Contemporary Centres of Power
Forming the European Union
Explain how the Cold War helped European integration.
After the end of the Cold War, people asked: if the US is the only superpower, who can balance it? Two answers are groups of countries (the EU and ASEAN) and rising economies (China, Japan, South Korea). This chapter looks at these new centres of power.
Why Europe came together: by 1945, two world wars had left Europe in ruins. Its countries had to find a way to rebuild and to stop fighting each other. The Cold War pushed them together further, against the Soviet threat.
How it happened, step by step:
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 1948 | The US Marshall Plan gave huge aid to rebuild Europe, through the OEEC |
| 1949 | NATO, a military alliance with the US |
| 1951 | European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC): six countries pooled the industries of war |
| 1957 | European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom |
| 1985 | Schengen agreement: border checks between members removed |
| 1992 | Treaty of Maastricht set up the European Union (EU) |
| 2002 | The euro came into use in 12 member countries |
The collapse of the Soviet bloc speeded up integration: the EU could now spread east. Many former communist countries of eastern Europe joined. Croatia became the 28th member in 2013.
In a referendum in 2016, the people of Britain voted to leave (Brexit), and the UK left in 2020, bringing the EU to 27 members.
The idea grew from trade in coal and steel into a union with a parliament, a currency and open borders: economic ties turned into a political union.
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