Launch of the book “Jean Monnet – Charles de Gaulle. Destins croisés, oppositions et héritages”
by Éric Roussel and Laurent Warlouzet (dir.)
In the presence of the authors, Mr. Michel Derdevet, President of the Maison de l’Europe de Paris and Mr. Jean-Marc Lieberherr, President of the Institut Jean Monnet.
Tuesday November 19 at 6:30pm at the Maison de l’Europe, 77 avenue de Versailles, 75016 Paris, in the “Pavillon de l’Eau” (metro: Mirabeau).
Presentation followed by a friendly drink and signing session.
Doors open at 6:00 pm, last entry at 6:30 pm. Registration required.
About the book:
Contrasting and often opposing personalities, Jean Monnet and Charles de Gaulle both played a decisive role in France’s international policy, European construction and transatlantic relations between 1940 and 1970.
While one glorified France and national genius, the other believed that the only way forward for the old European nations was union, at the cost of partial mergers of sovereignty. Allies when it came to resisting Nazi Germany in 1940, modernizing France through post-war planning, or reconciling yesterday’s enemies, the two men clashed, sometimes violently, over the shape of a united Europe and the relationship to be established with the United Kingdom and the United States.
Sixty years on, these oppositions remain astonishingly relevant today. The aim of this book is neither to oppose the two figures nor to reconcile them, but to explore the oppositions and interactions of these two exceptional French personalities in the service of a reflection on Europe’s place in the world today.
The book, published by Presses universitaires de Rennes, is the result of the first historical colloquium organized by the Institut Jean Monnet in Paris. Prefaced by Michel Barnier, it includes twelve contributions by historians and concludes with two round-table discussions linking history and current affairs, one on sovereignty and the other on European defense.