Once the Second World War had ended, different European
groups of interest were pushing for deeper collaboration in Western Europe as
they saw a united Europe as the best way to solve the European problems.
Eventually these economic, political and social movements led to the creation
of the current European Union. The main reasons driving the process attended to
the various necessities of Europe, mainly:
1.
Europe as a peace system: A group of Europeans
defended the idea that nationalism was the main cause of conflict on the
European continent, the source of evil on the European level. The idea of
superiority included in the concept of nation led to a confrontation between
the European nations formed by European nation states. The problem was the use
of the national spirit as the main vehicle of cohesion among the citizens of
the European states because the nation transformed from something cultural,
uniting people to the strongest political force of European politics but
separating them according to nationality. The idea of Europe, understood as a
peace system, wanted to avoid another conflict such as the First or the Second
World War, and hence nationalism had to be kept fenced in the cultural sphere.
If Europe could abolish the main obstacle to the common understanding, the
unification of a cultural national group with a political state, Europe might
then be integrated on the political level. At some point, political integration
might lead to the state of Europe and thus wipe away any possibility of
international conflict between the European nations. Europe was seen as a
family of nations where citizenship should be separated from nationality.
2.
. Europe as a way of European states holding on
to the international influence in world affairs: Some weakened powers of Europe
thought of Europe as a solution for their loss of influence in the period after
the war. Individually the European states did not have the resources and
political muscle to interfere in world affairs independently, but uniting all
these resources and using them for a single purpose would have restored the
former European dominance in world politics, or at least would have equalized
the power of the USA and the Soviet Union, keeping the independence of Western
Europe and its international interest protected. Hence, Europe was seen as a
necessity to defend European interests in the world.
3.
Europe as a powerful economic tool: As the
continent had been destroyed by the two devastating wars, there was a necessity
to rebuild European economy. Europe followed the example of progresses made in
the economies with large single markets, such as the USA. Increasing the size
of the national markets to the European level was seen as an exceptional way to
contribute to the economic recovery of Europe. Hence, removing economic
obstacles to European trade would increase the number of economic transactions,
thereby becoming an important contribution to the wealth of the European
states.
4.
Europe as a protection from the Soviet Union:
The end of the Second World War meant the beginning of the Soviet occupation
for many Eastern and Central European states. The Soviet expansion needed
social instability to succeed in its international enlargement. Communism is a
radical political system organizing the life of citizens from a radical point
of view. The majority of the citizens of a society is conservative and dislikes
social changes as long as the society meets their basic needs. The possibilities
of a triumph of the communist alternative are much reduced in a peaceful
society that can solve its internal problems without violence. On the other
hand, acts of extremism become more popular during unstable times, when
violence is more common, when the society is confused and cannot resolve its
problems in a peaceful way. Then new ideas and changes are seen as a solution
to the problems causing social unrest, a novel way to achieve social stability.
Obviously the occupation of Eastern and Central Europe by the Soviet Union and
the expansion of the communist system were a direct consequence of an armed
conflict and an imposition of communist regimes by the powerful Red Army. This
expansion, supported by the Soviet military forces, could not be applied to Western
Europe because of the presence of American troops defending the area from any
possible Soviet aggression and the creation of NATO, in which Western European
countries collaborate in the defense field. Therefore, the national revolution
was seen as the main threat to the expansion of communist regime all over
Europe. In order to combat this internal threat, Western European countries
thought of the European collaboration as a way to provide stability in their
countries, increasing partnership and reducing the tensions between the
countries. A peaceful collaboration between Western European countries would
reduce the possibilities of social unrest, and a local communist victory, and
the consequent dominance of the Soviet Union over the whole continent. Some
Western European countries had important communist parties at that time, such
as France or Italy, and the threat was very tangible. Other countries, such as
Greece, could not keep the social peace and fought a civil war between
communist and the most conservative political forces. The situation of internal
social instability in Greece was resolved by a military regime by abolishing
the political rights of the Greek people and bringing back, temporarily,
stability by force. Europe then was a tool to create stability in the area to
avoid a political and social crisis that could have led national communist
parties to the national governments.
5.
Europe as an international reconciliation tool:
The countries defeated in the Second World War emerged as some kind of
international political pariahs after the conflict. There was not much
self-criticism on the winners’ side, and the most common analyses simply
pointed out the evil behavior of some European nations as the main reason for
the war. The new confrontation between the USA and the USSR meant the necessity
to recuperate these countries for the Western bloc and the blame for the war
shifted from nations to its leaders, such as Hitler or Mussolini. West Germany
became the border between East and West, the first battlefield in a possible
AmericanSoviet confrontation on European soil. The creation of a powerful West
Germany became a priority in stopping any Soviet aggression towards West
Europe. Nevertheless, the restoration of German power was seen as a danger by
many European countries because of the two world wars, so the best option was
to include West Germany in a European Community where it could not act
independently and attack any of its members. The idea was simple—what you
share, you cannot use against the other owners. Also, West Germany saw this as
an opportunity to show the rest of the Europeans its capacity to collaborate
peacefully by following the rules created by all. Germany was internationally
rehabilitated as it showed its capability of acting as a trustworthy partner in
Europe and in the world. Also, it could be applied to other important Western
European countries, such as Italy, though not to countries like Finland or
Austria because of their neutrality status during the Cold War. The Soviet
Union agreed to sign a peace treaty with the Finnish during the war on the condition
that Finland becomes a neutral country, and agreed with the USA to withdraw the
occupation troops from the Austrian soil under the condition of neutrality of
the new state. The Soviets saw European cooperation as a weapon against the
communist bloc and thus neutral countries could not join the European
Communities until right after the collapse of the communist regime and the end
of the Cold War.
6.
Europe as an economic and social development
tool: The dominance of some European countries over others and its leadership
in world affairs was seen by some Europeans as a direct consequence of the
economic power of these leading states. The UK, France and Germany were seen as
the example to follow for the rest of Europe in order to develop economically and
socially. The best way to catch up with the most developed economies of the
continent was creating a community that could expand ideas, abolish customs,
help for a faster economic development, and support economically the
transformation of the less developed members. Europe was seen as a
modernization opportunity and collaborating would spread the benefits to all of
Europe. This idea also had a strong social component because it opened the
collaboration to all the European states, poor and rich, as far as they
fulfilled some basic requirements, such as a political democratic system and
economic capitalism structure. Common rules helped to expand the benefits to
the whole area, but the higher development in some parts meant a source of
instability for the whole. Development aid was needed to avoid conflicts and
increase the cohesion between the Western European states
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