Paul-Henri Spaak

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(b. Schnebeck, 25 Jan. 1899; d. 31 July 1972) Belgian; Prime Minister 1938 – 9, 1946, 1947 – 9 Spaak's importance extended beyond Belgium. As a key figure in the forging of West European institutions in the 1950s he earned the title "Mr Europe". He was interned by the Germans during the First World War when he was an adolescent, graduated in law from Brussels University, and practised as a lawyer. He was elected to the Belgian parliament as a Socialist in 1932, following his father who had been a renowned lawyer and left-wing MP. In 1936 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and in 1938 became Prime Minister and held the post for nearly a year, while heading the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He tried to keep Belgium neutral when the Second World War broke out but after the German invasion in 1940 he went into exile. A prominent figure in the Belgian government in exile in London during the war years, Spaak returned to Belgium in 1944 and served variously as Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, or Foreign Minister in several post-war coalition governments.

It was during these years that Spaak emerged as an international figure of major importance. He was one of the founders of the United Nations and the first president of the UN General Assembly (1946). More significant was his role as a founding father of a united Europe. He was convinced of the need for European unity, not least to prevent the outbreak of Franco-Geman rivalry leading to another war, and contributed to the creation of the early European Community institutions for coal and steel and atomic energy. He chaired the group that drafted the European Economic Community's founding Treaty of Rome and served as president of the Assembly of the Council of Europe (1949 – 51) and then of the General Assembly of the Council of Europe (1952). He also served as Secretary-General of NATO (1957 – 61). He was Belgian Foreign Minister from 1961 until his final resignation in 1966. As a strong supporter of Britain's entry to the European Community he was appalled by de Gaulle's veto in 1963 of the British application for entry. At home, Belgian politics were increasingly bedevilled by tensions between the Flemish and Walloon communities and there was some criticism of Spaak's concentration on international affairs and relative neglect of domestic concerns.

The Belgian statesman Paul Henri Spaak (1899-1972) was an architect of the Benelux association of his country with the Netherlands and Luxembourg and a supporter of Western European military, economic, and political unity during the Cold War.

Paul Henri Spaak was born near Brussels on Jan. 25, 1899. His father was the writer Paul Spaak. Interned by the Germans during World War I, the younger Spaak thereafter studied law in Brussels. He was sent to the Chamber of Deputies in 1932 and rose through a number of Cabinet positions to become Belgium's first Socialist prime minister, in 1938. Despite his early experiences, Spaak was during this period a believer in Belgian neutrality and worked to disassociate his government from the Locarno Pact.

The experiences of World War II decisively affected Spaak's orientation. During the war he served as foreign minister in the Belgian government-in-exile in London. Returning to Brussels in 1944, he continued to serve in postwar coalition governments as foreign minister (1945-1947). He was again prime minister from March 1947 to August 1949, and foreign minister from April 1954 to May 1957. Spaak resigned his government position in 1957, but as head of the Socialist party, he became deputy prime minister in yet another coalition government in 1961.

During the postwar years Spaak's interest in and commitment to international organization enhanced his reputation. Already during the war he had worked toward the Benelux customs union (finally launched in 1948). He also promoted the idea of a Western European defense pact, then rejected on the grounds that it would lead to rivalry with the Soviets over the fate of Germany - a not altogether inaccurate prognostication.

Spaak's Western European defense plan was realized in the North Atlantic Treaty, which he signed in 1949. Meanwhile, he had been elected (January 1946) president of the General Assembly of the United Nations. As one of the staunchest of European integrationists, he was made president of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe (May 1951) and of the General Assembly of the European Steel and Coal Community (1952). From late 1957 to 1961, Spaak capped his career as a supporter of European unity by serving as the chairman of the Atlantic Council and secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

During Spaak's period of greatest activity, the unity he sought and partially achieved was economic. The Belgian statesman desired political unification but not on the basis of the Common Market countries alone. He therefore argued against further moves in this direction until the economic integration of Britain into Europe had been accomplished. He retired from political life in 1966 and died in Brussels on June 30, 1972.

