ABSTRACT
As closely related as the chancellorship of Willy Brandt and the presidency of Georges Pompidou in France were in time, the differences between the two leaders outweigh the points of agreement. Contemporaries remember the irritations that the Eastern initiatives of the Brandt/Scheel government caused in France, close observers emphasize the differences in disposition and political styles, and analysts point out the incompatibility of conceptions and strategic interests. Alongside such conceptual differences, however, there was also enough common ground to allow shared policies and shared successes. This applies in particular to the process of détente – something which for both leaders needed to be much more than a simple re-evaluation of national positions.1
