Subject: Efforts for Britain & France Union is nothing new !
Dear friends,
The subject of the posting below "Britain & France "union"!!! Proponents of
Assam insideIndia should take note of this report. Unfortunately forAssam, some
fools made a nightmare of Henri Souto for France,a reality in case of Assam"
needs attention.
Using the word "Secret" several times, a presenter at a BBC site, Mr. Mike
Thomson is trying to turn the episode of "Britain & France Union" into an
extra-ordinary idea so much so that it stunned the Nationalist MP Jacques
Myard.
"Seeing these words for the first time, Henri Soutou, professor of contemporary
history at Paris's Sorbonne University almost fell off his chair" and started
to stammer and stutter miserably.
However, if the so called history professor read history, or the said honorable
MP read Churchill's 1948 book "Their Finest Hour" , they would have seen that,
during the Second World War, the Union of Britain & France was proposed by
Winston Churchill by his letter dated June 13, 1940 to the then French Prime
Minister M. Reynaud.
Had Jacques Myard and Henri Soutou read the widely circulated Churchill books
on WWII, they could have avoided getting stunned, falling off the chair and
stammering/stuttering inconsolably as they read that French Prime Minister,
Monsieur Guy Mollet repeated the same offer 16 years later on 10 September 1956.
It is a matter of abundant absurdity that some correspondent in the net is
trying to describe the so called "nightmare of Henri Souto for France" as "a
reality in case of Assam" and is trying to feel sorry for Assam with phrases
like "Unfortunately for Assam", etc.
Just because some well-wishers recently mentioned a "Dutch Connection" in a
quickly drafted petition to Assam's Chief Minister, correspondents need not be
tickled to use an irrelevant "Britain & France Connection" to pity Assam.
It is now their turn to get stunned, to fall off the chair, stammer and stutter
as many times they need because their simile of Britain & France Union is
absolutely immaterial here ----- India is a sovereign country and Assam is
India, like Kerala is India, Maharashtra Is India, Gujarat is India ..
The Assamese are solid people --- we do not need sympathy or pity from
weaklings --- in fact Assam has protected helpless refugees many times in the
past.
With the best wishes,
Himendra
----- Original Message -----
From: Bartta Bistar
To: AssamNet
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 2:58 AM
Subject: [Assam] Britain & France "union"!!! Proponents of Assam insideIndia
should take note of this report. Unfortunately forAssam, some fools made a
nightmare of Henri Souto for France,a reality in case of Assam.
When Britain and France nearly married
By Mike Thomson
Presenter, Document
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6261885.stm
Formerly secret documents unearthed from the National Archives have showed
Britain and France considered a "union" in the 1950s.
On 10 September 1956 French Prime Minister Guy Mollet arrived in London for
talks with his British counterpart, Anthony Eden.
These were troubled times for Mollet's France. Egypt's President Gamel Abdel
Nasser had nationalised the Suez Canal and, as if that was not enough, he was
also busy funding separatists in French Algeria, fuelling a bloody mutiny that
was costing the country's colonial masters dear.
Monsieur Mollet was ready to fight back and he was determined to get
Britain's help to do it.
Formerly secret documents held in Britain's National Archives in London,
which have lain virtually unnoticed since being released two decades ago,
reveal the extraordinary proposal Mollet was about to make.
Really I am stuttering because this idea is so preposterous"
Henri Soutou
Historian
The following is an extract from a British government cabinet paper of the
day. It reads:
"When the French Prime Minister, Monsieur Mollet was recently in London he
raised with the prime minister the possibility of a union between the United
Kingdom and France."
Mollet was desperate to hit back at Nasser. He was also an Anglophile who
admired Britain both for its help in two world wars and its blossoming welfare
state.
There was another reason, too, that the French prime minister proposed this
radical plan.
Tension was growing at this time along the border between Israel and Jordan.
France was an ally of Israel and Britain of Jordan. If events got out of
control there, French and British soldiers could soon be fighting each other.
With the Suez issue on the boil Mollet could not let such a disaster happen.
Secret document
So, when Eden turned down his request for a union between France and Britain
the French prime minister came up with another proposal.
This time, while Eden was on a visit to Paris, he requested that France be
allowed to join the British Commonwealth.
A secret document from 28 September 1956 records the surprisingly
enthusiastic way the British premier responded to the proposal when he
discussed it with his Cabinet Secretary, Sir Norman Brook.
It says: "Sir Norman Brook asked to see me this morning and told me he had
come up from the country consequent on a telephone conversation from the prime
minister who is in Wiltshire.
"The PM told him on the telephone that he thought in the light of his talks
with the French:
a.. "That we should give immediate consideration to France joining the
Commonwealth
b.. "That Monsieur Mollet had not thought there need be difficulty over
France accepting the headship of her Majesty
c.. "That the French would welcome a common citizenship arrangement on the
Irish basis"
Seeing these words for the first time, Henri Soutou, professor of
contemporary history at Paris's Sorbonne University almost fell off his chair.
Stammering repeatedly he said: "Really I am stuttering because this idea is
so preposterous. The idea of joining the Commonwealth and accepting the
headship of Her Majesty would not have gone down well. If this had been
suggested more recently Mollet might have found himself in court."
Textbooks
Nationalist MP Jacques Myard was similarly stunned on being shown the papers,
saying: "I tell you the truth, when I read that I am quite astonished. I had a
good opinion of Mr Mollet before. I think I am going to revise that opinion.
"I am just amazed at reading this because since the days I was learning
history as a student I have never heard of this. It is not in the textbooks."
It seems that the French prime minister decided to quietly forget about his
strange proposals.
No record of them seems to exist in the French archives and it is clear that
he told few other ministers of the day about them.
This might well be because after Britain decided to pull out of Suez, the
battle against President Nasser was lost and all talk of union died too.
Instead, when the EEC was born the following year, France teamed up with
Germany while Britain watched on. The rest, it seems, is history.
Document's A Marriage Cordial will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 2000 GMT on
Monday.
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