ABSTRACT
It was not under de Gaulle, but the notorious Laval, that French power in international fmancial affairs reached its peak. In July 1931 - the midpoint of Laval's ministry of January 1931 to February 1932 - it was Germany's Chancellor and central bank president who came to Paris in search of credits and, on refusing to accept the terms, returned home to introduce exchange restrictions. Thirty-seven years later, following the events in Paris of May 1968, de Gaulle sent his Finance Minister to Bonn to demand a revaluation of the mark and stand-by credits. Failing to obtain satisfaction, exchange restrictions were introduced in France.
