Download Europe after WWII May 8, 1945: Peace in Europe? Why did

http://www1.carleton.ca/ces/eulearning/eu-learning/history/europe-after-wwii/
Europe after WWII
May 8, 1945: Peace in Europe?
Why did European states, after centuries of conflict decide to start a process of integration?
Victory in Europe was declared on May 8th, 1945, after nearly six years of bloody conflict.
Germany was completely defeated.
Only thirty years had passed between the start of the First World War and the end of the Second
World War. Both wars were triggered by conflicts between European states and had plunged the
nations of the world into war. At the heart of the World Wars was the conflict between Germany
and its European neighbors. These were some of the most developed countries in the world and yet
they sought to destroy each other. Germany invaded France twice in 26 years, each time also
invading Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and drawing Great Britain and Russia into the
conflict. Eventually both these wars grew from regional conflicts to span the globe.
These are pictures of Dresden, Germany, taken before and
after the Allies firebombed it in February, 1945. Although
there are no concrete figures, the death toll at Dresden has
been estimated by some to be upwards of a 100 000 people.
World War II was more brutal, and bloodier than anyone who survived the Great War could have
imagined. The Second World War caused the deaths of around 60 million soldiers and civilians.
World War II was the first war that claimed the lives of more civilians than soldiers and witnessed
the horror of the first systematic genocide in modern history with the Holocaust. In addition, many
cities, towns and villages across Europe were completely destroyed by aerial bombing and heavy
artillery. The wanton destruction of homes created thousands of refugees and displaced persons.
Almost everyone in Europe was affected by the war.
A common expression after 1945 was “Never again,” which symbolized a universal desire to avoid
another world war. The peoples of Europe were especially committed to this ideal after watching
their families torn apart and their homes destroyed.
But how could peace in Europe be guaranteed? Many felt that the responsibility for the wars lay
with nationalism in Europe. The great powers in Europe, the United Kingdom, France, Germany,
and Russia competed fiercely with each other even in peacetime for economic and military
dominance. Tariffs and other barriers to trade were established between most European countries.
For many observers, including politicians, intellectuals, and members of resistance movements, the
answer became clear: Europe must be integrated. Instead of competition between European states,
there was a need for a system of co-operation.
But there were many obstacles and difficulties to overcome to achieve this goal.
The Reconstruction of Europe in the Shadow
of Communism — External Pressure
Another factor in the decision to integrate Europe was the external pressures on Western European
states immediately following the war. The United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) played important roles in creating an atmosphere where European integration
could take place. Western Europe was now bordered by satellite states of the USSR and chose to
rely heavily on the United States for security and aid.
Soviet Leader Josef Stalin
The Cold War
The Cold War began almost immediately after the end of the Second World War. It was a conflict
between the only two superpowers in the world, Soviet Russia and its satellite states and the United
States and its allies. It was in many ways an ideological conflict between communist and capitalist
countries which had an important impact on Europe.
Once the Allied Armies attacking from the West and the East defeated Germany, Europe was
divided into spheres of influence with the Americans, British and French in Western Europe and the
Soviets in Eastern Europe. Once Germany was defeated, a fault- line was created that split the
European continent in half. In the East was the Soviet sphere of influence, comprising states such as
Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany, while Western Europe was in the American sphere of
influence.
The timeline below highlights key events after the end of World War II.
1945
The Yalta
A Brief Timeline of the Cold War in Europe
1946
1947
1948
1949
Winston Churchill’s The Division of
The Berlin Blockade| The
Conference |
La conférence de
Yalta
Britain, the U.S.,
and the U.S.S.R.
sign an agreement
to create the
United Nations.
The Allies
acknowledge the
Soviet Union’s
influence over
Eastern Europe.
famous Iron Curtain
Speech outlining the
conflicts between
liberal democracies
and authoritarian
communists. Click
here to listen to it.
Germany
In 1947, the U.S.
and the U.S.S.R. re
Two German states
reached an impasse
concerning the
future of Germany.
