In the late 1950s, against the unfolding backdrop of the Cold War,
American and European leaders began working to reshape Western
Europe. They sought to adapt the region to a changing world in
which European empires were rapidly disintegrating, Soviet
influence was spreading, and the United States could no longer
shoulder the entire political and economic burden of the West yet
hesitated to share it with Europe. Focusing on the four largest
Atlantic powers--Britain, France, Germany, and the United
States--Jeffrey Giauque explores these early stages of European
integration.
Giauque uses evidence from newly opened international archives to
show how a mix of cooperation and collaboration shaped efforts to
unify postwar Europe. He examines the "grand designs" each country
developed to advance its own interests, specific plans for
collaboration or accord, and the reactions of the other Atlantic
powers to these proposals. Competing national interests not only
derailed many otherwise sound plans for European unity, Giauque
says, but also influenced such nascent European institutions as the
Common Market, the antecedent of today's European Union. Indeed,
beyond examining the origins of the European community, this
comparative study provides insight into national attitudes and
aspirations that continue to shape European and American policies
today.