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France
50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Paris
1994 Proof Silver 100 Francs 37mm (22.20 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.6424 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 1046
RÉPUBLIQUE DE GAULLE ADENAUER 1994 FRANÇAISE, De Gaulle and Adenauer facing each other.
FRANCE ALLEMAGNE 1963 100 F, Handshake with stars around.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 The Élysée Treaty was a treaty of friendship between France and West Germany, signed by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on 22 January 1963 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. With the signing of this treaty, Germany and France established a new foundation for relations, following a history with centuries of rivalry and wars.
Franco–German relations were long dominated by the idea of French–German enmity, which asserted that there was a natural rivalry between the two nations. Germany started World War II by invading Poland in 1939. France then declared war on Germany which prompted the German invasion and occupation of France from 1940 to 1944. Afterwards, France participated in the Allied occupation of Germany from 1945 to 1949.
The post-war West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer made rapprochement between the historic rivals one of his priorities.
The treaty called for regular consultations between France and West Germany on all important questions concerning defense, education and youth issues. It also requires regular summits between high-level officials, which implies that the Heads of State and Government have to meet at least twice a year and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs every three months, to ensure close collaboration between the two states.
The first meeting between the two heads of state took place at the private home of General de Gaulle at Colombey-les-Deux-Églises in September 1958. Since then, French and German heads of state have kept up the strong relationship, often considered as the engine of European integration.
Additionally, an interministerial commission was established to coordinate and overlook the Franco-German collaboration. It consisted of high-ranked officials of every involved ministry.
Just two months after the signing of the friendship treaty, a new controversy between France and West Germany occurred. President de Gaulle intended the treaty to make West Germany distance itself and eventually separate itself from its American protector. He saw West Germany (and the other member states of the European Economic Community) as vassalized by Washington. The treaty was notable in that it made no mention of the United States, United Kingdom, NATO, or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
However, after US President John F. Kennedy expressed his displeasure about this to the West German ambassador to the United States, the Bundestag ratified the treaty with a preamble which called on France and West Germany to pursue tight cooperation with the United States; the eventual admission of the United Kingdom to the EEC; the achievement of a free trade accord in the framework of the GATT; and for the West’s military integration in NATO under US leadership. This effectively emptied the Treaty of any sense (in Gaullist understanding) and put end to General de Gaulle’s hopes of building the EEC into a counterweight to the US and the USSR. “The Germans are behaving like pigs. They are putting themselves completely at the Americans’ service. They’re betraying the spirit of the Franco-German Treaty. And they’re betraying Europe.” Later, in 1965, the General told his closest aides behind closed doors: “The Germans had been my greatest hope; they are my greatest disappointment.”
Among the direct consequences of the Treaty are the creation of the Franco-German Youth Office (l’Office Franco-allemande pour la jeunesse/Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk), the creation of Franco-German high schools, and the twinning between numerous French and German towns, schools and regions. Another outcome of the Treaty was the Franco-German military brigade, which was established in 1987 and is still intact.
In January 2003, the Assemblée Nationale and the Deutsche Bundestag met in Versailles to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Treaty. The choice of location was high in symbolism, as the palace had been the site of humiliation for each country, in 1871 and 1919.
New forms of bilateral coordination between the two countries were created in the course of the 40th anniversary celebration, such as the Franco-German Ministerial Council, which meets twice a year. The celebration also led to the creation for the first time of a common Franco-German History Coursebook to be used in both countries and foster a shared vision of history. The Franco-German University enables students to attain international double degrees from both countries. Additionally, a so-called Élysée-Fond was established to promote Franco-German culture projects in third countries. Also, double citizenships for French and German citizens in the opposite country are now easier to obtain, or in some cases finally possible.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron, along with lawmakers from both countries, called for a “new Élysée Treaty” in January 2018 on the occasion of its 55th anniversary. The so-called Aachen Treaty was signed on 22 January 2019.
  France, officially the French Republic (French: République française), is a sovereign state comprising territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . The European part of France, called Metropolitan France , extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . France spans 640,679 square kilometres (247,368 sq mi) and has a total population of 67 million. It is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country’s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. The Constitution of France establishes the state as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.
During the Iron Age , what is now Metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people. The Gauls were conquered in 51 BC by the Roman Empire , which held Gaul until 486. The Gallo-Romans faced raids and migration from the Germanic Franks , who dominated the region for hundreds of years, eventually creating the medieval Kingdom of France . France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , with its victory in the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453) strengthening French state-building and paving the way for a future centralized absolute monarchy . During the Renaissance , France experienced a vast cultural development and established the beginning of a global colonial empire . The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).
France became Europe’s dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV . French philosophers played a key role in the Age of Enlightenment during the 18th century . In 1778, France became the first and the main ally of the new United States in the American Revolutionary War . In the late 18th century, the absolute monarchy was overthrown in the French Revolution . Among its legacies was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen , one of the earliest documents on human rights , which expresses the nation’s ideals to this day. France became one of modern history’s earliest republics until Napoleon took power and launched the First French Empire in 1804. Fighting against a complex set of coalitions during the Napoleonic Wars , he dominated European affairs for over a decade and had a long-lasting impact on Western culture. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments: the monarchy was restored , it was replaced in 1830 by a constitutional monarchy , then briefly by a Second Republic , and then by a Second Empire , until a more lasting French Third Republic was established in 1870. By the 1905 law , France adopted a strict form of secularism , called laïcité , which has become an important federative principle in the modern French society.
France reached its territorial height during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it ultimately possessed the second-largest colonial empire in the world. In World War I , France was one of the main winners as part of the Triple Entente alliance fighting against the Central Powers . France was also one of the Allied Powers in World War II , but came under occupation by the Axis Powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War . The Fifth Republic , led by Charles de Gaulle , was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Following World War II , most of the empire became decolonized .
Throughout its long history , France has been a leading global center of culture, making significant contributions to art , science , and philosophy . It hosts Europe’s third-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites (after Italy and Spain ) and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, the most of any country in the world. France remains a great power with significant cultural , economic , military , and political influence. It is a developed country with the world’s sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and eight-largest by purchasing power parity . According to Credit Suisse, France is the fourth wealthiest nation in the world in terms of aggregate household wealth. It also possesses the world’s second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ), covering 11,035,000 square kilometres (4,261,000 sq mi).
French citizens enjoy a high standard of living , and the country performs well in international rankings of education , health care , life expectancy , civil liberties, and human development . France is a founding member of the United Nations , where it serves as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council . It is a member of the Group of 7 , North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and La Francophonie . France is a founding and leading member state of the European Union (EU).
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