European integration
In 1945, Europe came out of the war in ruins, and France and Germany had just fought each other for the third time in less than a century. A few years later, they were building a shared project together. How did former enemies choose to unite, and how far did this union go?
This lesson takes about 15 minutes. You can take a break after each part.
Before you start
Learning objectives
- I can explain why France and Germany pooled coal and steel in 1950.
- I can name the six founding countries and some of the people who built Europe.
- I can place the main stages: the ECSC, the Treaties of Rome, the Maastricht Treaty, the enlargements, the euro.
- I can tell widening from deepening, and show that Europe is debated.
Six countries begin to unite (1950-1957)
Making war impossible
France and Germany fought each other in 1870, 1914, and 1939. To prevent another war, some leaders wanted to bind them together through shared interests.
On May 9, 1950, Robert Schuman, the French foreign minister, proposed pooling coal and steel, which are used to make weapons. The plan had been prepared by Jean Monnet. The chancellor of West Germany, Konrad Adenauer, accepted it, as did the head of the Italian government, Alcide De Gasperi.
Six Western countries, in the middle of the Cold War
Europe was then cut in two. The countries of the East, under the influence of the USSR, could not take part. European integration therefore began in the West, in the American camp: the United States supported the project.
In 1951, six countries signed the treaty of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) in Paris: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
A common market
On March 25, 1957, the same countries signed the Treaties of Rome. They created the EEC (European Economic Community): a common market, where goods move without customs duties.
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A wider and closer Europe (1957 to today)
New countries: widening
European integration gradually welcomed new countries. In 1973, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined; then Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), and Austria, Finland, and Sweden (1995).
On May 1, 2004, ten countries joined together, including Poland and Hungary. After the end of the Cold War, the divided Europe was reunited. Bulgaria and Romania (2007), then Croatia (2013) followed.
Going further together: deepening
The countries also decided to share more. On February 7, 1992, the Maastricht Treaty created the European Union and a European citizenship.
The euro became the currency of several countries: its coins and banknotes arrived on January 1, 2002. In the Schengen area, people cross borders without checks. With the Erasmus program, students go to study in another country.
A Europe that is debated
European integration also divides citizens. In 2005, the French rejected a draft European Constitution by referendum. In 2016, the British voted to leave the Union; the United Kingdom left it in 2020.
Its motto, “United in diversity,” adopted in 2000, says that Europeans unite while keeping their cultures and languages.
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Review game
Final assessment
To master the lesson, you need at least 60% correct answers.
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Summary
- After the Second World War, France proposed pooling coal and steel with Germany (the Schuman Declaration, May 9, 1950), to make a new war between them impossible.
- Six Western European countries created the ECSC (1951), then the EEC and its common market with the Treaties of Rome (1957), in the context of the Cold War.
- European integration widened: from 6 countries, it has grown to 27 today. In 2004, ten countries joined, most of them from Central and Eastern Europe, reuniting a Europe that the Cold War had cut in two.
- It also deepened: the Maastricht Treaty created the European Union (1992), followed by the euro and the Schengen area. But it also divides citizens, as the referendums of 2005 in France and 2016 in the United Kingdom show.
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