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Abstract:
Following a historiographical tradition which emphasizes the individual agency of specific individuals, a recent article claims that Jean Monnet's ‘path-breaking’ ideas and actions were a necessary condition for the Schuman declaration of 1950. I show that, like other deterministic claims about necessary conditions, this is at odds with current political science theory, and is also based on methodologically dubious inferences.
Using less biased sources I develop an alternative explanation for the Schuman declaration, which emphasizes broad societal preferences, institutional constraints and international interactions. I find that Monnet did play his cards well, but also that there is no reason to believe that his ideas were original, or that any other competent French planning commissioner would not have acted similarly. I discuss the implications for academic debates between historians and political scientists, for policy-makers who seek to learn from the European experience and for the construction of a new euro-mythology.
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