"Here, and now, the beginning must be made," Chancellor Konrad Adenauer told the Bundestag. "The decision you make is truly for or against Europe."
With such solemn phrases, Adenauer appealed to the West German Republic last week to pledge its most precious asset, the Ruhr, to the great task of building a European community. Up for vote was German ratification of the Schuman Plan, which would put the coal and steel of Germany and France and their neighbors into an industrial super-government until the year 2001.
When Adenauer sat down after his eloquent speech, black wooden boxes were passed down the...
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