier, such immense tragedy led to reflection and reconciliation efforts including the European integration project.
The Road to Reconciliation
Like Charlemagne twelve centuries earlier seeking to unite tribes into a Christian empire, the tragedy of World War II made leaders realize the urgent need for European reconciliation and integration to break the cycle of violence.
Early Franco-German bilateral initiatives from the 1951 Coal and Steel Community paved the way for the 1957 Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community, a common market embracing free movement of goods, capital, services, and people across Western Europe. Though primarily economically focused initially, the project created vital interdependencies and dialogue building trust and collaboration to prevent conflict – enshrining principles like subsidiarity and solidarity meant to balance localized and centralized decision-making.
Through the latter 20th century, further treaties expanded the European Community’s scope and strengthened its institutions like the European Parliament, Court of Justice, Council of Ministers and European Commission bureaucracy. As memories fade, new generations may forget the two World Wars killing millions not long ago were the prime motivation for governments pooling sovereignty into what is now the 27 member state European Union.
And while the UK’s disruptive Brexit vote and current tensions with Hungary/Poland reveal the underlying nationalism still lurking, the bonding between historic enemies France and Germany remains the bedrock for European integration. Their 1963 Élysée Treaty of Friendship formally reconciled the rivals, enabling them to jointly drive major initiatives like the Euro currency, open borders Schengen Area, and enhanced EU defense cooperation. The fruition of centrist Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 proposals for deeper EU integration may depend on the outcome of Germany’s late 2022 elections.
The complex story of conflict and rapprochement between France and Germany reflects Europe’s troubled quest for harmony spanning over a millennium since Charlemagne’s empire shattered. Their lasting peace holds lessons for overcoming divisions – but history warns durable resolution remains elusive between such storied rivals with long memories and instinct for power politics. The project to transcend conflict through common cause faces continual tests balancing regional diversity with continent-wide coordination across the economies, politics, security and values of European Union member states.