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Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence
This text examines the origins and development of the European Union by looking at the life and works of Jean Monnet, a founding father of European unity. Little-known and never elected to power, he nevertheless exerted great influence behind the scenes of American and European governments.
480 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 23, 2016
Back in the early 90s, when the search was on for a name for the physical manifestation of the ECU, a waggish friend suggested "the Monnet". Frankly, it was a much better choice than the Euro - which also suffers from sounding like biological waste in several of its constituent languages...
Anyway, I bought this book around that time, and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since, challenging me to pick it up. 2016 could hardly be a more appropriate time.
Of course, much has moved on in the last quarter century, and so the book could do with an update (sadly, there are no updated editions as the author died a decade after publication- he was, himself, an impressive man, as this obituary recounts https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005... ) - but when you read through to the end, you can see that a keen mind - the sort which Monnet most definitely had - was capable of visualising today's situation as a viable potential scenario, and of constructing policy to address it, decades in advance.
What you get here is: firstly, a biography of a man who has had an astounding impact on the modern world (dating back to WW1 logistics innovations which heavily influenced the course of the war, and raging from China, the USA, North Africa during WW2, etc.); secondly, a fairly detailed account of the decade or two around the birth of what became the EU (this is, after all, what he's known for, and is also the author's area of overlap) - stick with it, if it gets a bit dry, it is worth it; and finally an appraisal of the context, which I found insightful and also a good way of contextualising a narrative which, up to here, is largely sequential (being a biography).
Well informed, heavily researched (and from prime sources), and a key insight into the inner workings and hidden origins of institutions which affect all our lives (not just in Europe!), in a way this should be read by everyone. Better, it might be usefully adapted so that all those people who don't want to read a 500 page book about a bureaucrat can also discover the valuable points here.
Anyway, I bought this book around that time, and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since, challenging me to pick it up. 2016 could hardly be a more appropriate time.
Of course, much has moved on in the last quarter century, and so the book could do with an update (sadly, there are no updated editions as the author died a decade after publication- he was, himself, an impressive man, as this obituary recounts https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005... ) - but when you read through to the end, you can see that a keen mind - the sort which Monnet most definitely had - was capable of visualising today's situation as a viable potential scenario, and of constructing policy to address it, decades in advance.
What you get here is: firstly, a biography of a man who has had an astounding impact on the modern world (dating back to WW1 logistics innovations which heavily influenced the course of the war, and raging from China, the USA, North Africa during WW2, etc.); secondly, a fairly detailed account of the decade or two around the birth of what became the EU (this is, after all, what he's known for, and is also the author's area of overlap) - stick with it, if it gets a bit dry, it is worth it; and finally an appraisal of the context, which I found insightful and also a good way of contextualising a narrative which, up to here, is largely sequential (being a biography).
Well informed, heavily researched (and from prime sources), and a key insight into the inner workings and hidden origins of institutions which affect all our lives (not just in Europe!), in a way this should be read by everyone. Better, it might be usefully adapted so that all those people who don't want to read a 500 page book about a bureaucrat can also discover the valuable points here.
July 15, 2025
Die wahrhaftig erstaunliche Geschichte eines talentierten Schanpshändlers aus französischem Landwirtengeschlecht, der später zur Seele der europäischen Einheit und Integration werden sollte. Bloß mit dem Baccalauerat und einer göttlichen Gabe der Überzeugungskraft ausgestattet, begann jener talentiert-tüchtige Autodidakt seine bemerkenswerte Karriere. Gleich ob als, Stellvertreter des Generalsekträters des Völkerbunds, als Wall-Street Bänker, als Cognac Verkäufer oder Minister der Frei-französischen Exilregierung, Jean Monnet gewann in jeder seiner Tätigkeiten wervollste Kontakte in die höchsten Kreise der amerikanischen und europäischen Wirtschaft und Politik.
Diese Kontakte jedoch nutze er nicht, um sich durch hohe Ämter zu profilieren und sich daran zu ergötzen, denn keineswegs war dieser genialste aller Staatsmänner ein Politiker, sondern um seine heilige Vision eines vereinten Europas zu verwirklichen.
Dort, wo die hellsten Genii von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Briand und Churchill scheiterten, brillierte Monnet, der Urheber des Schuman-Plans, der Sicherheit, Wohlstand und schließlich Einigkeit für Europa schaffen sollte, als Nukleus der Integration, als erster unauslöschbarer Funke, der zu den Feuern von Rom, Maastricht und Lissabon führen sollte. Ihm, der durch die Vergemeinschaftlichung von Kohle und Stahl Kriege in Europa in die Geschichtsbücher verbannte und Johan Beyen und dem Binnenmarkt den Weg ebnete, gebührt freilich eines jeden Europäers höchste Achtung und Dankbarkeit.
Diese Kontakte jedoch nutze er nicht, um sich durch hohe Ämter zu profilieren und sich daran zu ergötzen, denn keineswegs war dieser genialste aller Staatsmänner ein Politiker, sondern um seine heilige Vision eines vereinten Europas zu verwirklichen.
Dort, wo die hellsten Genii von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Briand und Churchill scheiterten, brillierte Monnet, der Urheber des Schuman-Plans, der Sicherheit, Wohlstand und schließlich Einigkeit für Europa schaffen sollte, als Nukleus der Integration, als erster unauslöschbarer Funke, der zu den Feuern von Rom, Maastricht und Lissabon führen sollte. Ihm, der durch die Vergemeinschaftlichung von Kohle und Stahl Kriege in Europa in die Geschichtsbücher verbannte und Johan Beyen und dem Binnenmarkt den Weg ebnete, gebührt freilich eines jeden Europäers höchste Achtung und Dankbarkeit.
October 22, 2025
I ran into the name of Monnet when reading "Wisselwachter" from Geert Mak. Monnet is one of the founding fathers of the EU, being directly responsible for the foundation of the EGKS and Euratom. Before that he played a major role in getting the support from the US for France in WW1 and WW2.
He was very influential, but never held a public office. He is responsible for very influential plans that were later executed by the French government or the US, but hardly wrote anything. He was not very good in speaking or in large meetings, but very persuasive in one-to-one. He had a tremendous netowrk in Europ, but also in the US. The US government helped him often to stimulte European Governments to increase cooperation.
It is not a book that is easy to read. But worth reading for people interested in the modern history of Europe.
He was very influential, but never held a public office. He is responsible for very influential plans that were later executed by the French government or the US, but hardly wrote anything. He was not very good in speaking or in large meetings, but very persuasive in one-to-one. He had a tremendous netowrk in Europ, but also in the US. The US government helped him often to stimulte European Governments to increase cooperation.
It is not a book that is easy to read. But worth reading for people interested in the modern history of Europe.
June 27, 2021
This is the longer story of the EU Founding Fathers. Would mind this in school curricula.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews