Editing Paul-Henri Spaak

{{short description|Belgian politician (1899–1972)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[Excellency|His Excellency]]
| name                = Paul-Henri Spaak
| image               = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-39998-0427, Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg
| caption             = Spaak in 1957
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Belgium]]
| monarch             = [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]]
| 1blankname          = Regent
| 1namedata           = [[Prince Charles, Count of Flanders|Prince Charles]]
| term_start          = 20 March 1947
| term_end            = 11 August 1949
| predecessor         = [[Camille Huysmans]]
| successor           = [[Gaston Eyskens]]
| monarch2            = Leopold III
| 1blankname2         = Regent
| 1namedata2          = [[Prince Charles, Count of Flanders|Prince Charles]]
| term_start2         = 13 March 1946
| term_end2           = 31 March 1946
| predecessor2        = [[Achille Van Acker]]
| successor2          = Achille Van Acker
| monarch3            = Leopold III
| term_start3         = 15 May 1938
| term_end3           = 22 February 1939
| predecessor3        = [[Paul-Emile Janson]]
| successor3          = [[Hubert Pierlot]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Other positions|titlestyle=border: 1px dashed lightgrey;}}
| office4             = 2nd [[Secretary General of NATO]]
| term_start4         = 16 May 1957
| term_end4           = 21 April 1961
| predecessor4        = [[Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay|Hastings Ismay]]
| successor4          = [[Dirk Stikker]]
| office5             = [[President of the Common Assembly]]<br/>([[European Coal and Steel Community]])
| term_start5         = 11 September 1952
| term_end5           = 11 May 1954
| predecessor5        = ''Office established''
| successor5          = [[Alcide De Gasperi]]
| office6             = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]
| term_start6         = 31 March 1946
| term_end6           = 20 March 1947
| predecessor6        = ''Office established''
| successor6          = [[Oswaldo Aranha]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| birth_name          = Paul-Henri Charles Spaak
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1899|1|25|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Schaerbeek]], Belgium
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1972|7|31|1899|1|25|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Braine-l'Alleud]], Belgium
| spouse              = {{marriage|Marguerite Malevez|1921|14 August 1964|end=d}}<br>{{marriage|Simonne Dear|23 April 1965}}
| children            = 3, including [[Antoinette Spaak|Antoinette]] and [[Fernand Spaak|Fernand]]
| father              = [[Paul Spaak]]
| mother              = [[Marie Janson]]
| party               = [[Belgian Labour Party|Belgian Workers' Party]]<br/>[[Belgian Socialist Party]]
| alma_mater          = [[Free University of Brussels (1834–1969)|Free University of Brussels]]
| signature           = Paul Henri Spaak signature.svg
| relations           = [[Spaak family]]
}}

'''Paul-Henri Charles Spaak''' ({{IPA|fr|pɔl ɑ̃ʁi ʃaʁl spak|lang}}; 25 January 1899 – 31 July 1972) was an influential [[Belgian Socialist Party|Belgian Socialist]] politician, diplomat and statesman who thrice served as the [[Prime Minister of Belgium|prime minister of Belgium]] and later as the second [[Secretary General of NATO|secretary general of NATO]]. Along with [[Robert Schuman]], [[Alcide De Gasperi]] and [[Konrad Adenauer]], he was a [[founding fathers of the European Union|leader in the formation of the institutions]] that evolved into the [[European Union]].

A member of the influential [[Spaak|Spaak family]], he served briefly in [[World War I]] before he was captured, and rose to prominence after the war as a tennis player and lawyer, becoming famous for his high-profile defence of [[Fernando de Rosa|an Italian student]] accused of attempting to assassinate [[Umberto II of Italy|Italy's crown prince]] in 1929. A convinced socialist, Spaak entered politics in 1932 for the [[Belgian Labour Party|Belgian Workers' Party]] (later the [[Belgian Socialist Party]]) and gained his first ministerial portfolio in the government of [[Paul Van Zeeland]] in 1935. He became the prime minister in 1938 and held the position until 1939. During [[World War II]], he served as foreign minister in the London-based [[Belgian government in exile]] under [[Hubert Pierlot]], where he negotiated the foundation of the [[Benelux|Benelux Customs Union]] with the governments of the [[Netherlands]] and [[Luxembourg]]. After the war, he twice regained the premiership, first for under a month in March 1946 and again between 1947 and 1949. He held various further Belgian ministerial portfolios until 1966. He was Belgium's [[List of foreign ministers of Belgium|foreign minister]] for 18 years between 1939 and 1966.

