AP Euro - Ch.30 Views on the Unification of Europe 1946-1989 DBQ

We must build a kind of United States of Europe. The first step in the re-creation of the European Family must be a partnership between France and Germany. In this way only can France recover the moral and cultural leadership of Europe. There can be no revival of Europe without a spiritually great France and a spiritually great Germany. The structure of the United States of Europe, if well and truly built, will make the material strength of a single state less important. Small nations will count as much as large ones. And the first practical step would be to form a Council of Europe. In all this urgent work, France and Germany must take the lead together. Therefore I say to you: let Europe arise!

De Gaulle said that the reference in Mr. Churchill's Zurich Speech to a Franco-German partnership had been badly received in France. Germany, as a state, no longer existed. All Frenchmen were violently opposed to re-creating any kind of unified, centralized German state, and were gravely suspicious of the policy of the American and British governments. Unless steps were taken to prevent a revival of German power, there was a danger that a United Europe would become nothing else than an enlarged Germany. De Gaulle stressed that if French support for the idea of European Union was to be won, France must come in as a founding partner with Britain. *President of France (1945-1946 and 1958-1969)

It is becoming more and more evident to everyone that the implementation of the Marshall Plan* will place European countries under the economic and political control of the United States. Moreover, this plan is an attempt to split Europe into two camps and, with the help of the United Kingdom and France, to complete the formation of a bloc of several European countries hostile to the interests of the democratic countries of Eastern Europe and most particularly to the interests of the Soviet Union. An important feature of this plan is to make use of western Germany's heavy industry as the basis for American expansion in Europe, in disregard of the national interests of the countries that suffered from German aggression. This policy is utterly incompatible with the fundamental principles of the United Nations. *The United States plan to aid the economic recovery of Europe (1947-1951)

For peace really to have any chance, we first need a Europe. Five years almost to the day after the unconditional surrender of Germany, France is accomplishing the first decisive step in European construction and is inviting Germany to join in. This should completely transform conditions in Europe. Such a transformation makes possible further joint action, which until now has been impossible. Europe will be born out of all this, a Europe that is firmly united and solidly built. The coming together of the nations of Europe requires the elimination of the age old opposition of France and Germany.

As a result of the disaster that two world wars have brought to Germany, the great majority of our people have realized that nations cannot continue to live exclusively according to their own desires and inclinations. They must merge their interests with those of the other peoples of the world. There is no longer any important problem that is only a German or even only a European one. We must learn to think and to act in larger terms. The age of national states has come to an end. A new Europe will be built where our young people will once more lead active and peaceful lives.

Of course, the United Kingdom might stand outside the European Economic Community (BBC*) altogether- but that would at least involve a loss of advantage for our exports to Europcan markets. At the other extreme we might join the EC-but this would involve the collapse of our system of favoring trade within the British Commonwealth. ** Obviously, if this were the only choice we could not hesitate. We must choose the Commonwealth. But can we find a way of associating with this initiative in Europe in such a way as to benefit us all? *An organization promoting economic integration among France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg ** A loose association of Great Britain and its former colonies

Compared with the motives that led "The Six" to organize their unit, we understand why Britain did not join the EEC. Britain is not continental and remains, because of the Commonwealth and because it is an island, committed far beyond the seas. It is tied to the United States by all kinds of special agreements. While this Community was taking shape, Britain first refused to participate and even took a hostile attitude, as if the EEC were an economic and political threat. If Britain enters the Community without being really subjected to the agricultural rules, this will completely upset the equilibrium of the Common Market and remove for France one of the main reasons we can have for participating in it.

With his plan, George Marshall roused Europe's stifled self-confidence. He gave many citizens of the old continent a concrete stimulus to bring down from the stars a vision of a Europe united in lasting peace. The Marshall Plan and the European Coal and Steel Community were the first steps of a European renaissance. Progressive thinkers in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, and Germany were prepared for this change.

We have no traditional policy of neutrality in this country unlike countries such as Sweden, Switzerland, and Austria. I do not think that the word "neutrality" is relevant in the context of our membership in the EEC. Being members of the EEC, we would naturally be interested in the defense of the territories embraced by that community. There is no question of neutrality.

NATO* is a vital step toward the consolidation of democracy. If Spain wishes to join the EEC, then it has to be part of the defense system of the West. NATO membership and joining the European Community mean the end of the traditional isolation of Spain. *North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Created in 1949 by the United States and Western European states as a collective security organization against communist expansion

To try to suppress nationhood and concentrate power at the center of a European union would be highly damaging and would jeopardize the objectives we seek to achieve. Europe will be stronger precisely because it has France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its own customs, traditions, and identity. It would be folly to try to fit them into some sort of standardized European personality. Certainly we want to see Europe more united and with a greater sense of common purpose, but it must be in a way which preserves the different traditions, parliamentary powers, and sense of pride in one's own country. *The 1986 plan to create a unified currency and integrate European markets fully