The ideal of European unity has recurred throughout the history of continent. After the First World War, the idea began to take greater shape with several proposals calling for the unification of the various European states and the formation of a United States of Europe.

At the 1927 conference of European academics in Paris, French Foreign Ministers Aristide Briand called for the creation of a United States of Europe following the model of the United States of America. In 1929, after becoming Prime Minister, Briand sent a memorandum on European unity to 21 European states calling for the establishment of a federal union. Briand also made the same suggestion to the League of Nations. Briand's initiatives, however, did not enjoy success due to the opposition of Britain and Italy, the world economic crisis of 1929 and the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany in 1933.

By the end of the Second World War, conditions were more suitable for peaceful progress towards European unity. Europe emerged from the war devastated materially and economically and facing innumerable social, economic and political problems. Individual states had demonstrably failed to solve the problems which had afflicted Europe prior to the war. Therefore, a federal and supra-national arrangement was increasingly seen as more likely to lead to peace and stability in Europe. In these conditions it is not surprising that many individuals and parties supported the establishment of a federal, democratic Europe, on the basis of mutual cooperation.

In a speech in Zurich on 19 September 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for the creation of a 'Council of Europe' as a first step towards the creation of a 'United States of Europe'. Churchill believed that America, Britain, the Commonwealth states and even the Soviet Union would be prepared to support such a unified European entity. However, Britain would not take part in the union, because of its membership of the Commonwealth. Days after Churchill's suggestion, members of European resistance movements at a meeting at the Vierwaldstattersee in Switzerland issued the Hertensteiner Programme, calling for the creation of a European community, on a federal basis, as a prerequisite for the rebuilding of Europe and as a member of a future world union.

At the Hague conference in May 1948, politicians and representatives of European organisations renewed calls for European unity based on a 'Council of Europe'. This conference was without doubt the source of the subsequent movement towards European integration.

In addition to conferences and declarations, politicians in France and Germany were calling for an elimination of barriers between European states, and the building of a cooperative Europe. Despite the common impetus to unity, there were differences on the actual nature of the unity proposed, some supporting a federal arrangement, some a unitary state.

The difference between the two possible outcomes was wide. Federalists tried to remove their project from the east-west conflict, while proponents of unity, such as Winston Churchill, believed in the necessity of a European Union as a barrier against the Soviet Union. Federalists wanted states to delegate some of their authority to supranational institutions, while Churchill and Charles de Gaulle wanted to see unity between states without such diminution in authority.

The United States of America and European Unity

The post war economic hardship made fertile ground for Communist parties, particularly in Italy and France, where they attained 20-25% of the vote in general elections. The communist goal of overthrowing bourgeois governments seemed to be in sight, leading to a more positive US attitude towards the idea of European union as a barrier to increased Soviet influence. From 1948 - the year of the beginning of the cold war - American administrations began to see the attraction of European economic cooperation.

At the Moscow Conference of foreign ministers in 1947, John Foster Dulles, later a Republican Secretary of State, gave his well-known speech 'Europe must federate or perish' on the need for the establishment of an European economic union. Following the conference, Secretary of State George Marshall censured his European colleagues opposed to the formation of a European union. The committee of foreign, defence and naval ministers, formed at the conference to examine the possibility of US economic assistance to Europe concluded that American aid depended on the successful implementation of integration and the drawing up of an economic programme between the European nations damaged by the war.

Meanwhile, the architect of the US's containment policy, George Kennan, in his analyses to the American chiefs of staff, wrote that European internal cooperation would be a condition for defending European and American capitalism.

On 5 November 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall announced in a speech at Harvard University his European Recovery Programme, or Marshall Plan, a massive programme of US aid towards European economic reconstruction, the administration of which was to be supervised by the European Agency for Economic Cooperation. American aid was at this stage already conditional on:

1. The necessity of European countries agreeing between them on the amount of aid to be requested.
2. The European countries taking collective steps to revitalise the European economy and remove barriers to trade between them.
3. The European countries being self-reliant by 1955.
4. After the Marshall Plan was completed, the Europeans were to form an organisation for future economic cooperation between the two.

