Jean Monnet, a brandy merchant from Cognac, in southern France, and Robert Schuman, the French foreign minister, a lawyer from the disputed region near the French-West German border, worked together on the "Schuman Plan, " which Schuman proposed on May 9, 1950.
But in the short term the only bright spots were America and in France, where a campaign to promote cognac as a long drink (with tonic, which is not, unlike soda water or ginger ale, really a natural accompaniment) raised sales for the second year running.