- 08/02/2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
This essay is written from the point of view of French Communist Party member, a devout Marxist-Leninist. It describes the angry reaction of this person to the picture of President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer at their historic meeting at Reims Cathedral in July 1962, where they attended Catholic mass together.
The historical meeting
Every head of the state has to meet the top management of other countries sometimes. Especially the personal meetings are important for the heads of the powerful neighbor countries which have a joint history for ages. So, the meeting of President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was the historical necessity.
However, the choice of the place for this meeting was disgraceful for all the French Communists. President de Gaulle together with his German colleague attended the Catholic mass at Reims Cathedral. It is obvious that this choice was meaningful on a number of levels.
First, for centuries this Cathedral was the place of coronation of every French king, and despite the current socialist political system in France the historical meaning of this place can hardly be undervalued. Second, this Cathedral was damaged with the German artillery fire during the First World War, but it was reconstructed. This fact symbolized the strength of France and its ability to recover after the serious troubles. At last, the Cathedral of Reims became the place where the German Wehrmacht capitulated on May 7, 1945. The meeting of French President and German Chancellor in this place could remind the world who won the World War II.
So, the Cathedral of Reims could be the good and meaningful place for this historical meeting. However French President wouldn’t attend the Catholic Mass. First, it could be interpreted as the concession for the Konrad Adenauer as a leader of Christian Democratic Union. Second, despite President de Gaulle was born in the family of Roman Catholics, he should remember that Communist ideas reject the religion because it is “opium for people”, as was said by Vladimir Lenin. Millions of French Communists are abused with this decision of French President.
Conclusion
The Cathedral of Reims as place of historical meeting of Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer had a great historical and political meaning, but the decision of French President to attend the Catholic Mass was abusive for many devout Communists in France.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.