GEC-TCW

Lesson 2: World Wars and European Council

 World War I History:

World War I or the First World War, (28 June 1914 – 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was
one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. It was fought between two coalitions, the Allies (primarily
France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States) and the Central Powers (led by
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). Fighting occurred throughout Europe, the Middle
East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus
another 23 million were wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and
disease.

 Political and Military Alliances

The major European powers maintained a tenuous balance of power among themselves, known as the
Concert of Europe. After 1848, this was challenged by a variety of factors, including Britain's withdrawal
into so-called splendid isolation, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, New Imperialism, and the rise of
Prussia under Otto von Bismarck. The 1866 Austro-Prussian War established Prussian hegemony in
Germany, while victory in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War allowed Bismarck to consolidate the
German states into a German Empire under Prussian leadership. Avenging the defeat of 1871, or
revanchism, and recovering the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine became the principal objects of French
policy for the next forty years.

 Economic Effects
One of the most dramatic effects of the war was the expansion of governmental powers and
responsibilities in Britain, France, the United States, and the Dominions of the British Empire. To harness
all the power of their societies, governments created new ministries and powers. New taxes were levied
and laws enacted, all designed to bolster the war effort; many have lasted to the present. Similarly, the
war strained the abilities of some formerly large and bureaucratised governments, such as in Austria-
Hungary and Germany.

 Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC)

- Purpose and Objective -
The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation; (OEEC) came into being on 16 April 1948. It
emerged from the Marshall Plan and the Conference of Sixteen (Conference for European Economic Co-
operation), which sought to establish a permanent organization to continue work on a joint recovery
program and in particular to supervise the distribution of aid. The headquarters of the Organisation was
in the Chateau de la Muette in Paris, France.

The European organisation adopted was a permanent organisation for economic co-operation,
functioning in accordance with the following principles:
 promote co-operation between participating countries and their national production programmes for
the reconstruction of Europe,
 develop intra-European trade by reducing tariffs and other barriers to the expansion of trade,
 study the feasibility of creating a customs union or free trade area,
 study multi-lateralisation of payments, and
 achieve conditions for better utilisation of labour.

- Membership and Structure -

The OEEC originally had 18 participants: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and
Western Germany (originally represented by both the combined American and British occupation zones
(The Bizone) and the French occupation zone). The Anglo- American zone of the Free Territory of Trieste
was also a participant in the OEEC until it returned to Italian sovereignty.

- Role and Evolution -

The OEEC's first objective in 1948/1949 was to prepare the European Recovery Programme which
justified the American effort. Severe difficulties arose with some beneficiary countries proving incapable
of reaching an agreement on prior harmonization of their long-term programs.

The OEEC was also involved in the allocation of Marshall Aid dollars. This problem, partly solved thanks
to arbitration by a "Committee of Wise Men" (G.Guindey, E.P.Roll, G.Malagodi, D.Spierenburg) in August
1949, flared up again at the second aid share-out. It was overshadowed by the British currency crisis and
devaluation in September 1949. Baron Snoy d'Oppuers, Deputy Chairman of the OEEC Council, and
Secretary General Robert Marjolin acted as arbitrators. They drew up a scale for sharing out the aid,
which Britain accepted. Participants received 11,800,000,000 dollars between 3 April 1948 and 31 June
1950 (Britain 24%, France 20%, Italy 11.1%, FRG 11%).

 The Council of Europe

- Historical Background -
The Council of Europe (CoE; French: Conseil de l'Europe, CdE) is an international organization founded in
the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in
1949, it has 46 member states, with a population of approximately 675 million; it operates with an
annual budget of approximately 500 million euros.
- The Council of Europe is one of the oldest and largest European organizations with 46 member states.
The primary aim of creating the council was to create common democratic and legal parameters for its
member states.
In a speech in
- 1929, French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand floated the idea of an organization that would gather
European nations together in a "federal union" to resolve common problems. But it was Britain's wartime
leader Sir Winston Churchill who first publicly suggested the creation of a "Council of Europe" in a BBC
radio broadcast on 21 March 1943, while the Second World War was still raging. In his own words, he
tried to "peer through the mists of the future to the end of the war", and think about how to rebuild and
maintain peace on a shattered continent.

- Aims and Achievement -

Article 1(a) of the Statute states that "The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity
between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realizing the ideals and principles which are
their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress." Membership is open to all
European states who seek harmony, cooperation, good governance, and human rights, accept the
principle of the rule of law, and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights,
and freedoms.

 The Hague Congress of 1948

The Hague Congress or the Congress of Europe was a conference that was held in The Hague from 7–11
May 1948 with 750 delegates participating from around Europe as well as observers from Canada and
the United States of America.

The Congress, organized by Duncan Sandys and Jó zef Retinger, brought together representatives from
across a broad political spectrum, providing them with the opportunity to discuss ideas about the
development of European political cooperation. It was held under the auspices of the International
Committee of the Movements for European Unity and subsequently became the European Movement
after the Congress.

 European Coal and Steel Community

Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Schuman was instrumental in turning French policy away from the
Gaullist objective of permanent occupation or control of parts of German territory such as the Ruhr or the
Saar. Despite stiff ultra-nationalist, Gaullist, and communist opposition, the French Assembly voted a
number of resolutions in favor of his new policy of integrating Germany into a community. The
International Authority for the Ruhr changed in consequence.

The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II
to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed
by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The ECSC was an
international organization based on the principle of supranationalism and started a process of
integration that ultimately led to the creation of the European Union.

