A union that never happened

In the news people are surprised at the suggestion of 10 September 1956 by French Prime Minister Guy Mollet to create a union of the UK and France under the British monarch. Both France Inter and NPR have podcasts about this as well.

There are two reasons the suggestion of a union is not surprising at all.

The first one is that the times were very different in 1956. France and Britain had fought together in the World War, and both now desperately tried to defend their empires, which were quickly crumbling.

The second and more significant one, is that people always have had crazy ideas. Just look at any blog, and you will find plenty of silly ideas. M. Mollet was in no way immune to craziness.