A history of the UE: Robert Schuman

Résumé du document

On May 9th, 1950, Robert Schuman, a French statesman and visionary European, gave a speech soon to be known as "the Schuman Declaration". This event determined Europe's future and is considered as the birth of actual functional European integration; a "Europe Day" is even celebrated on each May 9. However, Schuman's contribution to Europe isn't limited to the sole Schuman Declaration. How exactly did Robert Schuman contribute to European integration? And why did Schuman choose to take up the European cause? Schuman's parents were born a few miles apart, although separated by the French-Luxembourgian border. Schuman's father, Jean-Pierre Schuman, was born in Moselle, from a family of cultivators that owned a farm spread across the border. Schuman's father describes himself as being a "Lothringer," a Lorraine inhabitant. Robert Schuman's mother, Eugenie Duren, spent her early youth in Kruth, a small village in Alsace. This is where she married Jean-Pierre Schuman; the couple later settled in Clausen, a neighbourhood close to the capital of Luxemburg.

Extraits

[...] But it is actually Schuman who chose to leave Great-Britain out of the ECSC rather than giving in to the British demands. It is also Schuman that led the dialogue with the British and the West German to see what their respective intentions were. Further on, he orchestrated French negotiators' work, asking them to stick to the very text of the declaration. He played a huge part in letting the negotiators from the five other countries know that they wouldn't have to defend their national independence. [...]

[...] During his early career, although he didn't take up any political cause, Schuman became extremely active as a Catholic militant. After having considered becoming a priest, Schuman adhered to social Catholicism: he took part as a speaker in conferences and gave widely appreciated speeches, before becoming the leader of several Catholic youth movements. During WWI, Schuman was enrolled as a secretary soldier in the French Army. A few years after the end of the war, Schuman wrote in a letter to his cousin: will never forget that night when I witnessed the emergence of this fracture that would separate me interiorly from Germany forever”. [...]

[...] However, Schuman's contribution to Europe isn't limited to the sole Schuman Declaration. How exactly did Robert Schuman contribute to European integration? And why did Schuman choose to take up the European cause? I. Robert Schuman's personal background explains his involvement in the European integration process Robert Schuman's youth Schuman's parents were born a few miles apart, although separated by the French-Luxembourgian border. Schuman's father, Jean-Pierre Schuman, was born in Moselle, from a family of cultivators that owned a farm spread across the border. [...]

[...] Moreover, instead of taking actively part in the negotiations, Robert Schuman was the one that faced the members of the French Parliament's criticism and the British's counterattack within the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Robert Schuman was also one of the only ones to ponder what the ECSC should be and do in the wake of a change in the international climate. Schuman also had to face the French steelworkers' opposition, as they thought the ECSC would profit the Ruhr more than it would benefit French regions. [...]

[...] A few years later, Schuman's PHD supervisor, Wilhelm Kisch, became no less than a mentor for Robert Schuman; Kisch was a fervent Catholic, born in Alsace yet of Luxembourgian origin, a family history reminiscent of Schuman's. At the age of 26, Robert Schuman became a lawyer in Alsace-Lorraine. He was one of the first “Lothringer” to settle as a lawyer in annexed Lorraine. At that time of his life, Schuman started getting involved in an ultra-catholic corporation named Unitas. Robert Schuman achieved membership in 1904; a Unitas membership is designed to be lifelong, which shows how firm Robert Schuman's religious convictions were. [...]