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 Robert Schuman
France Luxembourg
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Nobody better than Robert Schuman was predisposed to become the tireless author of Europe.. He was born on June 29, 1886 on "this demarcation line between France and Germany" - Luxembourg - from a Luxembourg mother and a Lorrain father installed in Luxembourg to escape the German annexation.
Its school and professional course fixed him even more still in the two cultures : he attended primary and secondary school in Luxembourg, where he learned french and german, then universities in Metz, Bonn, Munich, Berlin and Strasbourg. In 1912 he set up as a lawyer in Metz, back again to France from november 1918.
He was then elected deputy of Moselle.
In 1940, he voted full powers to Marshal Pétain, and was appointed as Under-Secretary for the Refugee. But he soon took his distance with Petain. In september 1940, he was arrested by the Gestapo, and taken under house arrest in Germany where he escaped from in August 1942.
After the war, he successively became Finance Minister in 1946, then Prime Minister in 1947 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 1948 to January 1953. As an advocate of reconciliation, he thought that "the borders which separate us should not be a barrier between people, between men, who, all things considered, were never themselves at the origin of the conflicts". His "great work" was materializing Jean Monnet's brilliant and pragmatic intuition : On May 9, 1950, he launched the idea of a European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). While France and the Allies were longing to lay their hands on the iron and steel ressources of the Saar in compensation for the war, the offered protectorate made it possible to start a cooperation which gave the former a say in it, and guarantees to Germany. On April 18, 1951, the foundin document of the ECSC was signed. May 9th was to become the birthday of Europe's creation. On March 1958, Robert Schuman was elected President of the European Assembly, named afterwards European Parliament. He was President of the international European Movement from 1955 to 1961. This great peacemaker died on September 4, 1963 after he had seen de Gaulle and Adenauer sign a treaty of friendship between France and Germany at the Elysée Palace.
A clip from the declaration of 9 mai 1950 :
"In taking upon herself for more than 20 years the role of champion of a united Europe, France has always had as her essential aim the service of peace. A united Europe was not achieved and we had war. Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity."
Robert Schuman Association :
8, rue Robert Schuman 57160 Scy-Chazelles
Téléphone : 03 87 60 10 15 Télécopie : 03 87 60 14 71 |
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