Jean Monnet

Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (November 9, 1888 – March 16, 1979) is regarded by many as the architect of European Unity. Never elected to public office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.

World War II

In December, 1939, Jean Monnet was sent to London to oversee the collectivization of the two countries' war production capacities.

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When the French government fell in June 1940, Monnet's influence inspired de Gaulle and Churchill to accept a plan for a union of France and the United Kingdom to enable the two countries to stand up to Nazism.

Related Topics:
De Gaulle - Churchill - Nazism

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In August 1940, Jean Monnet was sent to the United States by the British government as a member of the British Supply Council, in order to negotiate the purchase of war supplies.

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Soon after his arrival in Washington, he became an advisor to President Roosevelt.

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Convinced that America could serve as "the great arsenal of democracy" he persuaded the president to launch a massive arms production program to supply the Allies with military material.

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Shortly thereafter, in 1941, Roosevelt, with Churchill's agreement, launched the Victory Program, which represented the entry of the United States into the war effort.

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After the war, the British economist John Maynard Keynes was to say that through his co-ordinating Monnet had probably shortened World War II by one year.

Related Topics:
John Maynard Keynes - World War II

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In 1943, Monnet became a member of the National Liberation Committee, the French government in exile in Algiers. During a meeting on 5 August 1943, Monnet declared to the Committee:

Related Topics:
Algiers - 5 August - 1943

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"There will be no peace in Europe, if the states are reconstituted on the basis of national sovereignty... The countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation..."

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