France's Invitation to Germant to Take Part in the Sixtieth D-Day Commemoration in 2004

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France's Invitation to Germant to Take Part in the Sixtieth D-Day Commemoration in 2004

In 2004, France invited Germany for the first time to take part in the

D-Day commemoration in Normandy. “This gesture is the right step for

the future” is the response of over 65% of the French public to the

invitation from the French President, Jacques Chirac. In the past it

was just the Allies involved. France didn’t ask Germany previously

because France thought that ten years ago it was still controversial,

and previous to that it was an inconceivable notion.

One the one hand, this invitation strengthens the Franco-German

alliance, sparking a friendship that is leading to a better France,

demonstrated in plans for French infrastructure reform. The post war

period is over and more than 50 years of French partnerships in NATO

and the EU have reconciled the nations. France has a responsibility to

unite internally and externally against future conflicts and

terrorism, so that such atrocities won’t have the chance to be

repeated.

Nowadays, for France, D-Day has become representative of the struggle

for freedom and democracy, which is symbolic of France’s resistance

movement. An Elysee spokesperson said the focus should be on

joint-remembrance because France’s peace and prosperity is owed to the

generation that fought. This would make honouring the dead admirable

as it shows that France realises that both sides had losses.

Additionally, France only invited Germany because they had taken

liability for the war, which had helped France to learn from past and

present international mistakes. As a result President Chirac said that

“the French receive you as a brother”, which acknowledged German

responsibility. But, President Chirac said privately; “France knows

who caused the war and take it seriously.”

In contrast, many French believe the Germans killed all of those

buried in Normandy, resulting from acts such as the Oradour-sur-Glane

massacres. Therefore, German attendance on tainted French soil would

be hypocritical because they were the reason for France’s losses.

Amnesty shouldn’t be made in the dead’s graves as this can insult the

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