Spaak, a convinced supporter of [[multilateralism]], became internationally famous for his support of international cooperation, in which he hoped to include geopolitical enemies of Belgium and NATO such as the Soviet Union and its satellite states.<ref name="VincentDujardin2007ColdWarHistory">{{cite journal |last=Dujardin |first=Vincent |title=Go-Between: Belgium and Détente, 1961–73 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682740701197706?journalCode=fcwh20 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=95–116 |date=5 March 2007 |doi=10.1080/14682740701197706 |s2cid=154524419 |access-date=13 February 2023}}</ref> In 1945, he was chosen to chair the first session of the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] of the new [[United Nations]]. A long-running supporter of [[European integration]], Spaak had been an early advocate of [[customs union]] and had negotiated the Benelux agreement in 1944. He served as the first President of the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe|Consultative Assembly]] of the [[Council of Europe]] between 1949 and 1950 and became the first President of the Common Assembly of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] (ECSC) — which would later become the [[European Parliament]] — between 1952 and 1954. In 1955, he was appointed to the so-called [[Spaak Committee]] studying the possibility of a [[Single market|common market]] within Europe and played an influential role in preparing the 1957 [[Treaty of Rome]] which established the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC). He received the [[Charlemagne Prize]] the same year. Between 1957 and 1961, he served as the second [[Secretary General of NATO|secretary general]] of [[NATO]], becoming the only secretary general to have previously served as prime minister until [[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]] in 2009.

Retiring from Belgian politics in 1966, Spaak died in 1972. He remains an influential figure in European politics and his name is carried, among other things, by [[Paul-Henri Spaak Foundation|a charitable foundation]], [[Espace Léopold|one of the buildings]] of the European Parliament, and [[Spaak method|a method]] of negotiation.

== Personal background and life ==
Paul-Henri Spaak was born on 25 January 1899 in [[Schaerbeek]], [[Belgium]] into the prominent [[Spaak|Spaak-Janson family]].<ref>"Paul-Henri Spaak". ''Almanac of Famous People'', 9th edition. Thomson Gale, 2007.</ref> His maternal grandfather, [[Paul Janson]], was an important member of the [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberal Party]]. His mother, [[Marie Janson]], was a socialist, and the first woman to enter the [[Belgian Senate]], and his father, [[Paul Spaak]], was a poet and playwright. Other noted members of his family included his uncle, [[Paul-Émile Janson]], who served as [[Prime Minister of Belgium]] from 1937 to 1938, and his niece, [[Catherine Spaak]], a movie star, singer and television presenter.<ref name = "Observer Profile">{{cite news|title = Profile: Paul-Henri Spaak |work=The Observer |location=UK | date = 13 January 1946 | page = 6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = Catherine Spaak Is Wed | work=The New York Times | date = 5 August 1972 | page = 13}}</ref>

Paul-Henri Spaak and his wife Marguerite Malevez were married in 1921 and had three children: diplomat [[Fernand Spaak]] (1923–1981), Marie Marguerite Spaak (1926–2000, later married British diplomat [[Michael Palliser]]), and [[Antoinette Spaak]] (1928–2020), the first Belgian woman to lead a political party, the [[Democratic Front of Francophones]]. In 1943 Malevez was arrested by the [[Gestapo]] as a member of a [[Belgian Resistance|resistance movement]] and imprisoned for a few weeks in [[Saint-Gilles Prison]] in Brussels. After his wife's death on 14 August 1964, he married 56-year-old Antwerp-born divorcee and longtime friend Simonne Rikkers Hottlet Dear on 23 April 1965. His brother was the screenwriter [[Charles Spaak]]. One of his granddaughters is the journalist and novelist [[Isabelle Spaak]], and 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 de Rothschild|Pauline Fairfax Potter]] (1908–1976).

