This article aims to explore influence of the image of Germans constructed by the French authorities on their policy in Rhineland after WWI. Using the new archival sources, author analyses how the French decision-makers in Paris and in places perceived the Germans, how the French aims and methods of their realisation evolved between 1918 and 1930, finally, what the underlying forces behind them were. However, strategic and political factors were decisive for the French occupational policy in Rhineland, the «image of the other» had an important impact on formulation and contents of specific decisions and their implementation.