It was about nothing less than the future of Europe, but Helmut Schmidt had kept his humor. For him, it feels as if he had to convince Salvation Army employees of the benefits of drinking - said the German Chancellor at the end of November 1974 at the British Labor Party Congress.
The ruling Labor Party has just returned to undoing Britain's historic accession to the European Communities, notably the European Economic Community. It was only in 1973 that the British joined the forerunner of the EU. Now many wanted to leave immediately. A number of anti-Europeans in the Labor Party had even threatened to leave the room if Helmut Schmidt could only put the word "Europe" in his mouth.
The English press stylized Schmidt's speech to High Noon . Schmidt countered coolly that he would certainly not shoot at noon from the hip, but could not help but talk about Europe. He even tried a rare word for him: Comrades.
Helmut Schmidt's European speech at the Labor Party, November 30, 1974
"What I really want to say is this, even at the risk of some leaving the room," Schmidt called to the British Social Democrats. "Your comrades on the continent want you to stay and you will have to consider this, please." With a fine dose of humor, but bluntly, he interfered in the decision of the Workers' Party to have the British vote in 1975 by referendum on remaining in Europe.
The Brexit referendum next Thursday has a historic predecessor. How could it have come this far?
Great Britain said Yes, de Gaulle Non
Ironically, one Briton, Winston Churchill, had proposed a kind of "United States of Europe" after the Second World War. However, he emphasized as early as 1946 that the British would benevolently support this new continental Europe, but would not become part of it. After all, one still has the Commonwealth and the special relations with the USA - even if evil tongues claimed that they were so special that only one side knew about their existence.
In any case, after the war, the British found themselves in a completely different situation than the ruined Europe. They had defeated Nazi Germany and felt accordingly. However, Great Britain then lost its own colonial empire, which also waned the economic power.
At the same time, the former war enemies Germany and France, Italy and the Benelux countries worked together on the continent. And they were successful quickly. The majority of Britons, meanwhile, had no idea what the EEC was all about - or even believed Britain was already a member.
The trick with the double strategy
It was only in the 1960s that the British officially asked to join the EEC, twice. Non! Said French President Charles de Gaulle every time. And unknowingly confirmed to the British their otherness. De Gaulle explained that nature, structure and the economy of England are very different from those on the continent. In fact, he wanted to defend French dominance in the EEC.
Only when de Gaulle was no longer in office, the British were on January 1, 1973 finally join. The then Prime Minister Edward Heath is still regarded as the only convinced European in this office. But in 1974 he was voted out, Labor formed the new government. Two camps had formed in the party over the years: the pro-marketeers advocated Europe; the anti-marketeers rejected a common market and had a two-thirds majority in the party.
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This focus on the market alone was significant; the political project was suspect to the British. Many do not like the supranational institutions in Brussels; In addition, the affront came through de Gaulle's double veto. In the European discussions at that time dominated the concern for the English housewife, who could soon no longer cheap milk, eggs, cheese, meat, for example, from the Commonwealth member New Zealand.
The Labor government of Harold Wilson pursued the same dual strategy in 1974 as today the Tory government under David Cameron. First, Wilson negotiated with European partners about better conditions for the kingdom. Then he campaigned in the election campaign before the referendum for remaining in the community.
"You can not unscramble the egg"
The negotiations sometimes became a farce. In Dublin in 1975 came to the notorious "summit of the calculator". Helmut Schmidt wondered if he had yet to correct his assessment of British statesmanship. Nevertheless, he was willing to accept concessions, which should finance above all the Federal Republic.
The British Government sold this as a great success and recommended that the population vote in favor of the EEC. Although the anti-marketeers in the Labor faction made the majority, but a two-thirds majority for Europe there were in the British House of Commons anyway - along with the opposition Tories, who had joined in 1973 yes.
Most clearly, Labor MP David Ennals summed up the problems of leaving the EEC: "You can not unscramble the egg . " A scrambled egg will never become a normal egg again.
Before the referendum on June 5, 1975, one of Britain's biggest anti-Europeans came up with something special: shopping spokeswoman in Brussels, left-wing Labor politician Barbara Castle wanted to show how much supposedly horrendous prices on the continent would ruin the British housewife.
Incidentally, shortly before Helmut Schmidt's speech, Castle had been a guest at the German Ambassador in London. He poured her good wine, and she gave him pure wine: Schmidt should appeal to the solidarity of British comrades, if he wanted to succeed.
Special discounts for the British
At night, Castle's note found its way from London to Bonn, Schmidt heeded in his speech. She felt guilty about that, Castle later wrote in her memoirs. Unintentionally, she helped Schmidt to success.
Their shopping spree across Europe, on the other hand, had little impact on the outcome of the referendum: the overwhelming majority of Conservatives, whose new chairmanship was Margaret Thatcher since 1975, supported the Liberal, the press and the country's financial elite by supporting the Labor government - only its own party did not do that. In the end, 67 percent of the British voted to stay in Europe.
However, the political elite is in agreement today that Britain fulfills a special role in Europe and deserves special conditions. "I want my money back", Thatcher demanded in 1984 and negotiated a British discount, similar to David Cameron in the run-up to this year's referendum.
Britain has always been skeptical of the European project. What has changed since the 1970s is that this skepticism is now shared across much of the EU. And while leftists were counted among the anti-Europeans at the time, right-wingers in many countries today are bickering Europe.
So much has changed since the referendum in 1975. Convinced Europeans have two hopes: there is still little evidence that an exit for the British also pays off. And an English scrambled egg - it remains just a scrambled egg.