Two separate states
were created:
 East Germany,
controlled by the
Soviet Union;
 and West
Germany becomes a
democracy with
American support
and aid.
Le blocus de Berlin
The Communist
takeover of
Czechoslovakia
The democratic
Czechoslovakian state
is overthrown by the
Communist party in a
bloodless coup.
U.S.S.R.
detonates
its first
atomic
bomb.
Moving to Integration
With both the internal and external pressures for European integration, and unification, how
did it occur?
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
The Council of Europe
Listen to Winston Churchill’s speech on the “United States of Europe”
In 1946 at the Swiss University of Zurich, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
delivered a speech on the future of Europe. Churchill caused a sensation when he stated that the
future prosperity and security of European countries depended on the creation of a United States of
Europe.
“I am now going to say something that will astonish you. The first step in the re-creation of the
European family must be a partnership between France and Germany. In this way only can France
recover the moral and cultural leadership of Europe. There can be no revival of Europe without a
spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany. The structure of the United States of
Europe will be such as to make the material strength of a single State less important. Small nations
will count as much as large ones and gain their honor by a contribution to the common cause. The
ancient States and principalities of Germany, freely joined for mutual convenience in a federal
system, might take their individual places among the United States of Europe.”



Churchill did not believe that Great Britain could or should be a part of a United States of
Europe.
He did believe, however, that reconciliation between France and West Germany should take
place soon.
He argued that a Council of Europe should be established to achieve the goal of creating a
United States of Europe.
Two years later, in 1948, after pressure from different European federalist interest groups,
politicians and the United States, the 16 member states of the OEEC met in London to establish the
Council of Europe. Ten of the sixteen members of the OEEC signed “the Statute of the Council of
Europe” on 5 May 1949. The Council of Europe (CoE) was the first international parliamentary
assembly. It discussed co-operation and integration between governments in economic and social
policy as well as the integration of European states themselves. Its primary object was “to achieve
greater unity between its members.”
While many important projects for European integration were discussed in the CoE, it was an
international organization and had very little power to act independently of the member states.
However, it served as an important forum for ideas and there were many debates in the CoE on the
different ways of achieving European unity, and co-operation among governments in areas such as
transportation and scientific research. In addition, many of the founding fathers of the European
Union, including Paul Henri Spaak and Robert Schuman, participated in the Council of Europe and
discussed ways of achieving European unity.
One continuing obstacle to European unity was the need for reconciliation between France and
Germany. In the late 1940s, West Germany was not a member of the CoE, and in fact, did not
become a member until 1951.
The European Coal and Steel Community
The establishment of international organizations provided a measure of American protection. But
what about the future of European Western states? Both the First World War and the Second World
War occurred in large part because of Franco-German conflicts. Creating a stable Europe required
reconciliation between France and Germany.
One of the major obstacles to Franco-German reconciliation after the war was the question of coal
and steel production. Coal and steel were the two most vital materials for developed nations; the
backbone of a successful economy. Coal was the primary energy source in Europe, accounting for
almost 70% of fuel consumption. Steel was a fundamental material for industry and to manufacture
it required large amounts of coal. Both materials were also needed to create weapons.
The largest concentration of coalmines and steel production was found in two areas in Western
Germany: the Ruhr Valley, and the Saarland. The Allies detached the Saarland from West Germany
and made it a semi-autonomous region. In the Ruhr Valley, the Allies placed restrictions on the
production, ownership and sale of coal and steel in an attempt to restrict German economic growth.
The Ruhr Valley coal and steel production was also restricted as a guarantee to Germany’s
neighbours, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands, that these crucial resources would
not be used to re-create a Germany army.
France wanted to control and access the coal and steel in the Ruhr Valley and wanted the Saarland
permanently separated from West Germany. The French government was especially worried that
West Germany could use its massive coal and steal resources to attack France once again. West
Germans, under the leadership of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who was elected in 1949, wanted
the Saarland returned to Germany and objected to the strict controls placed on Germany heavy
industry. The Franco-German conflict persisted over coal and steel. A reconciliation of the two
former enemies seemed unlikely.
