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LESSON 2 the European Union the European Union T LESSONLESSON 2 TheThe EuropeanEuropean UnionUnion QuickQuick WriteWrite erdun: It was World War I’s longest single battle. It lasted nearly 10 months, which is longer than Vsome entire wars. Verdun-sur-Meuse lay about 150 miles northeast of Paris. It had been an important fortress since Roman times. The French had reinforced it since the previous war with Germany, in 1870–71. It would be an important objective psychologically, the What do you think Kohl Germans reasoned. and Mitterrand might have been thinking about as they The German commander’s plan was to subject Verdun to stood before the crowd? intense bombing. This would pull French troops in from all along the Western Front to the eight-mile-wide front around Verdun to defend the ancient fortress. All those troops would be easy targets for his big artillery guns. He would “bleed France white,” he said. It began with a German artillery barrage at 7:15 a.m. on LearnLearn AboutAbout 21 February 1916. It didn’t end until 16 December. Nobody really knows how many soldiers died there, but estimates • the origins of the run into the hundreds of thousands. The Germans lost very European Union nearly as many soldiers as the French did. And when it was • the countries that all over, neither side had gained any tactical or strategic are members of the advantage. European Union • the political and Nearly 70 years later, on 22 September 1984, West German economic structure Chancellor Helmut Kohl went to Verdun. There he met of the European Union French President François Mitterrand for a ceremony to • the importance of the honor the dead —of both world wars. As their national euro as a world currency anthems played, the two leaders clasped hands. The two men side by side, hands joined, became a living symbol of reconciliation between France and Germany. 630 CHAPTER 6 Europe 75162_C6L2_p630-647_AFJROTC_FINAL.indd 630 11/14/09 10:50 AM The Origins of the European Union Vocabulary The European Union, or EU, is a union of 27 democratic •customs union countries, ranging from Germany (with 82 million people) •referendum to tiny Malta (with 400,000). •Euroskeptics It is not the United States •central bank of Europe. Nor is it an empire. It started small— •reserve currency with only six members. And it has changed names as its missions and functions have changed. The basic idea of the EU was political union through economic union. The reasoning behind postwar efforts to unite Europe was that democratic, law-abiding countries whose people traded freely with one another would be unlikely to go to war against each other. The fi rst steps toward union began with some of the same industries that had fueled the war machine: coal and steel. LESSON 2 ■ The European Union 631 75162_C6L2_p630-647_AFJROTC_FINAL.indd 631 11/14/09 10:50 AM The Goal of the European Union: to End Wars Among European Nations World War I was supposed to be “the war to end all wars.” That’s what US President Woodrow Wilson called it. He also called it “a war to make the world safe for democracy.” But it didn’t work out that way. Barely a generation after the confl ict killed millions of people, Europe was at war again. Germany, Austria, and Italy—three pillars of modern European civilization—were under fascist rule. In fact, Germany and Italy had elected fascist governments. In Austria, parliamentary democracy had literally “switched itself off” when Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss seized power after several prominent members of parliament resigned over a vote in chambers. And the Nazi war machine was rumbling across the continent. When World War II ended, Europeans said, “Never again!” As they dug out of the rubble and began to rebuild in the years after 1945, they sought creative but practical ways to keep the peace that had been so hard won. The Infl uence of the European Coal and Steel Treaty in Creating the EU The European Union began on 9 May 1950 with the publication of the Schuman Plan. In it French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed that France and Germany’s coal and steel industries be put under joint control. These two industries were essential for producing war materiel. A modern state cannot go to war without them. If the two countries’ defense industries were merged, they presumably couldn’t go to war with each other. As Schuman put it, “The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.” He reached out to Konrad Adenauer, chancellor of the new Federal Republic of Germany (or West Germany). Adenauer agreed to his idea. Schuman also wanted an organization that would be open to other countries as well. On 18 April 1951, six countries—France, Germany, and Italy, plus Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (the so-called Benelux countries)—signed a treaty based on the Schuman Plan. This written agreement between the countries put the coal and steel sectors in all six under common management. This would keep them from making weapons to turn against each other. The treaty created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The ECSC established free trade among its six members in iron ore, coal, coke (a form of coal), and steel. It did this by: • removing tariffs (import taxes) and other trade barriers • regulating production and sales • establishing a common external tariff on imports from other nations • aiding investments in coal and steel in member states. 