1965 French empty chair crisis

Empty chair crisis: empty chair diplomacy.

In the international diplomatic arena, the French are famous for their maverick and ingenuity. Especially in the period of Charles de Gaulle, he brought this feature of French diplomacy to the extreme. He has made many major "inventions" in the diplomatic field, and the "empty chair" policy is one of his masterpieces.

The policy of "empty chairs" first appeared in 196 1. At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union adopted a proposal at the 16 session of the General Assembly and decided to set up a disarmament committee to discuss issues such as general and complete disarmament, confidence-building measures and the cessation of nuclear testing. However, under the situation of hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union at that time, the so-called disarmament proposal put forward by the United States and the Soviet Union was actually under the guise of disarmament, restricting other countries from developing military forces in order to maintain their absolute military superiority, which greatly dissatisfied France, which was busy developing atomic bombs.

Just before the congress, Charles de Gaulle put forward his own set of disarmament measures: banning the production and possession of rockets, planes and submarines, and destroying nuclear weapons reserves. De Gaulle's purpose is very clear. France opposes that the United States and the Soviet Union restrict France's hands and feet by banning nuclear tests, and advocates that what France did not have at that time-nuclear weapons should be banned and destroyed first. In short, as long as the United States and the Soviet Union continue to possess and develop nuclear weapons, France will freely develop its own nuclear forces and will not be bound by any disarmament negotiations or agreements.

1962 In March, the Disarmament Commission held its first meeting, and France announced its refusal to attend. As a result, the chairs assigned to the French delegates were all empty at the meeting, which was particularly dazzling at the meeting, which embarrassed the United States and the Soviet Union, which presided over the meeting, hence the name of France's "empty chair" policy. Due to the absence of France, a permanent member of the United Nations, the disarmament agreement has actually become a dead letter, breaking the conspiracy of the United States and the Soviet Union to maintain nuclear hegemony. Through the "empty chair" policy, Charles de Gaulle protested the monopoly of the United States and the Soviet Union on disarmament in a more moderate way, and reminded the two great powers not to ignore the existence of France with an eye-catching "empty chair", which won France a diplomatic beauty.

Three years later, Charles de Gaulle made his own "empty chair" policy again, but this time the opponent was replaced by European style. 1from April to June, 1965, there were serious differences between France and other EU member States on expanding agriculture and EU supranational organizations. Germany, Italy and other member States proposed to change the decision-making mechanism in the same institution from unanimous adoption to majority adoption. De Gaulle firmly opposed this proposal, believing that the introduction of majority ratification mechanism would damage the independence of big countries.

1965 On June 30, under the auspices of France, the Council of the European Community met in Brussels to discuss this proposal, but the meeting lasted until the early morning of the next day, and no agreement was reached. As a result, France's relations with all other member States were frozen. In desperation, the French Foreign Minister Maurice Couvedemurville, who presided over the meeting, announced an indefinite recess. Later, Charles de Gaulle recalled the permanent representative of France to the European Union, and fully implemented the default boycott policy. In the following seven months, the French representative did not attend any EU meeting, which triggered an "empty chair crisis" that lasted for half a year.

1966 65438+ 10, the EU and France reached a compromise, and other member States made concessions, actually agreeing to France's request and the unanimity principle of the decision-making mechanism proposed by France. Through these two diplomatic incidents, the French achieved their goal, and the policy of "empty chair" became famous in the western world and diplomatic history.

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Empty chair crisis: empty chair diplomacy.

In the international diplomatic arena, the French are famous for their maverick and ingenuity. Especially in the period of Charles de Gaulle, he brought this feature of French diplomacy to the extreme. He has made many major "inventions" in the diplomatic field, and the "empty chair" policy is one of his masterpieces.

The policy of "empty chairs" first appeared in 196 1. At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union adopted a proposal at the 16 session of the General Assembly and decided to set up a disarmament committee to discuss issues such as general and complete disarmament, confidence-building measures and the cessation of nuclear testing. However, under the situation of hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union at that time, the so-called disarmament proposal put forward by the United States and the Soviet Union was actually under the guise of disarmament, restricting other countries from developing military forces in order to maintain their absolute military superiority, which greatly dissatisfied France, which was busy developing atomic bombs.

Just before the congress, Charles de Gaulle put forward his own set of disarmament measures: banning the production and possession of rockets, planes and submarines, and destroying nuclear weapons reserves. De Gaulle's purpose is very clear. France opposes that the United States and the Soviet Union restrict France's hands and feet by banning nuclear tests, and advocates that what France did not have at that time-nuclear weapons should be banned and destroyed first. In short, as long as the United States and the Soviet Union continue to possess and develop nuclear weapons, France will freely develop its own nuclear forces and will not be bound by any disarmament negotiations or agreements.

1962 In March, the Disarmament Commission held its first meeting, and France announced its refusal to attend. As a result, the chairs assigned to the French delegates were all empty at the meeting, which was particularly dazzling at the meeting, which embarrassed the United States and the Soviet Union, which presided over the meeting, hence the name of France's "empty chair" policy. Due to the absence of France, a permanent member of the United Nations, the disarmament agreement has actually become a dead letter, breaking the conspiracy of the United States and the Soviet Union to maintain nuclear hegemony. Through the "empty chair" policy, Charles de Gaulle protested the monopoly of the United States and the Soviet Union on disarmament in a more moderate way, and reminded the two great powers not to ignore the existence of France with an eye-catching "empty chair", which won France a diplomatic beauty.

Three years later, Charles de Gaulle made his own "empty chair" policy again, but this time the opponent was replaced by European style. 1from April to June, 1965, there were serious differences between France and other EU member States on expanding agriculture and EU supranational organizations. Germany, Italy and other member States proposed to change the decision-making mechanism in the same institution from unanimous adoption to majority adoption. De Gaulle firmly opposed this proposal, believing that the introduction of majority ratification mechanism would damage the independence of big countries.

1965 On June 30, under the auspices of France, the Council of the European Community met in Brussels to discuss this proposal, but the meeting lasted until the early morning of the next day, and no agreement was reached. As a result, France's relations with all other member States were frozen. In desperation, the French Foreign Minister Maurice Couvedemurville, who presided over the meeting, announced an indefinite recess. Later, Charles de Gaulle recalled the permanent representative of France to the European Union, and fully implemented the default boycott policy. In the following seven months, the French representative did not attend any EU meeting, which triggered an "empty chair crisis" that lasted for half a year.

1966 65438+ 10, the EU and France reached a compromise, and other member States made concessions, actually agreeing to France's request and the unanimity principle of the decision-making mechanism proposed by France. Through these two diplomatic incidents, the French achieved their goal, and the policy of "empty chair" became famous in the western world and diplomatic history.