Further Reading

Spaak wrote a very interesting account of his 30 years in public service: The Continuing Battle: Memoirs of a European, 1936-1966 (1972). J. H. Huizinga, Mr Europe: A Political Biography of Paul Henri Spaak (1961), deals with Spaak's life and work. For background on postwar Europe and its new arrangements see Max Beloff, The United States and the Unity of Europe (1963).

• Born: May 25, 1903 in Brussels, Belgium
• Died: 1975
• Occupation: Writer, Director
• Active: '30s-'60s
• Major Genres: Drama
• Career Highlights: Grand Illusion, La Belle Équipe, La Kermesse Héroïque
• First Major Screen Credit: Les Nouveaux Messieurs (1929)

Biography

Paul-Henri Spaak
Prime Minister of Belgium
In office 15 May 1938 – 22 February 1939
Preceded by	Paul-Émile Janson
Succeeded by	Hubert Pierlot
In office 13 March 1946 – 31 March 1946
Preceded by	Achille van Acker
Succeeded by	Achille van Acker
In office 20 March 1947 – 11 August 1949
Preceded by	Camille Huysmans
Succeeded by	Gaston Eyskens
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 1946 – 1947
Preceded by	post created
Succeeded by	Oswaldo Aranha
President of the Common Assembly of the European Coal Steel Community
In office 1952 – 1954
Preceded by	post created
Succeeded by	Alcide De Gasperi
2nd Secretary General of NATO
In office 1957 – 1961
Preceded by	Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay
Succeeded by	Dirk Stikker
Born	25 January 1899(1899-01-25) Schaerbeek, Belgium
Died	31 July 1972 (aged 73) Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
Political party	Belgian Socialist Party
Spouse(s)	Marguerite Malevez Simone Dear

Paul Henri Charles Spaak (25 January 1899 - 31 July 1972) was a Belgian Socialist politician and statesman.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Belgian politics 3 UN 4 Europe 5 NATO 6 Retirement 7 Family 8 Spaak in numismatics 9 Trivia 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Early life

He was born in Schaerbeek to Paul Spaak and Marie Janson. His mother - the daughter of Paul Janson and sister to Paul-Émile Janson, both Liberal politicians - was the country's first female Senator.

During World War I, Spaak lied about his age to be accepted in the Army; he subsequently spent two years as a German prisoner of war.

Spaak studied law at the Free University of Brussels (now split into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel).

Belgian politics

He became a member of the Socialist Belgian Labour Party in 1920. He was elected deputy in 1932.

In 1935 he entered the cabinet of Paul Van Zeeland as Minister of Transport. In February 1936 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving first under Zeeland and then under his uncle, Paul-Émile Janson. From May 1938 to February 1939 he was Prime Minister for the first time.

He was Foreign Minister again from September 1939 until August 1949 under the subsequent Prime Ministers Hubert Pierlot, Achille Van Acker and Camille Huysmans. During this time he twice was appointed Prime Minister as well, first from 13 to 31 March 1946 - the shortest government in Belgian history, and again from March 1947 to August 1949.

He again was foreign minister from April 1954 to June 1958 in the cabinet of Achille Van Acker and from April 1961 to March 1966 in the cabinets of Théo Lefèvre and Pierre Harmel.

Spaak was an advocate of Belgium's "independence policy" before World War II. During the German invasion in May 1940, he fled to France and tried to return during the summer but was prevented by the Germans, even though he was Foreign Minister at the time. Hence, against his wishes he settled in Britain.

UN

Spaak gained international prominence in 1945, when he was elected chairman of the first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. During the third session of the UN General Assembly in Paris, Spaak apostrophized the delegation of the Soviet Union with the famous words: "Messieurs, nous avons peur de vous" (Sirs, we are afraid of you).

Europe

Spaak became a staunch supporter of regional co-operation and collective security after 1944. While still in exile in London, he promoted the creation of a customs union uniting Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg (see Benelux). In August 1949, he was elected President of the first session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. From 1952 to 1953, he presided the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community.