His son Fernand served in 1981 as chief of staff for [[Gaston Thorn]], [[president of the European Commission]], until he became the victim of his wife's [[murder–suicide]] on 18 July 1981.

==Early life and education==
During the [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|German invasion of Belgium]] in 1914, Spaak attempted to join the [[Belgian Army]] but was captured and spent the next two years as a [[Prisoners of war in World War I|prisoner of war]] in Germany.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}} At the end of the war, Spaak was released from captivity and entered the [[Free University of Brussels (1834–1969)|Free University of Brussels]], where he studied law. During the same period, Spaak was also a tennis star, and played for the Belgian team in the 1922 [[Davis Cup]].<ref name = "NYTimes Obit">{{cite news|title = Paul-Henri Spaak is Dead at 73; An Architect of European Unity | first = Robert | last = McFadden | date = 1 August 1972 | page = 1}}</ref>

After receiving his law degree, Spaak practised as a lawyer in Brussels, where he "excelled in defending Communists charged with conspiring against the security of the realm", and others including [[Fernando de Rosa]], an anarchist Italian student who attempted to kill [[Umberto II|Crown Prince Umberto]] of Italy during a state visit by the prince to Brussels.<ref name = "Observer Profile"/>

== Post-World War I 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 Van Zeeland and then under his uncle, [[Paul-Émile Janson]]. From May 1938 to February 1939 he was Prime Minister for the first time. 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.
[[File:Paul-Henri Spaak, Paul van Zeeland, 1937.jpg|thumb|left|Spaak (left) with [[Paul Van Zeeland]] in 1937]]
In social policy, a number of progressive reforms were realised during Spaak's first premiership. An Act of June 1938 "increased the functions of the National Society for Cheap Houses and Dwellings and empowered it, under State guarantee, to contract a loan of 350 million francs," while a Royal Decree of July 1938 laid down the rules for applying the provisions of a Holidays with Pay Act passed in 1936 to agricultural, horticultural and forestry undertakings. An Act of 20 August 1938 amended and supplemented the 1936 Holidays with Pay Act by extending its coverage to all undertakings, whatever their number of wage earners, as well as to home workers. The Act also removed a previous requirement in which a wage earner had to work for at least a year with the same employer in order to earn an annual holiday. The old-age, invalidity, and survivors' insurance program for miners was modified by an act passed on 8 July 1938, which increased the benefits available to invalids, the elderly, and widows who already received pensions while also significantly expanding the requirements for the granting of invalidity pensions. 

An Order of 25 August 1938 prohibited the use of so-called motor spirit "for greasing, cleaning (hands) etc.," while a Royal Order of 27 August 1938 fixed normal weekly hours of actual work in the ship-repairing industry in Antwerp at 42 hours "distributed over the seven days of the week." 

A Royal Order of 27 December 1938 extended the scope of an eight-hour Act passed in June 1921 to cover technical staff employed in cinemas, and a Royal Order of 22 December 1938 amended the entries in the second column of the schedule (list of occupations) which was now brought into conformity with Convention No. 42, and added "in the case of [[pneumoconiosis]], sand-blasting processes in iron and steel foundries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09614/09614%281938-1939%29.pdf|title=The I.L.O. Year-Book: 1938—39}}</ref>

When he was [[Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] from 1936 to 1940, Spaak adhered to the political independence of Belgium and carried on the long-standing Belgian policy of [[neutrality (international relations)|neutrality]], with no formal military cooperation with [[French Third Republic|France]] or the [[United Kingdom]] and no open hostility to the Germans. On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded [[Battle of Belgium|Belgium]], [[German invasion of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], [[Battle of the Netherlands|the Netherlands]] and [[Battle of France|France]]. In disarray and with almost all of the country occupied, the [[Belgian Army]] — by the command of King [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]] — surrendered on May 18, leading to a constitutional conflict with part of the government (including Spaak), which wanted to continue military operations together with France. The rump of the Belgian government regrouped in [[Limoges]] and [[Bordeaux]] and stayed close to the French, who [[Second Armistice at Compiegne|surrendered on 22 June]]. 

