Reason of European Integration
Lee Chit Hang 10453738 88-237-02
Question 1
In 1945, at the end of the World War II, European started to have some certain level of cooperation. Different states in Europe began to set up intergovernmental and supranational organization. Such cooperating acts must come up with reasons. No matter what the reasons are, the European states developed rapidly from the 1950s to the 1970s. The historian Mark Mazower has suggested that Europe experienced a ‘miracle of growth’ between the 1950s and 1970s. The growth had contributed even to now, making the European Union one of the great powers on the Earth.
There were many reasons leading the Western Europe to cooperate more closely after 1945. First, one of the main reasons was pressured by the United States (US). Since Europe was the main battlefield of the World War II, many European states laid ruined. Their industries were destroyed, their economical situation were extremely bad. The communism was spreading in Eastern European states such as Poland and Hungary. The United States practiced the Marshall Plan in 1947 in order to stop its European allies turning communist, restore its markets for American goods, and prevent the great depression in 1930s happened again. The Plan was to give financial aids to the European states for them to recover. To allocate the American aids, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation was set up, and this was the first major step of European integration.
The Second reason is the Western Europeans fear that the world will be dominated by the superpowers, but no longer themselves. After the end of the Second World War, the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union became the two domination powers on the Earth. Both of the powers wanted to expend their ideology to the whole world. As the Western European states were lead by capitalist, stood on the same side with the United States. They tried to prevent the communism invading their territories. In
Question 1
In 1945, at the end of the World War II, European started to have some certain level of cooperation. Different states in Europe began to set up intergovernmental and supranational organization. Such cooperating acts must come up with reasons. No matter what the reasons are, the European states developed rapidly from the 1950s to the 1970s. The historian Mark Mazower has suggested that Europe experienced a ‘miracle of growth’ between the 1950s and 1970s. The growth had contributed even to now, making the European Union one of the great powers on the Earth.
There were many reasons leading the Western Europe to cooperate more closely after 1945. First, one of the main reasons was pressured by the United States (US). Since Europe was the main battlefield of the World War II, many European states laid ruined. Their industries were destroyed, their economical situation were extremely bad. The communism was spreading in Eastern European states such as Poland and Hungary. The United States practiced the Marshall Plan in 1947 in order to stop its European allies turning communist, restore its markets for American goods, and prevent the great depression in 1930s happened again. The Plan was to give financial aids to the European states for them to recover. To allocate the American aids, the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation was set up, and this was the first major step of European integration.
The Second reason is the Western Europeans fear that the world will be dominated by the superpowers, but no longer themselves. After the end of the Second World War, the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union became the two domination powers on the Earth. Both of the powers wanted to expend their ideology to the whole world. As the Western European states were lead by capitalist, stood on the same side with the United States. They tried to prevent the communism invading their territories. In