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Series ・ 10 parts

A History of the EU: European Integration Beyond War

In the first half of the 20th century, two world wars reduced Europe to ashes. Why could neighboring nations not stop slaughtering one another? Coudenhove-Kalergi's Pan-Europa vision, Briand's proposal for a European federation, and Churchill's United States of Europe speech. Episode 1 traces how a dream of never going to war again first took root.

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  1. 01 A Dream from the Ruins — The Ideal of Integration In the first half of the 20th century, two world wars reduced Europe to ashes. Why could neighboring nations not stop slaughtering one another? Coudenhove-Kalergi's Pan-Europa vision, Briand's proposal for a European federation, and Churchill's United States of Europe speech. Episode 1 traces how a dream of never going to war again first took root.
  2. 02 From Coal and Steel — The Birth of the ECSC On 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Schuman issued a declaration that astonished the world: a plan to place the coal and steel of France and Germany under a single authority. Episode 2 portrays the vision of Jean Monnet, the strategist behind the scenes, the building of a system that made war impossible, and the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952.
  3. 03 The Treaty of Rome — A Step Toward a Common Market In 1957, six countries signed two treaties in Rome. Integration that had begun with coal and steel now sought to unify the market itself. We trace the birth of the EEC, the customs union, and Euratom, and the great gamble of a common market — neutrally, through both its ideals and its difficulties.
  4. 04 The Enlarging Community Countries wishing to join the prosperous community of six appear. But de Gaulle blocked Britain's membership twice. The first enlargement of 1973, the democratization and accession of Southern Europe, and the light and shadow of the Common Agricultural Policy. We trace the community's growth neutrally, through both its ideals and its frictions.
  5. 05 The Single Market and Maastricht — The Birth of the EU The 1986 Single European Act tore down the borders blocking people, goods, capital, and services, and the 1992 Maastricht Treaty at last gave birth to the European Union. From the three pillars and European citizenship to the competing voices on sovereignty, this is a fact-based portrait of the moment a community reshaped itself into a union.
  6. 06 The Euro Gamble — One Currency, Many National Budgets Born on the ledgers in 1999 and passed into people's hands as banknotes and coins in 2002, the euro was a shared currency. The European Central Bank held the interest rate, and the convergence criteria set the gate for entry. Yet within the structure of 'one currency, many separate budgets' lay an ember that could not be overlooked from the very start. A fact-based portrait of the ideal and the risk of integration.
  7. 07 Enlargement to the East — Beyond the Iron Curtain The Cold War ends, and the nations once hidden behind the Iron Curtain knock on the EU's door. The democratization and marketization of Central and Eastern Europe, the simultaneous accession of ten countries in 2004, and the EU's growth to 28 members. This grand expansion that united a continent brought new vitality, but also fresh friction.
  8. 08 The Euro Crisis — A Tear in the Fabric of Integration In 2009, the true state of Greece's finances comes to light, and the common currency, the euro, faces the greatest trial since its creation. Southern Europe's debt, the North-South confrontation over austerity, and the ECB's decision. Could the euro survive? This is a portrait of the days when cohesion itself was called into question.
  9. 09 Brexit — The Shock of Departure Amid rising immigration, sovereignty, and Euroscepticism, Britain voted to leave in the 2016 referendum. Its formal departure in 2020 became the first contraction in EU history. We look at the decision one island nation made in an age of populism, and its merits and costs, taking neither side of the debate.
  10. 10 Europe at the Crossroads — The Future of the EU In 2022, war broke out in Ukraine. Facing sanctions and an energy crisis, the EU showed unity and welcomed Ukraine as a candidate country. Between the dilemma of enlargement and deepening, and between populism and unity, where will the experiment in peace that began so as never to go to war again head next? The final chapter of the series.