Again conflict arose in the Belgian government between those who wanted to stay in France (and maybe return to Belgium) — among these Spaak and Belgian Prime Minister [[Hubert Pierlot]] — and others who wanted to leave for London and to continue the war effort further. Minister [[Marcel-Henri Jaspar]] — done with the quarrelling — left on June 24 for [[London]] and tried to form a new government and obtain recognition from the British. For this, he was thrown out of the government at once by Pierlot and Spaak. 

After the repeal of diplomatic status by the French, Spaak finally went to Britain. Travelling in difficult circumstances with Pierlot through [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] and [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portugal]], partially even in the false bottom of a truck, they arrived in London in October 1940.<ref>Stephen George, "Paul-Henri Spaak and a paradox in Belgian foreign policy." ''Review of International Studies'' 1.3 (1975): 254–271.</ref>

==Post-World War II domestic policies==
After the war, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs under the subsequent ministers [[Achille Van Acker]] and [[Camille Huysmans]]. He was twice 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. During his last government, two important pieces of housing legislation were enacted. The De Taeye Act of 1948<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPpGU20Pd8YC&pg=PA6|title=Cost C16, Improving the Quality of Existing Urban Building Envelopes: Needs|last=Melgaard|first=Ebbe|date=2007-01-01|publisher=IOS Press|isbn=9781586037352|language=en}}</ref> organised fiscal rebates, credit facilities, and premiums for social dwellings built either on private or public initiative, while the Brunfaut Act of 1949 established a central budgeting organisation for governmental social housing policy, shifted the financial burden of infrastructural works to the state, and organised the financing of the two National Housing Societies.<ref>Peter Flora, ''Growth to Limits. The Western European Welfare States Since World War II'' .</ref> Under a law of 16th of June 1947 holiday duration was tripled for under 18 year olds, and doubled for those between the ages of 18 and 21.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://bib.kuleuven.be/rbib/collectie/archieven/arbbl/1986-100jaarsociaalrecht.pdf|title=HONDERD JAAR SOCIAAL RECHT IN BELGIË ARBEIDSBLAD 1886/1887 - 1986/1987}}</ref> Holiday pay was also doubled for the first week by the law of August the 10th 1947.<ref name="auto"/>

A bill on war damage, agreed upon in October 1947, stipulated that owners of homes damaged by the war and took the initiative to restore them were entitled to compensation.<ref name="BullockVerpoest2011">{{cite book|author1=Nicholas Bullock|author2=Luc Verpoest|title=Living with History, 1914 – 1964: la Reconstruction en Europe Après la Première Et la Seconde Guerre Mondiale Et Le Rôle de la Conservation Des Monuments Historiques|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P84es4zwTiAC&pg=PA263|year=2011|publisher=Leuven University Press|isbn=978-90-5867-841-6|pages=263–}}</ref> In 1948, voting rights for women were introduced.<ref name="Adams2014">{{cite book|author=Jad Adams|title=Women and the Vote: A World History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfD8AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA290|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-870684-7|pages=290–}}</ref> An Act providing for the establishment of works councils was promulgated in September 1948,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0myRa9K4jvIC&pg=PA160|title=International Labour Law Reports|last1=Bar-Niv|first1=Zvi H.|last2=Aaron|first2=B.|last3=Elmann|first3=Peter|date=1979-10-11|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=9028602798|language=en}}</ref> while a school building fund was set up that same year "to supply the material needs of secondary education."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRxMAAAAYAAJ|title=Bulletin of the International Bureau of Education|date=1958-01-01|publisher=The Bureau|language=en}}</ref> Also in 1948, the multilateral school was introduced.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKJYAAAAYAAJ|title=Western European Education|date=1972-01-01|publisher=International Arts & Sciences Press|language=en}}</ref>

