European Union Learning Path

Historical background and postwar aftermath

After World War I and especially World War II, European integration gained momentum as a response to the extreme nationalism that had helped drive repeated wars. Early proposals for unity included plans for economic cooperation and federal or parliamentary structures, while wartime and immediate postwar efforts (such as Allied coordination and the creation of new international institutions) helped shift attention toward building shared European mechanisms for peace. By the mid-1940s, the emerging Cold War also shaped the agenda, as Western powers and the Soviet Union increasingly diverged, making European cooperation both a security strategy and a way to prevent renewed conflict. In the postwar aftermath, the first major institutional steps toward what became the European Union began in 1948 with treaties and organizations tied to reconstruction and Western alignment. The Treaty of Paris (1951) created the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), designed to bind key war-making industries together and make future conflict less likely. This was followed by the Treaty of Rome (1957), which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and Euratom, creating a customs union and expanding cooperation into economic and nuclear energy domains. Over time, the communities merged into the European Communities (1967), then expanded through the first enlargement (1973), setting the stage for later treaties and deeper integration.

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Initial years and Paris Treaty (1948–1957)

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