On May 9, 1950, French foreign minister Robert Schuman made a proposal that would change the map of Europe. He suggested that France and Germany share control of their coal and steel industries. This may sound like a small idea, but it was actually huge. Coal and steel are the raw materials needed to build weapons and wage war. If two countries shared these resources, neither one could secretly build up weapons without the other knowing. France and Germany had fought three devastating wars in just seventy years. Schuman believed that linking their economies would make another war not just unlikely but physically impossible. The plan worked. In 1951, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg created the European Coal and Steel Community. Over the following decades, these six nations deepened their cooperation. They began sharing trade rules, allowing workers to move freely, and even creating a common currency called the euro. Today, the European Union includes twenty-seven member nations stretching from Portugal in the west to Finland in the north. May 9 is now celebrated as Europe Day, honoring Schuman's vision of a peaceful, connected continent.