Various measures were also introduced to improve working conditions in mines. A decree of September 1947 introduced the compulsory establishment of mine safety services and safety and health committees in all mines, while another Decree issued that same month revised and expanded the provisions related to hygiene installations, medical examination, rescue, and first aid.<ref>SAFETY IN COAL MINES VOLUME I: Organisation on the National and International Levels, International Labour Office, Geneva, 1953.</ref> Order of the regent regulating the use of explosives in undertakings other than mines and underground quarries dated 31 March 1949 “ deals with the loading, priming, tamping, firing and signalling of shots and policing of the area; certain special types of shotfiring such as firing in a confined space or underwater; incomplete explosions and misfires; liquid air or liquid oxygen explosives and the use of detonating fuses; supervision of the use of explosives; the reporting of accidents and incidents.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09611/09611(1949-25).pdf|title=SAFETY SURVEY, VOLUME XXV, 1949}}</ref> Automatic indexation of 95% of wages was provided from 1948 onwards,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6WxZAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA172|title=Wage Setting, Social Pacts and the Euro: A New Role for the State|last=Hassel|first=Anke|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=9789053569191|language=en}}</ref> while women were provided with access to the magistracy from 1948 onwards.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Women in Law and Lawmaking in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Europe|author=Schandevyl, P.E.|date=2014|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited|isbn=9781472403483|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7BUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|page=27|access-date=2017-02-03}}</ref>

In December 1948, an Act was passed that replaced the National Society for War Orphans with the National Society for Orphans, Widows and Ascendants of War Victims.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WChTLvxJcmUC|title=Report on Family, Child and Youth Welfare|last=Affairs|first=United Nations Dept of Social|date=1951-01-01|language=en}}</ref> Various measures were also introduced to improve working conditions in the mining industry. From June 1947 onward, all young workers under the age of 18 became entitled to three weeks' annual paid leave, while workers between the ages of 18 and 21 became entitled to at least a fortnight. In September 1947, Orders were promulgated providing for the supervision of health and hygiene in mines, surface mines and quarries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://staging.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1948/48B09_43_engl.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=11 October 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063507/http://staging.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1948/48B09_43_engl.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In June 1948, legislation was introduced that doubled holiday remuneration for workers, and in August 1948 a law was passed that introduced nonconfessional moral instruction in secondary education.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTeBTZVlt5gC|title=Educating Citizens: International Perspectives on Civic Values and School Choice|last1=Wolf|first1=Patrick J.|last2=Macedo|first2=Stephen|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=0815795165|language=en}}</ref> Company and sector-based joint committees were alsoestablished by a social law, with work councils in big companies needing to be consulted whenever economic issues with a social impact were tackled.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n4Em8G76kbkC&dq=The+Spaak+government+did+not+neglect+the+social+aspect+of+the+economy&pg=PA233|title=Political History of Belgium: From 1830 Onwards|first1=Els|last1=Witte|first2=Jan|last2=Craeybeckx|first3=Alain|last3=Meynen|date=22 February 2009|publisher=Asp / Vubpress / Upa|via=Google Books|page=233}}</ref>

==Foreign policies==
He was again 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]].  Although his political base was in the Socialist Party, he disagreed with its policies on several critical points, including [[Atlanticism]], recognition of Franco's Spain, and the [[language legislation in Belgium|language issue inside Belgium]].<ref>Fabien Conord,  "Paul-Henri Spaak, héraut ou soliste du socialisme belge?." ''Canadian Journal of History'' 49.1 (2014): 1–30, in French.</ref> During Spaak's final term as Belgium's Foreign Minister, he presided over Belgium granting independence to [[Kingdom of Burundi|Burundi]] following the [[Prince Louis Rwagasore#Assassination in 1961|assassination of Prince Louis Rwagasore]], the country's first elected prime minister. Despite allegations of Belgian involvement in Rwagasore's murder, Spaak appealed to Belgian King [[Baudouin of Belgium|Baudouin]] not to grant Rwagasore's convicted murderer a pardon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.afrikafocus.eu/file/96|title=Boomzeit in Südafrika für Wetten und Bingo, aber das Online-Casino wird zurückgehalten – Afrika Focus}}</ref>

