After the war, many challenges awaited Europe. Not only did enormous damage have to be repaired, but solutions also had to be found for the recurring conflicts on the continent. The realization that things could no longer continue like this meant that for the first time there was a serious need to talk about European integration.
International Integration
Not only was European integration discussed after the end of the Second World War. Cooperation treaties were also concluded internationally. It became clear that the world was divided into two fronts. The capitalist west and the communist east. Nevertheless, attempts were made to create some form of cooperation in three areas. These three planes were:
Politics
It was considered important that there should be a place where all recognized states of the world could discuss with each other. To achieve this, the United Nations was founded in 1945.
Defense and security
NATO was founded in 1949. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ensured cooperation between western European countries and the US. Together they would stand strong against the communist Eastern Bloc. After the fall of communism, NATO was expanded to include eastern European countries.
The Eastern Bloc decided that they too needed such cooperation to stand strong against the NATO countries. That is why the Warsaw Pact was signed. This stipulated that all communist states that were in danger would be assisted by the other communist states. Furthermore, it was a way for the Soviet Union to bind its satellite states to itself. The Warsaw Pact was concluded in 1955.
Economy
The International Monetary Fund was established in 1945 to ensure that reconstruction after the Second World War proceeded smoothly. In 1948, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation was founded. This organization had to distribute the money that the US made available to Europe through the Marshall Plan fairly and properly among the countries.
Integration in Europe
Although integration took place on an international scale immediately after the end of the Second World War, the leaders of European countries were convinced that more had to be done to ensure that Europe would prosper again. Therefore, plans were made to promote integration in the same three fields.
Politics
Churchill was in favor of creating a United States of Europe. This suited him as long as the United Kingdom was not part of it. The idea was discussed at the Hague conference in 1948. The idea was unsuccessful.
Defense and security
In 1952, a treaty was signed for a European Defense Community. However, the treaty was never implemented. It was based on the Von Pleven Plan devised by Jean Monnet and French President René Pleven. They suggested the idea of establishing a joint European army. This would ensure that Germany would not need a new army of its own to protect itself against the Soviet Union, but that the army would belong to the whole of Europe. Although it was a French idea to create such a structure, it was never implemented because the French did not ratify it in 1954.
Economy
The first step of integration took place in the economy when the Schuman Plan was presented in 1950. This plan was devised by Jean Monnet and the French Minister Schuman who wanted to ensure that the coal and steel trade would be controlled. This was for two reasons. The first was that this would ensure that there would be no unrest between France and Germany because coal and steel could mainly be found in their border areas. Secondly, this would ensure that France would continue to receive enough coal and steel to rebuild. Jean Monnet himself also believed that if European integration started here, a spill-over effect would automatically occur. In other words, that it would also become easier to apply European Integration in other areas.
- Ultimately, the Schuman Plan gave rise to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951. In 1952 the ECSC was put into operation for 50 years. This means that the ECSC has not been active since 2002.
- A second body was born in 1957, namely the European Atomic Energy Community , also called Euratom. This body still exists today, but has gone through difficult times. It was founded when the invention of nuclear weapons was seen as a danger. The goal was to control the production of nuclear weapons. What caused difficult situations was, among other things, that the organization only focused on one issue, namely nuclear energy. This made it difficult to find compromises when a country did not fully agree with a certain idea.
- The third organization to emerge was the European Economic Community in 1957. Today the EEC is incorporated into the EU. It provides general regulations for all economic matters. In 1992 the EEC was renamed the European Community because it was no longer concerned only with economic matters but also with human rights, for example.