Lesson Six
-
The European Economic Community
Outcomes (SWBAT)

Evaluate the forces which promoted cooperation in Western Europe in the
post-war years
Activities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
European Economic Community – hand-out a timeline and have
students fill in important information
start with the motives behind the formation of the EEC
go chronologically through each step
The Nuclear Arms Race – Social/Political/Economic Effects
Cold War Game – today’s task – set up assignments to be
accomplished by each country’s selected roles
post-lesson quiz
Materials
1.
2.
3.
4.
pre and post lesson responder questions
European Economic Community timeline
Nuclear Arms Race PPT
Cold War games
History 12
Ms. Lacroix
Name _____________________________
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
1949
The Council of
Europe
1950
The Schuman
Plan
1952
European Coal
and Steel
Community
European Defense
Community
1957
1958
Euratom
The European Economic Community
Treaty of Rome:
January 1, 1958
History 12
Ms. Lacroix
Name _____________________________
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
1949
The Council of
Europe
Goal – promote unity amongst nations with a common
heritage – UK was not a member
1950
The Schuman
Plan
France’s foreign minister – manage all steel/coal
production in Fr/Ger as one unit. Others to be invited
into this “common market”
1952
European Coal
and Steel
Community
France, W. Germany, Italy, Lux, Netherlands, but not
Britain… did not trust Europe and thought membership
would interfere with her role in the wider world, and
also felt she had a special relationship with the USA.
The Commonwealth would be the main reason she
would not join this, nor the EEC
European Defense
Community
1957
1958
Euratom
Plan to unite all defenses, but blocked by France
Reduce the dependence on Arab oil by developing
atomic power alternatives.
Britain did not join as she was reluctant to share her
nuclear technology. France, also developing her own
nuclear capability, lost interest. A failed initiative
The European Economic Community
Treaty of Rome:
January 1, 1958
-establish closer relations between Western European nations
-abolish obstacles to freedom of movement for persons, services, & capital
-tariffs phased out in 6 stages, over 12 years
Britain not a member… instead she tried to persuade the “inner Six” (Fr/W
Ger/It/Bel/Neth/Lux) to form a lesser association instead, but failed
*note – the UK would join the EEC by 1973, after de Gaulle had tried to veto
their membership in 1960
History 12
Ms. Lacroix
Name ___________________________________
THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
During the 1960’s, the USSR had detonated a 58 megaton bomb. The bomb
used at Hiroshima was a 0.02 megaton bomb. Obviously, the implications of
such destruction is hard to imagine. How did the nuclear arms race affect
societies around the globe?
-the madness that for the first time in the existence of our species, we
Social
had the ability to do away with ourselves
-the fear of annihilation was an everyday feature of the Cold War
-during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this fear was accentuated
-the rise of anti-war and anti-weapons movements
-“peaceniks” of the 50’s… demands were straightforward enough 
don’t build nuclear weapons
Economic
-spending billions of dollars on nuclear research, testing, and
deployment = less $$ for everything else
-felt more directly in the USSR, because her economy seemingly could
not afford “guns” and “butter”… the answer there always seemed to
favour guns
-many consumer products there underdeveloped and under produced
-development of the “military industrial complex”, so dangerously
described by Eisenhower in his farewell speech of 1960
-the enormous demands of the military arms race demanded each
country create an industry that exists solely to serve the needs of
militarists promoting their respective arms systems – they took on a life
of their own
Political
-perhaps more relevant in the USA?
-political parties had to pay attention to satisfying the needs of the “
hawks” at election time., whereas in the USSR, such pressures were
unheard of
Military
-to citizens, students, and historians, the possibility of actually using
nuclear weapons seems so absurd.
-not so for the Pentagon and their counterparts in the USSR
-they continued to develop scenarios which predicted the “winnability”
of a nuclear war
-the more reasonable in their midst eventually admitted the futility of
the nuclear arms race
-it is now popularly argued that the sheer terror of nuclear weapons in
fact preserved the peace during the Cold War
History 12
Ms. Lacroix
Name ___________________________________
THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
During the 1960’s, the USSR had detonated a 58 megaton bomb. The bomb
used at Hiroshima was a 0.02 megaton bomb. Obviously, the implications of
such destruction is hard to imagine. How did the nuclear arms race affect
societies around the globe?
Social
Economic
Political
Military