Robert
Schuman, the man
Schuman began to expound what later became known as the 'Schuman Plan,'
so breath-taking a step towards the unification of Western Europe that
at first I did not grasp it. As he talked we caught the enthusiasm and
the breadth of his thought, the rebirth of Europe which, as an entity,
had been in eclipse since the Reformation.
US Secretary of State Dean Acheson,
days before Schuman made his Proposal
One day history will attribute to Robert Schuman a decisive part in a work perhaps the most grandiose of the statesmen of our epoch, that is the practical and concrete realisation of of the grand design of political unity of Europe just a few years after the end of the greatest war that had ever devastated Europe.
It is to Robert Schuman that we are the most indebted both for the Council
of Europe and the European Coal and Steel Community.
Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Foreign Minister
The hours we spent in personal conversation were the most precious
to me. There you could see that this politician is not only a statesman
but a man whose power is created out of the wealth and depth of his universal
spiritual life -- for here the word 'Europe' is too small. Rooted in his
own homeland he is a Lorraine European. But he is much more: a humanitarian,
a humanist -- a real human being. (ein Menschenfreund, ein Mitmensch --
ein Mensch).
Historian Hendrik Brugmans, Rector
of the College of Europe, Bruges.
He was more than a great statesman of a neighbouring state and a man
of truly European sentiments. He was quite simply a constant visitor and
friend of the German people. He was a popular even venerated personality
in Germany. That dates back to the historic hour of 9 May 1950 when the
French Government on the initiative of Robert Schuman announced to the
world that it had decided to try to give a new basis to mutual relations
between European countries and that each should renounce a share of its
sovereignty to the profit of their common benefit. Thus a new chapter began
in the history of Europe.
Heinrich von Brentano, German Foreign Minister.
The destiny of Robert Schuman was exceptional, as was he himself as
a person in our political history.
Felix Gaillard, French Prime Minister.
'We are all instruments -- however imperfect-- of a Providence who
uses them to accomplish grand designs which surpass us,' he wrote to
me. 'This certainty obliges us to a great deal of modesty but
also confers on us a serenity that our own personal experiences would not
justify if we consider them from a purely human point of view.' In
this phrase it seems to me one can hear and perceive Mr Schuman ...
in his public life and in his plans that on a more and more elevated plane
constituted his action.
Robert Rochefort, colleague and biographer (quoting Schuman's
letter of 1942)
He pursued a 'grand design', conceived and matured in silence
and meditation. ... He saw far and accurately. He had nothing of the dreamer.
He ignored neither the inertia nor the weaknesses of human nature. He took
his support from the close study of facts. His firmness of character, his
tenacity and his rigor did not mean he lacked being astute. He was a realist;
he was not an opportunist.
Jacques Mallet, French deputy
What first struck me about him was how his interior
life shone forth; he was, it seemed to me, a dedicated man without personal
desires, without ambition, of a total sincerity and intellectual honesty,
who only sought to serve where he felt the call to serve. By tradition
he was conservative, hostile to innovations, by temperament he was peaceful,
shy and hesitant. Often he hedged, delayed his decision, tried to finesse
with the call he felt in the depth of his conscience. Then, when there
was nothing else to do and he was sure of what his interior voice was demanding
of him, he would brusquely take the most courageous initiatives and push
them to their logical conclusion, unmoved by critics, attacks or threats.
Andre Philip,
ministerial colleague
The inventory of public finances he established when he became Minister
of Finance in 1946 became for this methodical, economic man, without illusions,
the basis for {France's} economic and financial revival.
Alain Poher, twice interim President
of France and Schuman's colleague
Profoundly democratic as Robert Schuman was, he faced up as the head
of government with a cool head and strength to seditious attacks
from all sides that at the time aimed their cross-fire at our republican
democracy. This Christian, whose faith was so pure and simple that it could
only gain respect, was nothing of sectarian and he extended this 'tolerance'
at all opinions different from his own. This led him to defend the legitimacy
and necessity of political parties against the demagogy that already exploded
with furour. ... Courage, calmness and tenacity didn't fail Robert Schuman
any less during the historic moments when a crucial impetus had to be given
to Coal and Steel Community, or rather the Grand Design for a united Europe
of which it was the first practical manifestation.
Guy Mollet, French prime minister
He ... was a statesman as he possessed in a supreme degree, as one of
colleagues wrote, two of the essential qualities which make a statesman:
he saw the big picture and he looked far into the distance; he was creator
of the future.
Antoine Pinay, French prime minister
He reflected for a long time, but he knew how to act quickly when he
found the response to the grave problems that he settled on his conscience.
To reconcile France and Germany was his deep preoccupation at that time.
The surprise was total when this man who was so reserved proposed what
no two nations had ever done before: place in common their vital resources,
precisely those which were the source of their conflicts. This revolutionary
gesture was accomplished without vain ostentation, with a sincerity that
convinced at once all those to whom it was addressed. There was no ulterior
motive in the French proposal. It was simple and frank; that is why it
carried greater conviction in people's minds and had more consequences
on events than the most carefully crafted schemes.
Jean Monnet, first president of the
High Authority of the European Community