1. ORGANIZING POSTWAR EUROPE

2. Postwar Europe

3. The Legacy of War
By 1945 European governments had three critical needs: to rebuild weakened economies, to ensure security from one another and external threats, and to limit the dangers of nationalism.
The general goals for the peace had been set at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, which agreed on the importance of free trade and stable rates of monetary exchange.
A new kind of Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union loomed, threatening an incipient peace.

4. The Road to Recovery
Between 1948 and 1951 the US-funded Marshall Plan provided financial assistance to European economies in order to encourage postwar recovery.
It also provided the foundations for European integration: the USA insisted on the creation of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation to coordinate the distribution of aid.
In the context of increasing tension between the USA and the Soviet Union, the USA and their western European allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949.
This was set up with the aim of providing mutual protection to member states and sending a message to the USSR.

5. Moves towards integration
Amidst an atmosphere of improved security and economic recovery, European leaders became more receptive to cooperation.
There was support for greater cooperation, but governments and elites were divided over what this meant, and how to proceed.
The Council of Europe was formed in May 1949, with the aim of achieving greater unity between its members. The Council’s lasting achievement was the European Convention on Human Rights.

6. Coal and Steel
On 9 May 1950, the Schuman Plan (championed by Jean Monnet and Robert Shuman) was announced.
This led to the signing in April 1951 of the Treaty of Paris, which created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952.
With six founding members (France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), the ECSC was charged with the task of building a common market in coal and steel by eliminating duties, discriminatory measures, subsidies and state assistance.
This was a first step in the process of building of European economic ties.

7. Coal and Steel