=== 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 1948 in Paris, Spaak apostrophized the delegation of the Soviet Union with the famous words: "peur de vous" (fear of you).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/PV.147|title=3rd sess. [1948]: A/PV.147: Paul-Henry Spaak|publisher=United Nations|page=280}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/1997/10/13/c2b47cd3-bcb1-403e-8e96-e2290ac782b3/publishable_fr.pdf|title=Discours de Paul-Henri Spaak (Washington, 28 septembre 1948)|publisher=cvce.eu|page=5}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F004456-0010, Karlspreis Aachen, Verleihung an Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg|thumb|Spaak photographed receiving the [[Charlemagne Prize]] in 1957]]
Spaak became a staunch supporter of regional cooperation 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 1948 he helped organize a Congress that met in The Hague and pressed hard for the creation of the [[Council of Europe]]. In August 1949, at its first session, he was elected President of the Council of Europe's Consultative Assembly, where he helped develop a network of intergovernmental contacts in many fields, and did his best to encourage further steps towards a political body to unite Europe. However, after three years of patient cajoling at the Council of Europe, Spaak came to understand that the organization was not ready to move towards the united Europe that he dreamed of, and in December 1951 - after the Assembly rejected a proposal to set up a European "political authority" - he resigned, declaring his great regret at this missed [http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/Speeches/Speech-XML2HTML-EN.asp?SpeechID=271 opportunity]. But he continued to press for European integration as head of the [[European Movement]], and it was not long before he returned to the fray, in a new and more promising forum: from 1952 to 1953, he presided over the [[European Parliament|Common Assembly]] of the [[European Coal and Steel Community]], the body which was eventually to grow into the European Union.<ref>Sandro Guerrieri,  "From the Hague Congress to the Council of Europe: hopes, achievements and disappointments in the parliamentary way to European integration (1948–51)." ''Parliaments, Estates and Representation'' 34#2 (2014): 216–227.</ref>

But, as Spaak had shrewdly foreseen, tying the coal and steel industries of France and Germany together - at that time the two industries necessary to make war - was just the first step. His next goal was to expand the concept far beyond these two industries into a much wider economic body, which could in turn form the embryo of a political union. 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]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aei.pitt.edu/995/ |title=Spaak report |publisher=Aei.pitt.edu |access-date=2013-12-30}}</ref> " formed the cornerstone of the [[Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom]] at [[Castle of the Valley of the Duchess|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]]. It was a crowning achievement of decades of patient work, and his role in the creation of the EEC earned Spaak a place among the [[founding fathers of the European Union]].

===NATO===
In 1956, he was chosen by the Council of [[NATO]] to succeed [[Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay|Lord Ismay]] as secretary general. He held this office from 1957 until 1961, when he was succeeded by [[Dirk Stikker]]. He feuded constantly with French president Charles de Gaulle. He publicly attacked de Gaulle, blaming him for unjustly and unwisely blocking NATO's progress and stalling efforts toward European and Atlantic integration. De Gaulle was uncompromising on issues related to national sovereignty, mistrusted the United States and considered Britain to be an American puppet; he insisted on developing French nuclear capabilities. Although Spaak used every diplomatic method at his disposal, his opinion mattered little to the main players in NATO.<ref>Pascal Deloge, "Spaak-de Gaulle, 1958–60: charged memories," ''Revue d'Histoire Diplomatique'' (2008) 122#2 pp 135–151, in French.</ref>  When, in 1962, France, under de Gaulle, attempted to block both British entry to the European Communities and undermine their [[Supranational union|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 [[Espace Léopold|European Parliament in Brussels]] was named after him.  When France withdrew from an active role in NATO in 1966, he was instrumental in the selection of Brussels as the new headquarters.

