On 9 May 1958, journalist Roger Massip recalls the declaration made by Robert Schuman on 9 May 1950 and describes the origins of the coal and steel pool. He particularly emphasises the role in events played by Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board.
On 24 January 1950, following Robert Schuman’s visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, the French daily newspaper Le Monde expresses concern at the tensions between France and Germany over the settlement of the Saar question and speculates on the risks of a revival of German nationalism.
On 12 May 1950, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the origins of the declaration made on 9 May 1950 by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman.
First meeting of the ECSC Council of Ministers, held in Luxembourg on 8 September 1952. The photograph shows Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, and Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister.
On 14 July 1946, French national day, Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, visits the City of Metz. After reviewing the troops with Robert Schuman, MP for the Moselle, and General Julliot, Governor of Metz, he delivers an address in support of European unity.
‘The Schuman Plan. A fine paper … offering really quite … improbable … opportunities.’ In 1951, Ernst Maria Lang, German cartoonist, takes an ironic view of the opportunities that the Schuman Plan offers the Franco-German duo, Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer.
‘The Franco-German forge. Schuman: Allez — while it’s still hot.’ On 13 May 1950, German cartoonist Ernst Maria Lang emphasises the implications of the Schuman Plan, which marks a rapprochement between France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) based on the coal and steel production of the two countries’ main industrial basins (Lorraine, Saar and Ruhr). This historic initiative lays the foundations for renewed Franco-German cooperation. French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer are depicted as blacksmiths, each holding a hammer and preparing to mould their future cooperation on an anvil. In the background, the third blacksmith, US Secretary of State Dean Acheson, who welcomes this rapprochement, holds a bellows to supply air to the forge.
On 15 January 1950, during the official visit of the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the German magazine Die Gegenwart emphasises the importance of Franco-German rapprochement and outlines the divisions between the two countries.
This issue of the Journal of European Integration History, published in 2004 and coordinated by Klaus Schwabe, presents the views of several academics on the Western reaction to the events in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
