The Father of the EU
Vernon Coleman
Robert Schuman was a member of Paul Reynaud’s wartime government in France, in charge of refugees. When France surrendered to the Nazis, Schuman kept his post under the Petain government and on 10th July 1940, Schuman pledged allegiance to Adolf Hitler and voted to give full power to Marshall Petain. At the end of the War, Schuman should have been arrested but he was a committed enthusiast for the development of a European Union and was, therefore, invaluable to the Americans.
It was Schuman, an enthusiastic Nazi supporter, who in 1950 created the European Coal and Steel Community (which developed into the European Union) and today Schuman is described as one of the founding fathers of the European Union.
In 1958, Schuman the Nazi supporter became the first president of the forerunner of the European Parliament.
When Schuman retired the EU Parliament gave him the title `Father of Europe’ and the date of 9th May was designated `Europe Day’. In honour of Schuman’s work towards a united Europe, the district housing the headquarters of several European Union institutions in Brussels is named after him.
Adapted from `The Shocking History of the EU’ by Vernon Coleman – available as an eBook and a paperback on Amazon.
Copyright Vernon Coleman 2019
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