French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman
The solution to the coal and steel problem and the core of the reconciliation between France and
Germany was the Schuman Plan, named after the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. The
Schuman Plan was presented on 9 May 1950. It argued that coal and steel production should be
placed under a supranational High Authority. Following shortly after Schuman’s declaration, the
negotiations that established the European Coal and Steel Community began. The European Coal
and Steel Community (ECSC) pooled the coal and steel resources of six European countries:
France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (BENELUX). These countries
would be collectively known as “the Six”. Pooling coal and steel resources greatly reduced the
threat of war between France and West Germany. The ECSC became a reality in 1952.
Jean Monnet
The author of the Schuman Plan was another Frenchman, Jean Monnet a bureaucrat in the French
government. Monnet had worked at the League of Nations between the World Wars and was
committed to the goal of a United States of Europe. Monnet was also the first President of the
ECSC. For Monnet, and for Schuman, the ECSC was to be the first step in creating an federal
Europe.
A European Community
The ECSC provided the first a small but important step towards European integration. By
integrating coal and steel under a single authority, the Schuman Plan demonstrated that European
integration was feasible. Furthermore, it eased tensions between France and Germany.
The success of the ECSC led to other, more drastic proposals to integrate the original six member
states. Because of the Korean War (1950-1953), the United States wanted to re-arm West Germany
to give it a greater role in the defence of the continent from Soviet aggression. Many European
countries did not want to see the re-establishment of a German army. So in 1952, shortly after the
treaty on the ECSC was completed, another plan was advanced to create an integrated European
Army. The European Defence Community (EDC) was supported by all of the member states except
France. The French government vetoed the EDC in 1954. The goal of a single European Army was
defeated and it seemed that European integration would begin and end with coal and steel.
Paul-Henri Spaak
However, in 1955 Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak advanced a new proposal on the
integration of European economies. The proposal was based on the experience the Benelux
countries, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in economic integration. On 5 September
1944, the leaders of the Benelux countries, who were exiled in London, signed the NetherlandsBelgium-Luxemburg Customs Convention. This treaty provided for the institutions and powers
needed to integrate the economies of the three countries. The new economic area was called
Benelux and, in 1958, the three countries signed the Benelux Economic Union Treaty. The treaty
provided for the free movement of people, goods, capital and services and for the co-ordination of
social and economic policy. Using the Benelux economic union as a model, it was proposed that the
six member states of the ECSC integrate their economies.
At the Messina (Italy) conference between the member states of the ECSC on 15 June 1955, Paul
Henri Spaak was charged with chairing a committee that would produce a draft version of the
Treaty establishing the European Economic Communities (EEC). The aim of the EEC was to create
a common market between the six member states (the Six). Spaak’s committee also drew up a
proposal for the integration of nuclear power among the Six at French insistence. The report on the
EEC and the integration of atomic energy (Euratom) was submitted to the leaders of the six in May
1956.
A map showing the original six members of the European Economic Community (EEC)
After a year of negotiations, the Six signed the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community in Rome on 25 March 1957. This treaty, usually called the Treaty of Rome, was
modeled on the ECSC. The Treaty of Rome marked a significant stage in the procession of
European integration. The EEC was the main vehicle for European integration, both political and
economic.
HOMEWORK
At home, single work
 Everybody has to read it at home, finding out all the unknown words
 Highlight all the key statements
 Find out all the abbreviations and write them with their full name
At school: pair work
Divide the class in groups of two
 Each student, alternatively, explains to the other one paragraph, until you have revised all
 Split the couples, each students join another classmate and draft a power point presentation
or a mindmap for each paragraph
! DEADLINE: Friday 8
th
of April attached to an email
[email protected]
If you want to check what you have learnt, click here and try to do the online exercises
http://www1.carleton.ca/ces/eulearning/eu-learning/history/activities-a-history-of-the-europeanunion/