David Heilbron Price

Schuman & the Yugoslav Assassination David Heilbron Price

The Balkans! 'The situation in Yugoslavia is much more serious than you predicted. It has worsened considerably.' With these words about an imminent danger, Robert Schuman, French deputy and future initiator of the European Community, warned his party colleague and friend, Ernest Pezet, deputy and vice-president of the French Assembly. Schuman had just returned from an extensive intelligence survey of Yugoslavia in August and September 1934. They met immediately to decide what urgent action must be taken. At risk - as later events would show - were the geopolitics of Europe with the intervention of Adolf Hitler in the political configuration of Europe. Yugoslavia was already a powder keg. It was being held together with some difficulty by the king. A political explosion in the Balkans would have major consequences throughout Europe. What Schuman wrote about his adventure is surprising. It throws light on his later European policy.