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LEGAL HISTORY II TEACHING GUIDE Nr. 9. “The federalist option: the US model and the process of European integration from the Westphalia Treaty to the Hague Congress of 1948” Introduction: The American Revolution spawned an assembly-based political regime. The colonies, through their representatives, convoked a Congress to declare independence, and formed a confederation to fight the Revolutionary War. After their victory over the British monarchy they became thirteen separate states whose representatives convened, as needed, in a national Congress. The Articles of Confederation constitutional framework, however, did not include any viable institutional mechanism to implement and enforce decisions made by the Congress. A certain sector of American public opinion was, therefore, in favor of strengthening it. They were, however, met by an opposing camp which did not want the states to lose their independence. The ensuing debate was decided in favor of the former and in 1787 a constituent Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia produced a federal Constitution. A new nation was born featuring a system of government which combined republican institutions with a strong executive power, in the form of a president granted wide powers, a feature for which the new system was dubbed “presidential.” The great challenge remained of how to strike a balance between the power of the central government and the authorities retained by the different states, a lingering, unresolved issue that would eventually lead to a cataclysmic Civil War (1861-1865). The Union’s victory consolidated the principle of the indivisibility of the United States of America, but the tension between those pushing for greater federal authority and those in favor of greater autonomy for the states continues to be a major issue in American politics. European Powers on the contrary were separated in independent Nation-states since almost 1648 (Peace of Westphalia). Only after the defeat of Napoleon, for some years, European Sovereigns that had met in the Congress of Vienna agreed through the Holy Alliance to meet regularly in Congresses and prepare military interventions for fighting any attempt of Revolution, an Agreement between the main European powers that enabled to avoid wars and maintain peace through the order of the Restoration. It was the Metternich System that prevented the triumph of the principles of the French Revolution in Europe up to 1830. The triumph of the Monarchy of July in France provoked however a new rise of the nation-state system that led to a new wave of conflicts among European powers starting with the Crimean War (1853-1856). The most important being the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), World War I and World War II. The European nation-States destroyed themselves in these devastating wars that led to the predominance of the United States, a union of States that became in 1918 the leading World Power. The success of this American Union convinced some Europeans that the only way Europe could survive was through a Federal Union. And they tried in the Hague Congress of 1948. Only through a comparison between the process of integration of the United States of America and the difficulties of reaching a union of European Nation states we will understand the peculiarities of the actual European integration process. This is what we are trying to reach today. I. Text: You have to read in the book A History of Western Public Law. Between Nation and State the following texts of Chapter 14 and 18: Concerning chapter 14: Thirteen States, One Nation: From the Articles of Confederation to the Federal Republic, paragraph 14.2, pages 417-421. The Origins of the Presidential System, paragraph 14.3, pages 422-426 A New Constitution for a New Federal State, paragraph 14.4, pages 427. Relations Between the States and the Federal Government After 1789, paragraph 427-440. Concerning chapter 18: Westphalia’s Peace and the Triumph of the Europe of States, paragraph 18.1.4, page 662. Europe Between Imperialism and Coordination: 1789 to 1914, paragraph 18.1.5, pages 663-664. The idea of Europe from 1918 to 1939, paragraph 18.2, pages 664-671. European Integration During World War II, paragraph 18.3, pages 672-677 European Integration During the Post-War Period (1945-1949), paragraph 18.4, pages 677-683. II. Basic chronology: 1648 Peace of Westphalia 1776, 4th of July. Declaration of Independence. 1777 Articles of Confederation 1783 Treaty of Versailles 1786 Shay’s Rebellion 1787 June Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia July: Northwest Ordinance September: Approval of the U.S. Federal Constitution 1788 Ratification of the U.S. Federal Constitution 1789 George Washington elected first President of the U.S. 1791 Bill of Rights 1803 Marbury vs Madison sentence of U.S. Supreme Court 1804-1814 Napoleonic empire 1814-1815 Congress of Vienna 1815-1830 Holy Alliance (Metternich system) 1860-1865 American War of Secession 1871 Proclamation of IInd Reich 1882 Triple Alliance 1907 Triple Entente 1919 Peace of Versailles (Woodrow Wilson) 1920 First meeting of the League of Nations 1929 Briand’s Proposal for a European Union 1940 Franco-British Union 1944 Creation of the Benelux 1946 Speech of Churchill in favor of European integration 1947 European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) 1948 Congress of the Hague (Project of European Federal Integration) 1949 Treaty of London. Creation of the Council of Europe. III. Exercises corresponding to "Teaching guide nr. 9" C. CONCEPTS Articles of Confederation / Federal Debate /Shay Rebellion / Constitutional Convention / Presidential System (vs. Parlamentarian System) / Great Compromise for the US / Legislative Branch (Congress) / Judicial Review / Northwest Ordinance / U.S. Constitution / Bill of Rights (1791) / Amendments / Marbury vs Madison / Missouri Compromise (1820) / American War of Secession / Obamacare Holy Alliance / Metternich System / Wilson’s 14 Points / Treaty of Versailles 1919 / Principle of national self-determination / Pan-European Movement / Briand’s Proposal / European Third Reich’s “New Order” / Franco British Union / Benelux / Dollar gap / European Recovery Program / OEEC (OECD) / Congress of the Hague / Council of Europe / European Convention for the Protection of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms D. GENERAL QUESTIONS 1. Describe what were the Articles of Confederation, for what purpose they were proclaimed in 1777 and why they rendered the Union inoperative after 1783 (see also 12.8.3, pages 355-356). 2. What event was decisive in the Federal-Antifederal debate to convene the Philadelphia Constitutional convention that led to the approval of U.S. Constitution in 1787? Why was it decisive? 3. Explain why the composition of the Federal Congress, the way the President is elected, the Judicial Review principle and the Bill of Rights were guarantees that the federalists gave to the anti-federalists. 4. Why the Marbury versus Madison case was so important in the U.S. Constitutional History? 5. Explain why the Westward expansion of the U.S. that brought the number of States from 13 to 50 was the cause of the American Civil War and how the Union’s victory consolidated the Union? 6. Why the Metternich System based on the Holy Alliance could be considered the forerunner of European integration? (see.16.2.4, pages 495-496). 7. Why Woodrow Wilson’s conception of the world order after World War I (Fourteen Points) was fatal to the idea of European integration? Think about how the American President thought Wars could be avoided in the future and what happened to his idea. 8. Explain why R. Coudenhove-Kalergi developed his idea of Pan-European movement, and how he imagined that European nation-states could realistically get together after World War I. Did Aristide Briand shared the same vision of an integrated Europe. 9. Why Soviet reaction to the Marshall Plan and the splitting of Germany pushed for European integration? 10. What was the aim of the Congress of the Hague of 1948 and why it was a failure? E. ESSAY : write a 400 words essay explaining why the Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia (may-september 1787) led to a Federal Union in America and the Congress of the Hague (1948) did not succeed in forming a Federal Europe?