On 24 July 1947, Jean Monnet, Commissioner-General of the French National Planning Board, writes a secret detailed note to Georges Bidault, the French Foreign Minister, concerning the implications of the Marshall Plan for French policy on Germany and on Europe.
On 18 April 1948, Jean Monnet informs French Foreign Minister Georges Bidault of the American view of the Marshall Plan and of the progress in negotiations in which he is involved in the United States on the issue of supplying France with food products originating in the USA.
On 2 June 1950, referring to the coal and steel pool as outlined in the Schuman Declaration, French engineer Albert Bureau, President of the Steel Control Group in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), writes a letter to André François-Poncet, High Commissioner of the French Republic in Germany, in which he draws attention to the risks of a revival of the major industrial combines in the Ruhr.
On 17 May 1950, André François-Poncet, French High Commissioner in the Federal Republic of Germany, sends a telegram to the French Foreign Office in which he gives an account of his meeting with the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, the previous day.
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.
Le 30 octobre 1950, Albert Wehrer, ministre du Luxembourg à Bonn adresse un rapport à Joseph Bech, ministre luxembourgeois des Affaires étrangères, dans lequel il rend compte d'une discussion qu'il a eue avec Jean Monnet sur la question du réarmement allemand et du Plan Pleven.
On 10 May 1950, in an article published in the Berliner Stadtblatt on the day after the Schuman Declaration, Willy Brandt criticises the Federal Government’s policy on the accession of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to the Council of Europe and comments on the proposal made by the French Foreign Minister.
On 13 May 1950, the Germany daily newspaper Freie Presse looks back at the stormy history of Franco-German relations and welcomes the Schuman Declaration of 9 May that paves the way for a new entente between the two countries.
‘Love and coal’. On 13 May 1950, German cartoonist Mirko Szewczuk illustrates the impact of the Schuman Declaration of 9 May, which paves the way to closer cooperation between France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). From left to right: French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman (depicted as Marianne wearing a Phrygian cap) and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (as the German Michel) flirt together on a coal heap, while behind them the Kohlenklau continues his work. The Kohlenklau refers to a coal thief cartoon character created during the Second World War in Germany to urge people not to waste available energy resources. In the post-war context, the image of the coal thief is used to criticise the role played by French mining companies that mine coal in the Saar and send it to France.