2 Hero of World War II: An Unsung

2 An Unsung Hero of
World War II
Robert R. Nathan
The victory over the forces of Hitler in World War II might

have been delayed many months, with a great many more
casualties, but for the brilliant talents and adamant deter-
mination of Jean Monnet.
The name of this remarkable Frenchman seldom
appeared in the press or on the radio during the defense
build-up prior to Pearl Harbor and the all-out mobilization
in the challenging months in early 1942just after the United
States entered the war. Yet until Jean Monnet provided the
leadership during the preceding year for setting much
higher goals for American armament production, the pros-
pects were dismal for the successful defense of Great Britain
and Russia.
The outlook for the allied nations was discouraging when
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The production of war mate-
rial in the United States was accelerating but the level of
output was quite limited and the production goals still
modest. Monnet's talent and drive helped change all of this.
The story of his role in relentless pursuit of higher military
goals as a means of achieving large and growing increases in
military production is historically significant. In Europe, the
British and the Russians were on the defensive everywhere
and in the Pacific the Japanese were extending their control
wherever the Western powers had military bases or wherever
access to the materials of war was critical.
Monnet was a man who worked quietly, effectively and
close to those who had the power to make decisions and to
achieve results. His effectiveness exemplifies the kind of
leadership desperately needed today in solving some of the
most urgent international and domestic problems.
Monnet was in England in May 1940 when France was
overrun by the powerful Nazi forces. He was reputedly the
man who proposed to Churchill that common citizenship be
67
D. Brinkley et al. (eds.), Jean Monnet
© Douglas Brinkley and Clifford Hackett 1991
68 Jean Monnet: The Path to European Unity
offered by Great Britain to the French people to preserve

their spirit of independence and will to resist the Germans.
Whether that proposal would have been effective if offered
somewhat earlier is speculative, but it was a dramatic and
desperate move on the part of Churchill to encourage those
in France who strongly opposed surrender and who wanted
to continue the fight.
Later in 1940, after France's fall, President Roosevelt
promised that, if elected, he would not send American troops
abroad. That commitment was expressed even before the
campaign in the late 1930s. There is no reason to believe
Roosevelt was not sincere in promising to avoid direct
American involvement. But, as the fate of friendly nations in
Europe grew dismal, Roosevelt increasingly recognized that
it was in America's interest to provide considerable arms to
the surviving countries of Europe. In this effort, he faced
strong opposition at home.
After the fall of France, Churchill sent Monnet to the
United States as a high-level member of the British Ministry
of Supply to seek prompt and massive increases in the flow of
American weapons of war so that Britain could survive and
turn the tide against Germany. It was late in 1940 when
Monnet arrived in Washington. Not long after, I had the
great good fortune of meeting him, although just where and
when we met is not recorded.
He had heard of my work as Associate Director of the
Bureau of Research and Statistics of the Defense Advisory
Commission with special focus on military requirements. My
earliest discussions with Monnet revealed his rigid concentra-
tion on one principle: American armament production was
the most critical requirement for winning for war. In our
frequent meetings he never suggested that active American
military participation was essential for victory; but he repeat-
edly said that if the Americans could only supply the arms
needed by the British, and later, the Russians, Germany
could be defeated. He never wavered from this argument
and its corollary that US arms production must be rapidly
and massively increased.

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2 An Unsung Hero of

The victory over the forces of Hitler in World War II might

offered by Great Britain to the French people to preserve

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