Word: mende
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...talk was hard and humorless. Small talk and jokes were ignored. Now and then Mendès rose, went to the window, stared into the courtyard. Adenauer remained seated. Downstairs, Eden waited...
...Mendès and Adenauer emerged. Ashtrays were overflowing with cigar and cigarette butts. Paper littered the rugs, protruded from the pockets of tired diplomats. Exhausted, both Mendès and Adenauer left hastily, not realizing that Eden was waiting up for them. At Adenauer's hotel, waiting newsmen asked him if the agreement would be signed. Said Der Alte wearily: "I think so-I mean, I hope so. I won't bet money...
...punishment. At the time of the peace treaty, another plebiscite will decide whether the Saarlanders want to keep their "European" status. Erich Ollenhauer, leader of the Socialist opposition, flatly opposed the terms. Adenauer's own coalition leaders argued bitterly for an hour, but finally swallowed the pill. Mendès-France had won his concessions...
...Deadline. All morning long negotiators haggled over details, reached agreement only one hour before the signing ceremonies were scheduled. With only 15 minutes to go, Mendès rushed over to the Quai d'Orsay to get his Cabinet's approval, then met Konrad Adenauer in his private office. They signed. Then the Premier hustled the Chancellor down the hallway to the state dining room where Eden, Dulles and the other WEU ministers were waiting...
There, sitting on ornate chairs so high that little (5 ft. 6 in.) Mendès-France could not touch the floor with his toes, the ministers signed the documents restoring Germany's sovereignty and establishing WEU. Then they all hurried across the Seine to the Palais de Chaillot, where the 14 NATO powers signed Germany in as a member. Early in the alphabetical order, Mendès-France signed for France, then busied himself with the afternoon newspapers, taking no further interest in the proceedings. He did not have to. He had gotten what he wanted...