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    The Construction of the European Union: Working for Peace and Prosperity in Europe
    The Construction of the European Union: Working for Peace and Prosperity in Europe
    The Construction of the European Union: Working for Peace and Prosperity in Europe
    Ebook60 pages31 minutes

    The Construction of the European Union: Working for Peace and Prosperity in Europe

    By 50MINUTES

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    About this ebook

    Keen to learn but short on time? Get to grips with the history of the European Union in next to no time with this concise guide.

    50Minutes.com provides a clear and engaging analysis of the development of the European Union. In the turmoil that prevailed after the Second World War, there was a strong desire in Europe to work towards peace and economic recovery, and the continent’s political elites believed that the best way to do this was by working together. However, the closer international cooperation that followed gave rise to fears that countries would lose their national sovereignty, as can be seen in the shock Brexit vote of 2016 and the rise of Eurosceptic parties across the continent. An appreciation of how the EU came to exist in its current form is vital for understanding its achievements to date, the criticisms that have been levelled at it and what the future holds.

    In just 50 minutes you will:
    • Understand the circumstances that led to a desire for closer European cooperation
    • Learn about the steps that resulted in the development of the EU in its current form
    • Find out how the EU actually works and what challenges it is currently facing

    ABOUT 50MINUTES.COM | History & Culture
    50MINUTES.COM will enable you to quickly understand the main events, people, conflicts and discoveries from world history that have shaped the world we live in today. Our publications present the key information on a wide variety of topics in a quick and accessible way that is guaranteed to save you time on your journey of discovery.
    LanguageEnglish
    Publisher50Minutes.com
    Release dateFeb 7, 2018
    ISBN9782806289759
    The Construction of the European Union: Working for Peace and Prosperity in Europe

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      Book preview

      The Construction of the European Union - 50MINUTES

      The construction of the European Union

      Key information

      When: 1945-present.

      Context: in the aftermath of the Second World War, there was a strong desire to restore peace in Europe and to foster strong continent-wide economic, political and diplomatic cooperation.

      Key protagonists:

      Konrad Adenauer (Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1876-1967).

      Robert Schuman (French politician, 1886-1963).

      Jean Monnet (French administrator and President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, 1888-1979).

      Charles de Gaulle (President of France, 1890-1970).

      Paul-Henri Spaak (Prime Minister of Belgium, 1899-1972).

      François Mitterrand (President of France, 1916-1996).

      Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (President of France, born in 1926).

      Helmut Kohl (Chancellor of Germany, 1930-2017).

      Impact: the creation of a European institution to facilitate cooperation across a range of economic, political and social sectors.

      Introduction

      Every five years, elections are held for the citizens of Europe to choose their representatives in the European Parliament. The last elections, which took place in May 2014, saw an average abstention rate of 59%. One possible reason for this low turnout is a lack of clarity about how the EU actually works: the organisation has existed for decades and undergone a number of shifts during that time, leaving many people with questions and doubts about how it functions.

      Nonetheless, the idea behind the EU could not be simpler. In the aftermath of the Second World War (1939-1945), key European leaders wanted to set the continent on the path to recovery and prevent the outbreak of any further conflicts. In their opinion, the way forward was to bring the countries of Europe together within an organisation based on cooperation. Europe’s political and intellectual elites approved of the project and developed an ideological definition of Europe, which they viewed as an essentially Catholic civilisation.

      In the early 1950s, in a world divided by the first major tensions of the Cold War (1945-1990), European integration was viewed as a way for the continent to find its place in the new world order, where empires were crumbling and power was split between the American-dominated West and the Soviet-led East. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked a major shift and paved the way for countries from the former Eastern bloc to enter the European collective. Now, the organisation was not just about strength in numbers, but also about sustainable international cooperation across a range of sectors. On the basis of past experience, there was

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