632 CHAPTER 6 Europe 75162_C6L2_p630-647_AFJROTC_FINAL.indd 632 11/14/09 10:50 AM Europe E u r o p e The Treaty of Rome and the Development of the Common Market in 1957 The coal and steel experiment was a success. It confounded the pessimism of critics who were sure it would fail. Today Europeans mark 9 May, the anniversary of Schuman’s presentation of his plan, as “Europe Day,” the EU’s “birthday.” Soon “the Six” decided to take another step toward a united Europe. On 25 March 1957 they signed the Treaty of Rome. It took effect on 1 January 1958. It established the European Economic Community (EEC) or Common Market. The Common Market was essentially a customs fastfastFACTFACT union—an association of nations to promote free trade within the union and set common tariffs for nations that are not members. The idea was that increased trade among the members would help integrate their economies. It was an early step in weaving such a tight web of connections among these six countries that war would become more and more unthinkable. LESSON 2 ■ The European Union 633 75162_C6L2_p630-647_AFJROTC_FINAL.indd 633 11/14/09 10:50 AM The Countries That Are Members of the European Union The European Union has grown in two main ways, since the signing of its earliest treaties. It has acquired new members. And it has taken on new missions and functions. The European Union’s Six Founding Nations The Common Market began with the same six members as the coal and steel group. Britain’s wartime leader, Winston Churchill, was a great advocate of a united Europe as a way to prevent further wars. But the Common Market sidelined Britain at fi rst. This had partly to do with resistance from French President Charles de Gaulle. It also had to do with Britain seeing itself as not exactly part of “Europe,” since Britain is an island nation. The EU’s 27 Current Members The Common Market fi rst expanded in 1973. France by then had a new president, Georges Pompidou. He came to terms with Edward Heath, the very pro-European British prime minister, to bring Britain into the European Community (EC), as the Common Market was renamed. Two other new members joined at this time—Denmark and Ireland. The 1980s saw another three new members. Greece, already a NATO member, joined the EC in 1981. Spain and Portugal joined in 1986, after both had thrown off right-wing dictatorships and established democratic rule. That was a requirement for joining the EC. 634 CHAPTER 6 Europe 75162_C6L2_p630-647_AFJROTC_FINAL.indd 634 11/14/09 10:50 AM Europe E u r o p e In 1990 the EC expanded again, not because it took a new member, but because an existing member had itself expanded. West Germany reunifi ed with the former communist East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1993 the Treaty of Maastricht came into effect, changing the EC to the European Union. The next expansion came on New Year’s Day 1995, when Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined. The year 2004 was one of big expansion for the EU. It added 10 new members. These included the four central European states seen as strong candidates for membership as soon as the communist era ended: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, fastfastFACTFACT and Slovakia. They also included the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania); two Mediterranean island republics, Malta and Cyprus; and Slovenia, the most progressive and Westernized of the former Yugoslav republics. Two more countries, Romania and Bulgaria, joined the EU in 2007. At this writing the EU has three candidate members—Turkey, Croatia, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. LESSON 2 ■ The European Union 635 75162_C6L2_p630-647_AFJROTC_FINAL.indd 635 11/14/09 10:51 AM The EU’s Member States The Political and Economic Structure of the European Union • Austria Have you ever tried to organize a couple • Belgium of friends to go to the movies, but then found • Bulgaria the group had suddenly grown to half a dozen— • Cyprus so you had to take two cars and see a later • Czech Republic showing? Then you have some idea what the • Denmark European Union has experienced since its modest beginnings.
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