Symposium – Jean Monnet & Charles de Gaulle. Two visions of France, Europe and the world, oppositions and interactions
Friday, November 25, 2022 – The Senate – Historical symposium
Saturday, November 26, 2022 (morning) – ENS Ulm – Round tables
Invitation-only registrations are currently open – Information: contact@institutjeanmonnet.eu
Scientific organization: Laurent Warlouzet, Professor at Sorbonne University and Chairman of the IJM Scientific Advisory Board
Jean Monnet and Charles de Gaulle are probably the two greatest French figures of the 20th century. Both played a major role in France’s domestic and foreign policy from 1914 to 1970. Since 1940, they have worked side by side, collaborating on France’s recovery, and regularly clashing on issues linked to European integration and transatlantic relations. Their relationship has often been caricatured and portrayed in terms of conflict. Yet, without denying the real differences between the two men, in terms of character, style, worldview and political action, it is important to revisit their conceptions, policies and relationships in the light of a now calmer historical reflection. The aim of the symposium is neither to oppose the two figures nor to reconcile them. The aim is to go beyond caricatures and explore, in all their complexity, the oppositions and interactions of these two exceptional French personalities of the 20th century, in the service of a reflection on Europe and France in the world today.
Friday November 25 will be devoted to presentations by renowned historians and academics, under the scientific direction of Laurent Warlouzet. Talks will cover every major moment of interaction or opposition between Jean Monnet and Charles de Gaulle, from the Franco-English union project of 1940 to the empty chair policy of 1965, not forgetting Free France in Algiers, the modernization plan and the European Defense Community. The speakers will shed new historical light on the two men, enabling us to better understand not only the true nature of their relationship, but above all the scope of their thought and action.
This first day will be held at the Senate in the Salle Médicis (150 seats).
The morning of Saturday November 26 will be devoted to two round-table discussions on topical issues, featuring experts and political personalities. The first, entitled “National sovereignty and European sovereignty”, will explore the notion of European sovereignty, today and tomorrow, and how it relates to the principles of national sovereignty. The second, entitled “European defense, NATO and transatlantic relations”, will look at the issue of European defense and its implications for NATO and transatlantic relations.
This morning event will be held at theEcole Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm (130 places).