On 18 April 1951, in Paris, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands sign the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). From left to right: Paul van Zeeland (B), Joseph Bech (L), Joseph Meurice (B), Count Carlo Sforza (I), Robert Schuman (F), Konrad Adenauer (FRG), Dirk Stikker (NL) and Johannes van den Brink (NL).

Exchange of letters between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the Government of the French Republic regarding the Saar.

On 18 April 1951, the Foreign Ministers of the Six issue a joint statement in which they emphasise the importance of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) which they recently signed in Paris.

On 18 April 1951, in Paris, Konrad Adenauer (Federal Republic of Germany), Paul Van Zeeland and Joseph Meurice (Belgium), Robert Schuman (France), Carlo Sforza (Italy), Joseph Bech (Luxembourg) and Dirk Stikker and Johannes van den Brink (Netherlands) sign the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 18 April 1951, in Paris, the Foreign Ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy and the Netherlands sign the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). From left to right: Étienne Hirsch, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and Pierre Uri.

Group photograph taken at the signing of the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. From left to right: Paul van Zeeland (B), Joseph Bech (L), Joseph Meurice (B), Carlo Sforza (I), Robert Schuman (F), Konrad Adenauer (BRD), Dirk Stikker (NL) and Johannes van den Brink (NL).

On 18 April 1951, in Paris, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, signs the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 18 April 1951, in Paris, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, signs the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

This film, produced by the Information Service of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), looks at the process by which the ECSC was created and describes the organisation’s objectives, mode of operation and activities.

In seinen Memoiren beschreibt Jean Monnet den Text des Pariser Vertrages zur Gründung der Europäischen Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl (EGKS).

On 7 April 1951, the East German daily newspaper Tägliche Rundschau publishes a statement by the Executive Committee of the German Communist Party warning of the dangers of the Schuman Plan and calling on Members of the West German Parliament not to ratify the ECSC Treaty.

On 18 April 1951, on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, the German daily newspaper Die Welt outlines French fears concerning the power held by the High Authority and the economic might of Germany.

On the day after the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community in Paris on 18 April 1951, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer sends a letter to Robert Schuman in which he expresses his hope that the Schuman Plan might become the basis for Franco–German reconciliation.

On 19 April 1951, following the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris, the German daily newspaper Die Welt emphasises the decisiveness of the step taken on the road to European unity.

‘Six Ministers board the same boat’. On 19 April 1951, German cartoonist Wand illustrates the historical significance of the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) by the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

On 21 April 1951, Kurt Schumacher, leader of the West German Social Democratic Party, expresses strong views against the Schuman Plan, which he believes will weaken the country’s economy.

On 28 April 1951, in an address given at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Walter Hallstein, State Secretary at the German Foreign Office, gives details of the numerous economic, political and institutional implications of the Schuman Plan.

‘The Schuman Plan. A fine paper … offering really quite … improbable … opportunities.’ In 1951, German cartoonist Ernst Maria Lang takes an ironic view of the opportunities that the Schuman Plan offers the Franco-German duo, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer.

In 1951, the East German Government authorities publish a brochure in which they outline the many dangers of the Schuman Plan and call on German and French workers to fight against its implementation.

On 5 January 1952, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung publishes an article by Professor Hans von Hentig which strongly criticises the megalomania of the Schuman Plan.

Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), comments on the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris on 18 April 1951 by the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, France, the FRG, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

On 10 June 1959, German Federal President Theodor Heuss awards the Federal Cross of Merit to Robert Schuman, President of the European Parliamentary Assembly, for his action to promote European unity. To mark the occasion, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer gives an address in which he praises Robert Schuman’s European commitment in the implementation of the plan for a European Coal and Steel Community.

On 18 April 1951, as the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) is signed in Paris, the Luxembourg daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort outlines the role and operation of the future Community institutions.

On 19 April 1951, the day after the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool fervently hopes that the process of European integration will be accelerated.

‘Steel wedding … May those who are against this marriage speak now and make themselves known immediately to 10 Downing Street …’ On 21 April 1951, the Dutch cartoonist, Opland, considers the implications of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in his own inimitable fashion.

On 27 April 1951, after the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the weekly journal Paraat, mouthpiece of the Dutch Socialist Party, emphasises the implications of the Schuman Plan.

On 30 July 1951, the Belgian delegation asks all the Socialist Members of Parliament of the Six to debate the implications of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) with a view to the establishment of a common position during the parliamentary debates concerning the ratification thereof.

On 30 July 1951, the Socialist Parties of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg adopt a draft joint declaration on the conditions which must be met if the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) is to succeed.

While the pro-Europeans are pleased with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), in its edition of 11 November 1951 the Belgian conservative daily newspaper La Libre Belgique deplores the clandestine and technocratic nature of the Treaty.

In 1951, the Belgian monthly magazine La Tribune des services publics presents the Schuman Plan to pool European coal and steel production as a solution to the economic difficulties faced by the coal industry in Belgium.

Stamp issued by the Luxembourg Post Office featuring the signature page of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), also known as the Treaty of Paris.

On 17 April 1951, on the eve of the signing, in Paris, of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), Paul Bastid, Director of the French daily newspaper L’Aurore, considers the main provisions of the future Treaty and emphasises the ways in which the basic text should be relaxed.

On 19 April 1951, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité harshly criticises the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and considers the numerous dangers of the Schuman Plan.

On 20 April 1951, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the signing, two days earlier in Paris, of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and emphasises the difficulties which need to be overcome in order to ensure the proper implementation of the Schuman Plan.

‘Coal. Steel. The ball and chain.’ In April 1951, referring to the signing, in Paris, of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the French cartoonist, Pinatel, deplores the dangers of the coal and steel pool (the Schuman Plan) for France.

On 8 May 1951, the French Foreign Ministry outlines in a memorandum how France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) are to be placed on an equal footing in the current and future European organisations.

On 18 April 1951, in an interview granted to the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Count Carlo Sforza, Italian Foreign Minister, sets out the implications of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

On 18 April 1951, on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris, the Italian Communist daily newspaper L’Unità criticises the system for weighting the votes cast in the Council, regarding it as harmful for Italy.

On 19 April 1951, the day after the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in Paris, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera notes that the ECSC does not enjoy unanimous support in Germany.

On 19 April 1951, commenting on the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the British daily newspaper The Manchester Guardian ponders the United Kingdom's future relations with the ECSC.

On 20 April 1951, in an internal report, the British government comments on the main provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and analyses their repercussions for the United Kingdom.

On 9 June 1951, Oliver Harvey, UK Ambassador to Paris, writes to Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, to tell him that the British Government is keen to examine the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), with which it might be associated.

‘Now we are citizens of Europe.’ On 25 March 1951, American cartoonist Herblock illustrates the practical implementation of the Schuman Plan with the future establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).