P/P/97. European Integration after the Second World War

The paper seeks to prove that the concept of European Integration and the idea of European Union was introduced before the Second World War, although the War had a strong economic and political impact on the integration process. Another major factor contributing to European Integration was the foreign policy of the United States of America that supported the idea of an integrated Europe and the policy of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The aggressive nature of Soviet Foreign Policy also played into the hands of those interested in an integrated Europe. It is noted, in conclusion, that the success of European Integration in the observed period culminated in the ratification of the treaty of Rome in March 1957 and owed much to the individual involvement of Jean Monnet, Robert Schumann, Konrad Adenauer and Winston Churchill.