Western Civilization - History Of European Society

632Chapter 31

West and the Soviet bloc, or even the age of decolo-

nization, but the progress toward European unity.

Postwar cooperation began with the negotiation of

free trade agreements. A 1948 treaty linked Belgium,

Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in the Benelux Cus-

toms Union. The Organization for European Economic

Cooperation (OEEC) united sixteen non-Communist

states, from Iceland and Scandinavia in the north to

Turkey and Iberia in the south, for the distribution of

American aid from the Marshall Plan. The OEEC

sparked debates about European unity, especially after

the selection of Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium as the first

president of its council. Spaak called for political insti-

tutions to accompany economic unity, and a 1949

treaty founded the Council of Europe to begin such co-

operation.

Meaningful economic integration began in 1950.

The foreign minister of France, Robert Schuman, intro-

duced a new plan devised by Monnet: pooling coal and

steel resources under an international authority to

speed recovery. Britain—in a fateful decision that long

separated the British from the evolution of European

unity—rejected the Schuman Plan, but France, West

Germany, Italy, and the Benelux states created the Eu-

ropean Coal and Steel Community in 1951. Monnet, a

strong advocate of a United States of Europe, became

the first president of the Coal and Steel Community.

Despite appeals by Schuman and Monnet, British con-

servatives still refused to join, so the six continental

states chose “to create Europe without Britain.”

The Paris Treaty of 1951 that created the Coal and

Steel Community also contained plans for a European

Grid linesLand polygon (N-S color)Data PolygonsPolitical boundariesCoastlines Inland water features

TOGO

(1960)

BENIN

(1960)

BURKINA

FASO

(1960)

GHANA

(1957)

IVORY

COAST

(1960)

LIBERIA

GUINEA-

BISSAU

(1974)

SIERRA

LEONE

(1961)

NIGERIA

(1960)

NIGER

(1960)

MALI

(1960)

MAURITANIA

(1960)

ALGERIA

(1962)

MOROCCO

(1956)

WESTERN

SAHARA

TUNISIA

(1956)

LIBYA

(1951) EGYPT(1922)

SUDAN

(1956)

CHAD

(1960)

CAMEROON

(1960)

CENTRAL

AFRICAN

REPUBLIC

(1960)

EQUATORIAL

GUINEA (1968)

GABON

(1960)

CONGO

(1960)

ZAIRE

(1960)

ETHIOPIA

DJIBOUTI

(1979)

SOMALIA

(1960)

KENYA

(1963)

UGANDA

(1962)

TANZANIA

(1961)

RWANDA

(1962) BURUNDI

(1962)

ANGOLA

(1975)

NAMIBIA

(1989)

ZAMBIA

(1964)

ZIMBABWE

(1980)

BOTSWANA

(1966)

MADAGASCAR

(1960)

SWAZILAND

(1968)

LESOTHO

(1966)

MOZAMBIQUE

(1975)

REPUBLIC OF

SOUTH AFRICA

SENEGAL

(1960)

GAMBIA

(1965)

GUINEA

(1960)

MALAWI

(1964)

Comoros

(1975)

ERITREA

N (1993)

ile

R.

CongoR.

Nig

er

R.

Atlantic

Ocean

Medite

rraneanSea

Arrow pointersType leader lines

0 750 1500 Miles

0 750 1500 2250 Kilometers

Independence through

guerrilla warfare

Occupation by neighbor

French presence

Cuban presence

MAP 31.4 ( )Date of independence

Decolonization in Africa