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The European Union

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The European Union was initially set up as a means to terminate the conflict that occurred within Europe throughout the 20th century, culminating with the end of The Second World War (WWII) and The Cold War that followed. The EU ultimately aimed to bring the member countries together in order to form an ‘ever closer union’ between the countries of Europe, thus preventing a future battle. The Union started as the European Economic Community (EEC), which was established in 1957, and over the years endured numerous adjustments to form the politico-economic union that we know of today. Following WWII in 1945, Europe was not only in ruin but was also extremely divided, with a distinct rivalry between France and Germany. In 1947 USA developed The Marshall Plan; a program of aid that donated $13bn towards the recovery of Southern and Western Europe, which led to the receiving nations experiencing rapid economic growth of between 15%-25% . The 50’s were dominated by a Cold War; a divide between the Democratic West, led by USA, and the Communist East, USSR. This was a long period of uncertainty in which each side expected the other to invade. It fundamentally developed into a conflict fuelled by propaganda, deceit and spies. Both sides had the new advantage of nuclear weapons, which neither wanted to deploy. The tension seemed unresolvable; it became evident that a solution needed to be arranged and that unity could only be established by a federal Europe. The French Foreign

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