by Katharina Oemmelen
We are writing in the year 1945, which marks the end of the deadliest conflict in the history of humankind: The Second World War. The war has split Europe into two opposing military alliances, with the Allies (the U.S., U.K., Soviet Union, and France) fighting the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). The surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945 results in a re-ordering of previously allied countries along political-ideological lines. Most importantly, the ideological differences within the uneasy alliance between the U.S. and the U.K. on one hand and the Soviet Union on the other gives rise to the beginnings of the Cold War. These global geopolitical tensions shape the political decisions made in Europe and lay the foundations to an ambitious project: the European Union.
One of the key concerns of post-war Europe was what to do with Germany. The winning countries divided up the German territory: The Soviet Union occupied the Eastern part while the U.S. and U.K. took control of West Germany, establishing the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Thus, the communist-capitalist tensions faced each other on German soil. The British and the Americans believed that it was necessary to strengthen Germany by maximising its economic and military potential. America in particular had an interest in a strong Western Germany – the backbone of a strong Western Europe – which could stop the threat of communism. France, on the other hand, had reservations about this strategy. It voiced fears that the coal-rich Ruhr region of Germany could lead to the quick recovery of Germany’s military power. As a compromise, France agreed to the foundation of the FRG on the condition that Germany’s coal production be placed under international control.[1]
The political leaders of post-war Europe were deeply involved in pressing their countries’ interests while finding a common solution. Winston Churchill, who had successfully guided the U.K. through the difficult war period, first voiced an idea that would set the foundation for the European Union. In his famous ‘Speech to the Academic Youth’ at the University of Zurich, he urged Europeans to move past the horrors of wartime and come together through the creation of a ‘United States of Europe’ that would guarantee lasting peace.
“There is a remedy which ... would in a few years make all Europe ... free and ... happy. It is to re-create the European family, or as much of it as we can, and to provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. We must build a kind of United States of Europe.”[2]– Winston Churchill
The international community expected the U.K. to develop such a uniting coalition. While the U.K. was involved in creating a framework for European military security, eventually leading to the foundation of NATO, it was ultimately France which presented the solution that would lead to the first formal coalition of European powers. Partly inspired by its self-interest to restrict Germany’s coal production, it advanced the reconciliation of Franco-German relations through the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 (ECSC).[3] Known as the ‘Schuman plan’, named after the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, the European trade area was established among six founding members: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. By pooling its production of coal and steel resources, ‘in a practical but also richly symbolic way, the raw materials of war were being turned into instruments of reconciliation and peace’.[4]
Though the U.K. was invited to participate in talks preceding the establishment of the ECSC as well as the European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community, their involvement was very limited. At the time, the U.K. was instead pursuing a plan to create a ‘one-world economic system’, in which the Pound Sterling and links with the Commonwealth were central factors. However, in 1973, the U.K. finally joined the European Economic Community, accepting that many elements of the European Communities would be controversial domestically, such as its supranationalism or the common agricultural policy.[5]
[1] Bombert, Peterson and Corbett (2012) The European Union: How does it work?
[2] https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/history_en.
[3] https://europa.rs/images/publikacije/26-EU_In_12_Lessons.pdf.
[4] https://europa.rs/images/publikacije/26-EU_In_12_Lessons.pdf.
[5] https://ukandeu.ac.uk/fact-figures/why-did-the-united-kingdom-not-join-the-european-union-when-it-started/