In 1955, the Messina Conference of European leaders appointed him as chairman of a preparatory committee (Spaak Committee) charged with the preparation of a report on the creation of a common European market. The so-called "Spaak Report^[1]" formed the cornerstone of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at Val Duchesse in 1956 and led to the signature, on 25 March 1957, of the Treaties of Rome establishing a European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Paul-Henri Spaak signed the treaty for Belgium, together with Jean Charles Snoy et d'Oppuers. His role in the creation of the EEC earned Spaak a place among the Founding fathers of the European Union.

When in 1962 France's President de Gaulle attempted to block both British entry to the European Communities and undermine their supranational foundation with the Fouchet Plan, Spaak working with Joseph Luns of The Netherlands rebuffed the idea. He was a staunch defender of the independence of the European Commission. "Europe of tomorrow must be a supranational Europe," he declared. In honour of his work for Europe, the first building of the European Parliament in Brussels was named after him.

NATO

In 1956, he was chosen by the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to succeed Lord Ismay as Secretary General. He held this office from 1957 until 1961, when he was succeeded by Dirk Stikker. Spaak was also instrumental in the choice of Brussels as the new seat of the Alliance's HQ in 1966.

This was also the year of his last European campaign, when he played an important conciliatory role in resolving the "empty chair crisis" by helping to bring France back into the European fold. In 1957 he received the Karlspreis (engl.: Charlemagne Award) an Award by the German city of Aachen to people who contributed to the European idea and European peace.

On February 21, 1961, Spaak was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President John Kennedy.

Retirement

Paul-Henri Spaak retired from politics in 1966. He was member of the Royal Belgian Academy of French Language and Literature. In 1969, he published his memoirs in two volumes titled Combats inachevés ("The Continuing Battle"). Spaak died aged 73, on 31 July 1972 in his home in Braine-l'Alleud near Brussels, and was buried at the Foriest graveyard in Braine-l'Alleud.

Family

He and his wife Marguerite Malevez had two daughters—Antoinette Spaak led the Democratic Front of Francophones—and a son, the diplomat Fernand Spaak. After her death in August 1964, he married Simone Dear in April 1965. His brother was the screenwriter Charles Spaak. His niece was the actress Catherine Spaak one of his grandsons is the artist Anthony Palliser . During the 1940s, during his time in New York with the United Nations, he also had an affair with the American fashion designer Pauline Fairfax Potter (1908-1976).

3 pioneers of the European unification commemorative coin

Spaak in numismatics

Spaak has left such a legacy behind, that he was the main motive for one of the most recent and famous gold commemorative coin: the Belgian 3 pioneers of the European unification commemorative coin, minted in 2002. The obverse side shows a portrait with the names Robert Schuman, Paul-Henri Spaak and Konrad Adenauer.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)

• In the election for De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian) Spaak ended on the 40th place in the Flemish version and on the 11th place in the Walloon version.
• In 1938 he allowed Herman Van Breda to smuggle the legacy of Edmund Husserl out of Nazi Germany to Belgium through the Belgian Embassy in Berlin.
• Despite their strong political differences, he had a great friendship with Portugal dictator António de Oliveira Salazar.

See also

• Paul-Henri Spaak Foundation
• Robert Rothschild, diplomat, chef de cabinet
• Spaak method of negotiating

References

• Spaak, Paul-Henri (1971). The Continuing Battle: Memoirs of a European, 1936-1966. trans. Henry Fox. London: Weidenfeld. ISBN 0-297-99352-6. 

1. ^ Spaak report

Political offices
Preceded by Paul-Emile Janson	Prime Minister of Belgium 1938–1939	Succeeded by Hubert Pierlot
Preceded by Achille Van Acker	Prime Minister of Belgium 1946	Succeeded by Achille Van Acker
Preceded by Camille Huysmans	Prime Minister of Belgium 1947–1949	Succeeded by Gaston Eyskens
Preceded by Édouard Herriot	President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 1949–1951	Succeeded by François de Menthon
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by (none)	President of the United Nations General Assembly 1946–1947	Succeeded by Oswaldo Aranha
Preceded by Lord Ismay	Secretary General of NATO 1957–1961	Succeeded by Dirk Stikker