The Marshall Plan was the economic component of the United State's containment strategy against the Soviet Union. The plan offered aid to all Europe west of the Ural. The Soviet Union therefore considered the Marshall plan as interference in its internal affairs, and was concerned that east European states would become dependent on the United States. These states were therefore prevented from participating in the plan.

At the Paris conference of foreign ministers in 1947, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov described the plan as an attempt to create a western bloc in the tails of American economic assistance. Faced with the Russian refusal, France and Britain called for a conference bringing together European states to agree on European cooperation and solidarity. However, the two states soon differed about the form of cooperation to be advanced. France supported the creation of a strong and independent organisation with an independent secretariat and the power to take decisions and make interventions (in other words a supranational institution); while Britain looked to the creation of an organisation which would support the Americans without any diminution of national sovereignty.

As a compromise between these two positions, the European Committee for Economic Cooperation was formed, whose role was to administer United States aid according to European requirements. On 12 April 1948, this committee became the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation.

American fear of the extension of Soviet influence into western Europe, prompted its provision of economic aid and support of moves towards European integration. In contrast, France was less concerned with the Soviet threat and the communist influence in western Europe than with the danger of Germany once again being capable of threatening France. The US, however, was convinced of the need to rebuild and strengthen western Germany against the Soviet Union.

Between these two positions, Britain called for a conference on defence cooperation between the US, France, and the Benelux countries. The London conference was held in February and March 1948, where it was decided to integrate the economies of the three western occupation zones in Germany creating the Federal Republic of Germany. The industrial Ruhr area was to remain under international administration at the suggestion of the French.

On 17 March 1948, Britain, France and the Benelux countries signed the Brussels Treaty for Western Defence (westunion) aiming at defence, economic, social and cultural cooperation. When Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany joined in 1954, the body became known as the Western European Union (WEU), with Spain and Portugal joining in 1955.

These developments led to a Soviet response with formation of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) on 25 January 1949 in order to coordinate the economic policies of the states of the socialist bloc.

On 5 May 1949, 10 European states formed the Council of Europe with the aim of economic cooperation between its members, without a defence element. France suggested that Britain would join, strengthening the council and adding to its significance. France considered that the absence of Britain would influence Ireland and the Scandinavian states, and perhaps Italy not to take part in the Council.

The Council of Europe did not achieve any of its hoped for goals, as its decisions were not binding on member states. European attempts towards integration failed against British and Scandinavian obstruction and opposition, who were not prepared to join the Council of Europe unless its responsibilities were further circumscribed. The council concentrated on technical and cultural agreements and human rights.

The Schumann Plan

However, this did not dissuade French politicians from continuing their attempts towards European integration. On 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schumann presented a plan for the integration of the French and German coal and steel industries under a higher authority, membership of which would be open to other European states.

The Schumann plan, which had been proposed by the French economist Jean Monnet, represents the first genuine step towards the establishment of a supranational authority in Europe. The programme had political dimensions, aiming at diminishing Franco-German economic rivalry, connecting German and French interests and preventing Germany from ever again being in a position to threaten France, making a future war between the two impossible and unthinkable.

The plan, while aiming to assuage French fear of Germany, at the same time was attractive to Germany in offering the Federal Republic the international recognition of which it was in need, under French auspices.

In the event, on 18 April 1951, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg formed the European Iron and Steel Community (ECSC), pooling national sovereignty with regard to the two industries. Despite the success of this limited experiment, the ECSC did not allow for sufficient progress towards greater European integration. The Benelux countries proposed the experimental extension of the ECSC to all aspects of economic activity by the creation of a common market with limited responsibility in the spheres of energy and communications.

The six accepted the suggestion, and at the Messina conference of July 1955, a committee headed by Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak was entrusted with studying the possibility of greater integration of the ECSC members .

In 1956, the Spaak Committee's recommendations were presented to the Venice Conference of representatives of the six governments, calling for the formation of a European Economic Community, and a European Community for nuclear energy.

After lengthy negotiations, agreement was reached on forming these two communities in Rome on 25 March 1957, subsequently ratified by the national parliaments of 'the six' and coming into effect on 1 January 1958.

Britain, which did not participate in the agreements, formed the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), with Ireland, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Portugal and Switzerland. After 'the three' (Britain, Ireland and Denmark) joined the EC in 1973, however, they left EFTA.