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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?