France: Running Scared of Germany? | European Journal

The eurozone debt crisis has laid bare French suspicions of Germany. Relations between the two countries have now become a big election issue in France, characterized by increasingly venomous anti-German commentary. A leading French socialist compared Chancellor Angela Merkel to Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor who defeated France back in 1871. Many French people are annoyed at the way President Nicolas Sarkozy has described Germany as a role model for France. They see as him as the junior partner in the new "Merkozy" axis. France's minister for Europe, Jean Leonetti, is already talking of anti-German hysteria sweeping the country.