The Growth of European Unity from 1950 to 1957

The Growth of European Unity from 1950 to 1957

The growth of European Unity did not start in 1950. It is the desire

and growth before this time that is also important.

Europe’s wartime leaders made good arguments to why a European Unity

would be a good thing. They said that individual nations were too

small to give their people the prosperity which Europe being united

could offer. So many of the wartime leaders supported the idea of

European Unity because they believed that the Nazi conquest and

domination of Europe had been helped by the selfish nationalism of the

European states. This idea grew and grew and many governments

considered the idea of Europe united. These wartime leaders wanted

economies of each state to be repaired. They believed Europe could

work together to repair their economies and that would enable Europe

to compete with the USA and the Soviet Union. The idea of Europe being

a world leader was attractive to many governments around this time

(before 1950). This period up to 1950 shows the desire for European

Unity.

During 1950 – 1957 European Unity grew. Benelux was created during the

early 50s, which allowed free trade, and no customer barriers between

Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. This was early evidence of both

growth and change for European Unity. Benelux was created to recover

each of the three country’s economies by creating free trade etc.

Later the OEEC (Organisation of European Economic Co-operation) was

introduced to decide how the ‘Marshall Aid’ should be spent. The OEEC

meant that European countries were almost forced into unity. The

countries had to join together to resolve where the money went and

what it should it be spent on. 10 European countries had to work

together to split the money because the US refused to have anything to

do with splitting up the money.

The ECSC (European Coal and Steel Industry) was later introduced. This

organisation had France, West Germany, Italy and Benelux within it.

The ECSC was the first clear step towards a federal Europe.