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Belgium de Gerlache | Lebeau | de Muelenaere | Goblet d'Alviella | de Meylandt | Lebeau | Nothomb | Van de Weyer | de Meylandt | Rogier | de Brouckère | de Decker | Rogier | Frère-Orban | d'Anethan | Malou | Frère-Orban | Malou | Beernaert | de Burlet | de Smet de Naeyer | Vandenpeereboom | de Smet de Naeyer | de Trooz | Schollaert | de Broqueville | Cooreman | Delacroix | Carton de Wiart | Theunis | Van de Vyvere | Poullet | Jaspar | Renkin | de Broqueville | Theunis | van Zeeland | Janson | Spaak | Pierlot | Van Acker | Spaak | Van Acker | Huysmans | Spaak | G. Eyskens | Duvieusart | Pholien | Van Houtte | Van Acker | G. Eyskens | Lefèvre | Harmel | Vanden Boeynants | G. Eyskens | Leburton | Tindemans | Vanden Boeynants | Martens | M. Eyskens | Martens | Dehaene | Verhofstadt | Leterme | Van Rompuy

v • d • e Secretaries General of NATO Hastings Ismay | Paul-Henri Spaak | Dirk Stikker | Manlio Brosio | Joseph Luns | Peter Carington | Manfred Wörner | Sergio Balanzino | Willy Claes | Sergio Balanzino | Javier Solana | George Robertson | Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo | Jaap de Hoop Scheffer | Anders Fogh Rasmussen

v • d • e Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly 1940s Spaak (BEL) · Aranha (BRA) · Arce (ARG) · Evatt (AUS) · Rómulo (PHI) 1950s Entezam (IRI) · Nervo (MEX) · Pearson (CAN) · Pandit (IND) · van Kleffens (NED) · Maza (CHI) · Ortega (CHI) · Prince Wan Waithayakon (THA) · Munro (NZL) · Malik (LIB) · Belaúnde (PER) 1960s Boland (IRL) · Slim (TUN) · Khan (PAK) · Rodriguez (VEN) · Quaison-Sackey (GHA) · Fanfani (ITA) · Pazhwak (AFG) · Mănescu (ROM) · Catalán (GUA) · Brooks (LBR) 1970s Hambro (NOR) · Malik (INA) · Trepczyński (POL) · Benites (ECU) · Bouteflika (ALG) · Thorn (LUX) · Amerasinghe (SRI) · Mojsov (YUG) · Liévano (COL) · Salim (TAN) 1980s Wechmar (BRD) · Kittani (IRQ) · Hollai (HUN) · Illueca (PAN) · Lusaka (ZAM) · Piniés (ESP) · Choudhury (BAN) · Florin (DDR) · Caputo (ARG) · Garba (NGR) 1990s de Marco (MLT) · Shihabi (KSA) · Ganev (BUL) · Insanally (GUY) · Essy (CIV) · Freitas (POR) · Ismail (MAS) · Udovenko (UKR) · Opertti (URU) · Gurirab (NAM) 2000s Holkeri (FIN) · Han (KOR) · Kavan (CZE) · Hunte (LCA) · Ping (GAB) · Eliasson (SWE) · Al-Khalifa (BAH) · Kerim (MKD) · d'Escoto (NIC)

v • d • e Presidents of the European Parliament Common Assembly: 1952–1958 Paul-Henri Spaak · Alcide De Gasperi · Giuseppe Pella · Hans Furler Parliamentary Assembly: 1958–1962 Robert Schuman · Hans Furler European Parliament (Appointed): 1962–1979 Gaetano Martino · Jean Duvieusart · Victor Leemans · Alain Poher · Mario Scelba Walter Behrendt · Cornelis Berkhouwer · Georges Spénale · Emilio Colombo European Parliament (Elected): 1979–present Simone Veil · Piet Dankert · Pierre Pflimlin · Henry Plumb · Enrique Barón Crespo · Egon Klepsch · Klaus Hänsch · José María Gil-Robles · Nicole Fontaine · Pat Cox · Josep Borrell · Hans-Gert Pöttering · Jerzy Buzek Commission President  · President of the European Council  · Council Presidency  · President of Parliament

External links

• Fondation Paul-Henri Spaak
• The Presidency Project - Remarks at the Presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Paul Henri Spaak, Secretary General of NATO - February 21, 1961

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