On 21 February 1961, Spaak was presented with the [[Medal of Freedom (1945)|Medal of Freedom]] by US President [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite book|title=President John F. Kennedy Presents the Medal of Freedom to Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Paul-Henri Spaak, Oval Office, White House, Washington, DC, 02/21/1961|url=https://research.archives.gov/description/6817189|website=OPA – Online Public Access|series=Series: Robert Knudsen White House Photographs, 12/19/1960 - 3/11/1964 |date=21 February 1961 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=2014-07-04}}</ref>

== Retirement and death ==
Paul-Henri Spaak retired from politics in 1966. He was member of the [[Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique|Royal Belgian Academy of French Language and Literature]]. In 1969, he published his memoirs in two volumes titled ''Combats inachevés'' ("The Continuing Battle", literally, "unfinished fights"). 

Spaak died aged 73, of [[kidney failure]] on 31 July 1972,<ref>{{cite news |last1=McFadden |first1=Robert D. |title=Paul-Henri Spaak Is Dead at 73; An Architect of European Unity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/01/archives/paulhenri-spaak-is-dead-at-73-an-architect-of-european-unity-spaak.html |access-date=26 July 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=1 August 1972}}</ref> in his home in [[Braine-l'Alleud]] near [[Brussels]], and was buried in [[Braine-l'Alleud]].

== Legacy ==
Paul-Henri Spaak, nicknamed "Mr. Europe", was the main motive for one of the most recent and famous gold commemorative coins: the Belgian [[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Belgium)#2002 coinage|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]], the three unifiers of Europe.

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.

==Distinctions==
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F004454-0003, Karlspreis Aachen, Verleihung an Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg|thumb|Paul-Henri Spaak conferred the [[Charlemagne Prize]] in 1957.]]
[[File:President John F. Kennedy presents the Medal of Freedom to Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg|thumb|right|Spaak receives the [[Medal of Freedom (1945)]] from [[President of the United States|President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1961]]
===National honours===
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Minister of state, by Royal Decree<ref name="ars-moriendi.be">{{cite web|url=http://www.ars-moriendi.be/spaak.htm|publisher=ars-moriendi.be|title=SPAAK|access-date=2017-02-03}}</ref>
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Member of the Royal Academy<ref name="ars-moriendi.be"/>
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon in the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]]<ref name="ars-moriendi.be"/>
* {{flag|Belgium}}: Knight Grand Cross in the [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Order of the Crown]]<ref name="ars-moriendi.be"/>

===Foreign orders===
* {{flag|Holy See}}: [[Order of Pope Pius IX]]
* {{flag|France}}: [[Legion of Honour]]
* {{flag|Germany}}: [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] (1956)
* {{flag|Italy}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]] (5 May 1956)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/32300|title=Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana|website=www.quirinale.it|access-date=2019-11-14}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: Honorary Member of the [[Order of the Companions of Honour]] (14 May 1963)
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] (1937)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leighrayment.com/knights/knightshon.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407070241/http://www.leighrayment.com/knights/knightshon.htm|archive-date=7 April 2017|title=Honorary Knights and Dames|website=www.leighrayment.com|url-status=usurped|access-date=2019-11-14}}</ref>
* {{flag|Netherlands}}: [[Order of the Netherlands Lion]]
* {{flag|Portugal}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]] (10 August 1955)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=154&list=1|title=ENTIDADES ESTRANGEIRAS AGRACIADAS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas|website=www.ordens.presidencia.pt|access-date=2019-11-14}}</ref>
* {{flag|Czechoslovakia}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the White Lion]] (1947)
* {{flag|Sweden}}: [[Order of Vasa]]
* {{flag|Denmark}}: [[Order of the Dannebrog]]
* {{flag|Norway}}: [[Order of St. Olav]]
* {{flag|Iceland}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Falcon]] (21 August 1963)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.forseti.is/falkaordan/orduhafaskra/|title=ORÐUHAFASKRÁ|website=Forseti.is|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826052816/https://www.forseti.is/falkaordan/orduhafaskra/|archive-date=26 August 2019|access-date=2019-11-14}}</ref>
* {{flag|Luxembourg}}: [[Order of the Oak Crown]]
* {{flag|Greece}}: [[Order of George I]]
* {{flag|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}: [[Order of the Yugoslav Crown]]
* {{flag|Lebanon}}: [[National Order of the Cedar]]
* {{flag|Venezuela}}: [[Order of the Liberator]]
* {{flag|Iran}}: [[Order of the Crown (Iran)|Order of the Crown]]
* {{flag|Japan}}: [[Order of the Rising Sun]]
* {{flag|Thailand}}: [[Order of the White Elephant]]
* {{flag|Central African Republic}}: [[Grand Officer]] of the [[Order of Merit (Central African Republic)|Order of Merit]]
* {{flag|Zaire}}: [[National Order of the Leopard]]
* {{flag|Lithuania}}: [[Order of Vytautas the Great]]
* {{flag|Tunisia}}: [[Order of the Republic (Tunisia)|Order of the Republic]]
* {{flag|Brazil}}: [[Grand Cross]] of the [[Order of the Southern Cross]]
* {{flag|Finland}}: [[Order of the White Rose of Finland]]
* {{flag|Colombia}}: [[Order of San Carlos]]
* {{flag|Cuba}}:[[Order of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes]]
* {{flag|Ivory Coast}}: [[National Order of the Ivory Coast]]
<!-- *{{CH}}: Al Merito Orde -->

