A thaw in French-American Relations!
It seems like diplomatic relations between the French and the Americans have been on an irreversible downward spiral for almost two hundred years. The French did manage to bankrupt their country in helping the thirteen colonies win their independence from the Brits. You would think that little event might have created an eternal bond of friendship between the two countries. However! However! However! If we just barely probe beneath the surface we come to a startling different conclusion. The French at the time generally hated our guts, but they hated the guts of the British even more. The only way they could truly vent their undying hatred for the British Empire was to swallow their pride and help the Americans. According to the economic concepts of mercantilism to which the French government adhered at the time, if the British should lose their colonies that should totally shatter the British economy and leave the French as the supreme power in Europe. However, something really weird happened on the way to the forum. It was the French who went bankrupt, not the British. That led in turn to Bastille Day, the French Revolution, and Napoleon. You would think that the French would thank the Americans for Bastille Day. Not so! How many Frenchmen now take advantage of that day to hurl evil epithets, fireworks, etc. at innocent American tourists who just happen to be wandering the streets of Paris and its environs on that particular day? Many horrified Americans can attest to that occasion as a day of national retaliation against Americans.
To be sure the French did sell us the Louisiana Purchase at a bargain price of 3 cents an acre. But their actual title to the land itself was somewhat tainted. In 1800 under a questionable transaction the Spanish ceded ownership of the land to Napoleon with a clear understanding that the territory would never be sold to a third party. France did not take immediate possession of its newest possession because Napoleon feared the British would view it as a pretext to seize New Orleans. So he permitted the Spanish to continue to administer the area. Although the French sold it to the Americans on April 30, 1803, they did not take physical possession until three weeks before turning it over to the Americans. Napoleon it seems thought it would be best if he took at least nominal control before the Americans showed up on the Spanish doorsteps and asserted ownership. So we should probably view it as a quick profit turn around opportunity which no self-respecting emperor who was groping for spare change could possibly turn down. The French brief possession of the region did convey certain rights and privileges on the inhabitants and future inhabitants of the territory. Although I have been unable to verify it, CNN initially reported that due to a quirk in the French constitution, any resident of the Territory which includes Arkansas, for instance Bill Clinton, could legally seek the office of French President. The women of France might actually perceive him as a modern day William the Conqueror—if you get my drift. At least temporarily, Clinton decided to put all the Madames and Mademoiselles on hold to help Hillary win the office of US Senator from New York.
In 1823 the United States issued the Monroe Doctrine. For some time the French had been toying with the idea of helping the Spanish reclaim their lost American colonies. Alarmed by the defiant attitude of the Parisian government, the British approached the United States about a joint declaration warning all the conservative European states not to meddle in the affairs of the young republics of South America. James Monroe and John Quincy Adams dawdled while reviewing the invitation since they both knew that it could kindle a political uprising if they signed alongside the very people who had just recently burned our national capitol. Before they were compelled to sign on that dotted line, they learned that the British had extracted a formal agreement, the Polignac Pledge, from the French to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Relieved beyond measure, Monroe and Adams decided to thumb their noses at both the French and the British by putting forth the Monroe Doctrine. Already humiliated by the British, the French took special offense at this upstart young country of ours that they had helped to liberate—thinking that the Americans were just piling it on.
And indeed in the 20th century indignities did continue to pile up. The French were astounded that the American would dare claim that they were primarily responsible for the defeat of the Central Powers. During WWII Charles DeGaulle expressed his outrage when he was kept in the dark about critical details such as the actual landing site of the long awaited invasion of his country at Normandy or elsewhere. He protested it was his country after all. The American and British refused to relent to his demands knowing full well that whatever they told DeGaulle and his close circle of advisers, the Nazis would generally know in 24 hours or less. The best way for them to keep a secret was not to tell DeGaulle anything.
The French have spent a good deal of time in the last fifty years purging their language of Americanisms. A few examples should suffice: pipeline has been replaced with aqueduct de petrol and weekend with fin de semaine. Most computer terms have bitten the dust as well. In the heat of the rhetoric of the Iraqi War, the Americans finally felt forced to retaliate. French fries were temporarily replaced with Freedom fries. The French kiss remained French kiss—indicating that there was definitely a limit to how far we Americans would go.
So, when and where did this thaw in American-French relations occur? The date was March 29, 2006. It was sort of buried in an obscure press release. After all you can’t be too blatant when it comes to diplomatic overtures. French officials announced that in order to aid the wine industry in their country, they would now permit the wine makers to flavor their wines with wood shavings, a practice long sanctioned by the European Community, as opposed to aging the wine in expensive oak barrels. Now the grand gesture did not come from a French minister or perhaps a French Consul General, but from a person relatively low on the minion scale. Roland Feredj, director of CIVB, a Bordeaux wine council, stated, “In general, France always wants to give lessons to the rest of the world, and in winemaking we are realizing that the Australians and the Americans also have things to teach us about wine regulations.” Whew! To be sure the Aussies did get mentioned first. But there it was—a diplomatic olive branch tossed out to the Americans. Now don’t dismiss this magnificent gesture as trivial. What could be more important to the French than a bottle of wine? Unless, perhaps, we are all thinking of a French kiss.
# posted by north to alaska @ 7:57 AM
