An officer said: “It was clear that this disgraceful attack was connected
with the arrival of the German Chancellor and the President of the Republic
nearby. A full investigation has been launched, aimed at bringing the
culprits to justice.”
Hollande and Merkel review rftroops in Reims, before attending a service at
Reims Cathedral, which was badly damaged by German shelling in September
1914.
The two European leaders then made speeches on the steps of the historic
cathedral, as De Gaulle and Adenauerdid.
Both France and German suffered millions of casualties during their successive
wars.
De Gaulle and Adenauer were convinced that new institutions, and particularly
the European Union, could guarantee a period of peace and cooperation
between the two rivals.
But a legacy of intense bitterness still persists, especially over Germany’s
Occupation of France between 1940 and 1944, during the Second World War.
The desecration of war graves is all too common in modern France, with British
and Muslim cemeteries among those which have been targeted in recent years.