EU History

Question 1

how were the political and economic divisions evident before WW2

Answer 1

• Political divisions between fascist and communist regimes around Europe were evident before WW2. Economic divisions also evident – Britain’s industrial dominance being threatened by Germany, France, Belgium
• Prior to WW2, there was no stable alliance system found and clear balance of power

Question 2

what did one of the great advocates and architects of European integration Altiero Spinelli claim about Europe after WW2

Answer 2

a major transformation has occurred in the political consciousness of Europe… after the most terrible of wars in Europe, these neighbours are perceived as friendly nations sharing a common destiny”

Question 3

international agenda was taken over by low policy issue from high policy issues which meant what?

Answer 3

These policies were more concerned with the existence and preservation of the states (such as territorial issues, balance of power manoeuvrings, and defence considerations) have been joined by policies that are more concerned with the wealth and welfare of populations (such as policies, on trade, monetary stability etc.)

Question 4

Three main explanations for early integration

Answer 4

1. deep roots, idealism/values
2. Geopolitical/security factors
3. economic factors/self-interest

Question 5

whilst political ideals and utopian visions of a ___ ____ had some part in the early post-war years, they increasingly counted for less as heard-headed national calculations of ___ __ ____ advantages and disadvantages came to loom larger as the principal determinant of the nature and pace of the integrations

Answer 5

united europe

economic and political

Question 6

what is the deep roots/idealism argument? give an example

Answer 6

• Some argue there has long been a unique and identifiable entity. As evidence of this it is often argued that Europe was the cradle of modern civilisation and from this there developed European culture and values and a European culture, art and literature

Question 7

what did Hillstein, the first president of the EEC, claim?

Answer 7

claimed “Europe is no creation. It is a rediscovery….Europe shares a sense of values: of what is a good and bad; of what a man’s rights should be and what are his duties ; of how society should be ordered; of what happiness and what disaster is”

Question 8

what does Hallstein’s claim about europe suggest

Answer 8

• People such as Hillstein suggests that transcending the differences, divergences and conflicts between peoples and states have long been a certain commonality and identity of Europe based on interrelationships between geography and historical, political, economic, social and cultural developments

Question 9

some argue that • Inter-state relations in the 19th century are seen as foreshadowing post-1945 developments insofar as peace endured for much of the century and did so, in part at least, as a result of agreements between the major powers but what is the problem with this

Answer 9

however problem with this is that it overstates the extent to which the 19th century was a century of peace and it also exaggerates the extent to which states did cooperate.
-although there was achievement and success of early integration of 19th century, WW1 signified divisions

Question 10

Churchill quote in 1946

Answer 10

“we must build a kind of united states of Europe”

Question 11

4 aspects of the geopolitical/security argument

Answer 11

1. combating nationalism
2. political map of europe - iron curtain over europe
3. the new international power balance -
4. german problem - future of germany loomed large in the minds of those who had to deal with post-war reconstruction

Question 12

ww2 lead to the realisation that ___ was a recipe for war. What lengths did they want to go to

Answer 12

uninhibited nationalism
• At an international level this thinking reflected in calls for a larger and more powerful body than the pre-war league of nations, and it played an important part in the establishment of the UN in 1944
• widely shared optimism at the end of the second world war that if the European states could work together in joint schemes and organisation. Barriers of mistrust could be broken down
• council of Europe set up in may 1949 and was signed by ten European states. Failed due to having too unclear aims and because members were not very interested in anything that went beyond limited and voluntary cooperation

Question 13

how did the new international power balance lead to integration

Answer 13

• New US-Soviet relation and the onset of the cold war promoted a sense that western Europe was beginning to like an identifiable political entity that it had never done before
• Cooperation attractive for smaller states who are at threat from neighbours

Question 14

how many countries agreed to establish the International Monetary fund (IMF) to countries to access short term credit facilities as well as the International bank for reconstruction and development (the world bank) to provide long term loans for schemes that required major investment

Answer 14

44

Question 15

how much did the Marshall plan loan to european countries

Answer 15

$13 billion in exchange for them to promote greater economic cooperation between themselves

Question 16

what was the OEEC and why did it not make much progress

Answer 16

• Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), was established in 1948, with 16 member states and aimed to manage the US aid, discourage trade barriers and encourage joint economic policies in the short term, and to build a ‘sound European economy through the cooperation of members’ in the long term
• Although the OEEC was able to create payment schemes that did boost trade between members states, it never made much progress due to having strict intergovernmental proposals

Question 17

why did the creation of the European Coal and Steel community in 1951 mark a major advancement in western european integration

Answer 17

as its institutions were empowered not only to act on an intergovernmental basis but also, in some circumstances, supranationally: that is, some binding decisions could be taken without all member states necessarily agreeing with them

Question 18

in western europe the political and economic effects of the war, such as resistance leaders, were mainly what?

Answer 18

short term

Question 19

counter to economic argument

Answer 19

• The increased willingness and need to cooperate with states to promote economic growth was not caused by rather pushed by the second world war – good point to argue against economic reasons as main factor

Question 20

although the war didnt produce a united western europe it did what? and what was the impact of this?

Answer 20

• The war didn’t produce a united Western Europe but did change attitudes which enabled or forced virtually all states to recognise at least some commonalities and shared interests. As a result a number of new inter-state western European dominated organisations were established, in which several acted as a base for further developments

Question 21

• 1948 – Organisation for __ ___ ___
• 1949 – ___
• ___ – Council of Europe
• ___ – European Coal and Steel Community
• 1954 – ____ ____ ____
• ____– European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community
• 1960 – ___ _____ ____ _____

Answer 21

• European Economic Co-operation
• NATO
• 1949
• 1951
• Western European Union
• 1957
• European Free trade Association

Question 22

how did national preferences and positions affect the progress of integration

Answer 22

• Western european states all wanted a united western Europe but no consensus about how to do it. Discussions on specific proposals revealed considerable variations in ambitions, motives, intentions and perceptions. This resulted in some states being more willing to cooperate than others

Question 23

what did Alan Milward (2003) claim

Answer 23

• Alan Milward (2000) has shown that form the very early years of EU integration process there were considerable variations in the judgments of the governments of western european states on whether and in what ways would cooperation and integration serve their national interests

Question 24

reasons for the different member of the european community joining

Answer 24

• For the three beneleux countries WW2 re-emphasised their vulnerability to hostile and more powerful neighbours and the needs to be on good terms with stronger countries such as France, Germany and Italy. Also had economic reasons such as not being strong enough position to ignore Franco-German initiatives
• Italy faced economic difficulties as well as threats from the communist party
• Integration was seen as helping France to deal with two of its post-war goals: the containment of Germany and rapid economic growth. Abe to break down old barriers and give Germany access to france’s materials
• Adenauer saw western European unification as a means by which German could regain self-respect