Abstract

The rejection by the French National Assembly of the ill-fated European Defence Community (EDC) treaty on 30 August 1954, together with the automatic shelving of the equally problematic European Political Community (EPC) proposal, put an end, at least for that time being, to any form of political and military union of Western Europe on a supranational level. It was a difficult time in Europe, and the international atmosphere was cloudy. The end of the Korean War coincided with the insistence of the Soviets to stick to a policy of detente, leading to the suppression of the Hungarian rebellion in 1956. France was facing opposition to its colonial presence in Indochina, as well as in North Africa. But the Suez crisis prompted the French government to distance itself from the United States. The defeat of the EDC and EPC was not going to be the end of the process started by Monnet and Schuman in 1950. It was not long before plans in favour of a European re-launch were taking shape.1

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