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Jean Monnet, the Great Inspiration behind Europe

by Herve Bichot
***All his life, he crossed frontiers and transcended national prejudices. Few men of his time had such broad horizons and such international action. Jean Monnet is not just a father of Europe, but also a pioneer of the contemporary world, in which he understood the growing interdependence among states, very early on.***
f | f-wf^ERE are two kinds of ■men: those who want to A be somebody and those who want to do something". By deliberately choosing.the second category. Jean Monnet refused easy glory. For most people, his character remains elusive and corresponds to an unusual path in life.
His international vocation appeared in his youth. He was born in Cognac, in 1888 and left school at the age of 16 to work In hfs father's firm. He became a cognac representative and travelled all over the world. From London to Saint-Petersbourg and from Egypt to Canada, he acquired an international culture which was rare for a young Frenchman before 1914.
When the "Great War" broke out. he had himself sent to London to strengthen international co-operation between the allies. As a reward for his efforts, he was appointed deputy secretary general of the Society of Nations, in 1920. Jean Monnet played a central part in the beginnings of the first big international organisation. but. in 1923. he had to resign to come to the aid of his father’s company.
He became a banker, but the Second World Wai convinced him to return to inlet national politics From 1938. he devoted all his efforts to economic co operation be tween Paris. London and Washington He was one oi the main figures involved in the tremendous effort which made the United States Into the "arsenal of democracies" According to the economist Keynes. J Monnet thus shortened the Second World War by a year.
At the age of 60. when other people think about retirement. Jean Monnet launched the idea of Europe which was a synthesis of his manifold experiences. As early as 1943, he noted: "'Prosperity and indispensable social developments arc impossible, unless the states of Europe Join together in a federation or in a European entity, making them into a common economic unit”.
His Main Interest
Europe became his main
interest for 30 years. In 1950. he suggested, to Robert Schuman, the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and. to Rene Pleven, the European Defence Community (EDC) Disappointed by the failure of the EDC. he set up the action committee for the United States of Europe, which grouped together representatives from twenty parties and ten European trade unions.
From then on, J Monnet was to benefit from international recognition. In early 1963. he received the prestigious Liberty award in New York. President J F Kennedy in person showed his admiration. "Under your inspiration. Europe has. in less than ten years, progressed towards unity more than it had done in
the last 2.000 years". In 1976. three years before his death, he had himself made an "honorary citizen of Europe"
But. in all, knowing about J Monnet's work hardly helps us to define the man himself. This politician, who was listened to by three generations of French governors (from G Clemenceau to V Giscard d'Estalng) never stood for election. This international civil servant, who had held the highest administrative posts, had always considered them as mechanisms for action and decision. corresponding to the necessities of the time. So was he a prophet or an ideologist? That would be underestimating his need for action.
In fact, this ordinary-look--ing man of peasant stock has always applied his will to attain
constructive and positive objectives. "I have never been short of the opportunity to take action In life. The most important thing, is to be ready for it. For that, one needs to have a conviction formed by long reflection. When the time comes, everything is simple because the necessity no longer leaves room for hesitation
His collaborators remember him with a combination of re spect and awe. J Monnet used to ask them for short and simple synthesis reports. One of the members of his team, a high civil servant at the Treasury department, had his report sent back with the re mark: "Too intelligent. Do it again" His principle was clear: “I want the man in the street to be able to understand what we write as it is for him that we work".
Monnet's genius is to have changed the rules of simple co-operation between governments. In order to introduce new forms of behaviour between nations which would be like those between people. As he wrote, in his Memoirs. "We are not combining states in a coalition. We are uniting men".
— LActualite En France ■