===Academic===
* [[Fellow]] of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1950)

===Other===
* [[Charlemagne Prize]] (1957) by the city of [[Aachen]] for his merit in the union and security of Europe
* [[Medal of Freedom (1945)|Medal of Freedom]] in silver with palm by U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Belgium)#2002 coinage|Euro gold and silver commemorative coins]] (2002)

== See also ==
* [[Spaak method]] of negotiating
* [[Espace Léopold|Paul-Henri Spaak building]]
* [[Paul-Henri Spaak Foundation]]
* [[Robert Rothschild]], diplomat, chef de cabinet

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Laurent, Pierre-Henri. "Paul-Henri Spaak and the Diplomatic Origins of the Common Market, 1955–1956." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 85.3 (1970): 373–396. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2147876 in JSTOR]
* Laurent, Pierre-Henri. "The diplomacy of the Rome Treaty, 1956–57." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 7.3/4 (1972): 209–220. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/259912 in JSTOR]
* Wilsford, David, ed. ''Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary'' (Greenwood, 1995) pp.&nbsp;421–27.
* {{cite journal |last1=Conord |first1=Fabien |title=Paul-Henri Spaak, un socialiste belge au coeur du système des partis |journal=Revue du Nord |date=2012 |volume=397 |issue=4 |pages=967–987 |doi=10.3917/rdn.397.0967 |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-du-nord-2012-4-page-967.htm?|doi-access=free }}

===Primary sources===
* {{cite book|last=Spaak|first=Paul-Henri|title=The Continuing Battle: Memoirs of a European, 1936–1966|year=1971|others=trans. Henry Fox|publisher=Weidenfeld|location=London|isbn=0-297-99352-6}}
* Spaak, Paul-Henri. "Intergovernmental Committee on European Integration. The Brussels Report on the General Common Market" (abridged, English translation of document commonly called the Spaak Report) [June 1956]. (1956). [http://aei.pitt.edu/995/1/Spaak_report.pdf online]
* Interview with Paul-Henri Spaak on [[Meet the Press]], (5 April 1959)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag0QOIN4Xn4 - YouTube]

== External links ==

* {{commonscatinline}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021128040001/http://www.fondationspaak.org/ Fondation Paul-Henri Spaak]
* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8444 The Presidency Project – ''Remarks at the Presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Paul Henri Spaak, Secretary General of NATO – 21 February 1961'']
* [http://nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_137963.htm NATO Declassified – Paul-Henri Spaak (biography)]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/016818}}
* {{FAG}}
* The [https://archives.eui.eu/en/fonds/187949?item=PHS Archives of Paul-Henri Spaak] are consultable at the [https://www.eui.eu/en/academic-units/historical-archives-of-the-european-union Historical Archives of the EU].

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{{BelgianPrimeMinisters}}
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