Emotional Relations in the Early Cold War: Power, Politics and the French Gratitude Train to Americans, 1948–1949

This article argues that practices of gratitude were central to Franco-American relations in the early Cold War. Through the story of the French Gratitude Train to the American People in 1948–1949, it brings the diplomacy of gratitude to the heart of the post-war years, reflecting on the complicated relations between the two countries and on the ability of emotional performances of gratitude to shape as well as nuance post-1945 dynamics. Rather than focusing on political elites, this is a grassroots story which revolves around lace doilies and metal toys; women, children and veterans; lingering traumas mixed with genuine amazement. Through the lens of gratitude practice and performance, the article highlights the importance of ordinary citizens, material culture and feelings in the ideological battles and geopolitical reconfigurations of the mid-twentieth century.