The ECSC was first proposed as the Schuman Declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman on
the 9th of May 1950 (today's Europe Day of the EU), the day after the fifth anniversary of the end of
World War II, as a way to prevent further war between France and Germany. He declared he aimed to
"make war not only unthinkable but materially impossible", which was to be achieved by regional
integration, of which the ECSC was the first step. The Treaty would create a common market for coal and
steel among its member states with freely set market prices, free movement of products, and without
customs duties or taxes, subsidies, or restrictive practices.

 The Messina Conference

The Messina Conference of 1955 was a meeting of the six member states of the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC). The conference assessed the progress of the ECSC and, deciding that it was working
well, proposed further European integration. This initiative led to the creation in 1957 of the European
Economic Community and Euratom.

The Foreign Ministers of the ECSC had to meet in order to nominate a member of the High Authority of
the ECSC and to appoint its new president and vice- presidents for the period expiring on 10 February
1957. The meeting was held at Messina (and partially in Taormina) at the request of Gaetano Martino, the
Italian Foreign Minister, who was detained in Sicily because of the Regional Assembly elections. They
appointed René Mayer as president of the High Authority to replace Jean Monnet. The ministers also
reappointed the Belgian, Albert Coppé, and the German, Franz Etzel, as vice-presidents of the college.

 European Atomic Energy Community

The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organization established
by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for
nuclear power in Europe, by developing nuclear energy and distributing it to its member states while
selling the surplus to non-member states. However, over the years its scope has been considerably
increased to cover a large variety of areas associated with nuclear power and ionizing radiation as
diverse as the safeguarding of nuclear materials, radiation protection, and construction of the
International Fusion Reactor ITER.

- History of the Organization -

The Common Assembly proposed extending the powers of the European Coal and Steel Community to
cover other sources of energy. However, Jean Monnet, ECSC architect, and President wanted a separate
community to cover nuclear power. Louis Armand was put in charge of a study into the prospects of
nuclear energy use in Europe; his report concluded that further nuclear development was needed to fill
the deficit left by the exhaustion of coal deposits and to reduce dependence on oil producers. However,
the Benelux states and Germany were also keen on creating a general single market, although it was
opposed by France due to its protectionism, and Jean Monnet thought it too large and difficult a task. In
the end, Monnet proposed the creation of separate atomic energy and economic communities to
reconcile both groups.

 European Economic Community

The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of
1957, aiming to foster economic integration among its member states. It was subsequently renamed the
European Community (EC) upon becoming integrated into the first pillar of the newly formed European
Union in 1993. In the popular language, however, the singular European Community was sometimes
inaccurately used in the wider sense of the plural European Communities, in spite of the latter
designation covering all the three constituent entities of the first pillar.

In April 1951, the Treaty of Paris was signed, creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
This was an international community based on supranationalism and international law, designed to help
the economy of Europe and prevent future war by integrating its members.
With the aim of creating a federal Europe two further communities were proposed: a European Defence
Community and a European Political Community. While the treaty for the latter was being drawn up by
the Common Assembly, the ECSC parliamentary chamber, the proposed defense community was rejected
by the French Parliament. ECSC President Jean Monnet, a leading figure behind the communities,
resigned from the High Authority in protest and began work on alternative communities, based on
economic integration rather than political integration.

 Post-World War America/Europe (The Aftermath of World II)

The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era for all countries involved, defined by the
decline of all colonial empires and the simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (USSR)
and the United States (US). Once Allies during World War II, the US, and the USSR became competitors on
the world stage and engaged in the Cold War, so called because it never resulted in overt, declared total
war between the two powers but was instead characterized by espionage, political subversion, and proxy
wars.

At the end of the war, millions of people were dead and millions more were homeless, the European
economy collapsed, and much of the European industrial infrastructure had been destroyed. The Soviet
Union, too, had been heavily affected. In response, in 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall
devised the "European Recovery Program", which became known as the Marshall Plan. Under the plan,
during 1948–1952 the United States government allocated US$13 billion (US$158 billion in 2022 dollars)
for the reconstruction of the affected countries of Western Europe.

- Economic Aftermath -
By the end of the war, the European economy had collapsed with some 70% of its industrial
infrastructure destroyed. The property damage in the Soviet Union consisted of the complete or partial
destruction of 1,710 cities and towns, 70,000 villages/hamlets, and 31,850 industrial establishments. The
strength of the economic recovery following the war varied throughout the world, though in general, it
was quite robust, particularly in the United States.
At the end of the war, the United States produced roughly half of the world's industrial output. Further,
much of its pre-war industry had been converted to wartime usage. As a result, with its industrial and
civilian base in much better shape than most of the world, the US embarked on an economic expansion
unseen in human history. US gross domestic product increased from $228 billion in 1945 to just under
$1.7 trillion in 1975.

- Life in 1950s -
The 1950s were a decade marked by the post-World War II boom, the dawn of the Cold War, and the civil
rights movement in the United States. “America at this moment,” said the former British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill in 1945, “stands at the summit of the world.” During the 1950s, it was easy to see what
Churchill meant. The United States was the world’s strongest military power. Its economy was booming,
and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses, and other consumer goods–were available to
more people than ever before. However, the 1950s were also an era of great conflict. For example, the
nascent civil rights movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad in the Korean
War exposed underlying divisions in American society.

- The Postwar Booms -

Historians use the word “boom” to describe a lot of things about the 1950s: the booming economy, the
booming suburbs, and most of all the so-called “baby boom.” This boom began in 1946 when a record
number of babies–3.4 million– were born in the United States. About 4 million babies were born each
year during the 1950s. In all, by the time the boom finally tapered off in 1964, there were almost 77
million “baby boomers.”

The booming prosperity of the 1950s helped to create a widespread sense of stability, contentment, and
consensus in the United States. However, that consensus was a fragile one, and it splintered for good
during the tumultuous 1960s.