Perhaps the most famous piece written by the German composer Robert Schumann (two N’s) was a one-page piano piece, Träumerei (Dreaming).
But there is another Robert Schuman (one N) who was very famous in Europe. He was the principal force behind the formation of what is now known as the European Union. It was his dream to bring the countries of western Europe together to solve their differences peacefully rather than through war and competition, and to speak with a united voice to the world. Ever since Strasbourg was the Roman town of Argenteum, two millennia ago, western Europe has experienced one war after another, big or small, in which millions of people have died miserably. The most recent war in western Europe was World War Two. How could Schuman’s dream of peace ever be achieved, after millennia of war? In particular, how could the Germans, who slaughtered the French, and the French, who dreamed of revenge against the Germans, possibly experience not just peace but unity of spirit and purpose?
Schuman’s dream seemed impossible, according to many newspaper cartoons in the 1950s. Here is one, on display at the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. Schuman, one N, is depicted as Schumann, two N’s, not just dreaming but fantasizing about European unity. This fantasy seemed as impossible as Zeus, in the form of a white bull, carrying off the goddess Europa.
But that is exactly what happened. Europe is so unified that war between its member states is unthinkable. Right in this very building, a unified western European response to Russian aggression against the Ukraine took form. Just the week before I visited, the European parliament had to decide how to respond to Trump imposing tariffs on Europe, for reasons that were never made clear, then how to respond to Trump immediately afterwards removing the tariffs. Things that happen in this building are a major part of world news and, unlike many other major sources of news, the news from Europe is overwhelmingly positive and constructive.
Despite an evolutionary history of violence, and millennia of social history of violence, humans can learn peace. See videos I have posted here and here .
