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The European Defence Community was a 1950 plan for a European army to counter Soviet influence. It failed to be ratified, mainly due to opposition in France. French resentment of American influence, concerns over losing sovereignty, and the country's colonial war contributed to the plan's failure. Britain's lack of support for integrating its forces further weakened the proposal. The lengthy four-year ratification process also reduced the urgency for the defense community. Overall, French resistance was the primary cause for the European Defence Community not being implemented.
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- 1. ACCOUNT FOR THE FAILURE OF THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE COMMUNITY By Roisin Curran
- 2. The European Defence Community Korean War began in June 1950 A plan was put forward in October 1950 by the Premier of France, Rene Pleven. A Supranational European army of 100,000 soldiers The European Community Force Treaty was signed on the 27 May 1952
- 3. Why did it fail? France France was the principal cause for the EDC failing “The EDC became the most divisive issue in the country” Desmond Dinan (2003, p.25) “The French resented the Americans for trying to impose their own swift solution to the German problem through rearmament” Martin Dedman (2010, p.64) The Pleven plan was seen as a lesser evil to the French. Article 43 was evidence that France was only looking to improve their own national interest. The colonial war in Indo-china in 1952 In France in opposition to the EDC unified the Gaullists and split the socialists, radicals and conservatives.
- 4. Why did it fail?- Britain Britain’s dismissal of the EDC spurred on France’s refusal to join as well. Wanted to integrate parts of the European army into the British army France didn’t feel comfortable joining it’s army with the forces of West Germany without Britain to counter any resurrection of German strength. “The French were blamed for delays and prevarication, and the UK for lack of vigour and lukewarm diplomacy in pushing for the EDC” Martin Dedman (2010, p.73)
- 5. Why did it fail?- time It took four years from the time it was concepted in 1950 to when it was passed in the French national Assembly in 1954. The end of the Korean war and the death of Stalin meant the EDC wasn’t needed as immediately. However, without France elongating the process this wouldn’t have even been relevant.
- 6. Conclusion The Failure of the European Defence Community is mainly due to France with some of the blame falling on Britain as well.
Editor's Notes
- Just give you some background to The European Defence Community1.(presentation) The Korean War created a war scare throughout Europe since there would have been less protection from the United States and therefore according to the United States, German rearmament was imperative in defending Europe. However, for many, especially the French, German rearmament was a scary concept since 5 years ago many of the countries in Europe were invaded and the fear of it happening again was very real.2.(presentation) Which is why it’s also known as the Pleven Plan. However I would argue though that the Pleven Plan is the earlier version of the European Defence Force Treaty. It was similar to the Schuman Plan in that it wanted to control Germany but unlike the Schuman Plan it wasn’t trying control through industry, it was control by inhibiting German rearmament.click3. The treaty was signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. However it still needed ratified which is where the problems occurred.So why did it fail?I’ve split this into three reasons, firstly the French, secondly the UK and thirdly the timing. However as you will see most of the blame falls onto the French even when talking about the other causes.
- Click Although the EDC began as a French proposal the French population disliked the idea of German remilitarization click. If they rearmed the French believed this would mean they could dominate Europe once again. However, the United States were pushing for German rearmament as that would mean they would feel that Europe was defended against a Soviet attack whilst they were fighting in Korea. However the united states may have just made things worse as dedman explains.Click (powerpoint) he expands of the point by saying the French reacted to the united states by trying to complicate and delay the process for as long as they could. This is why they brought about the Pleven plan (click), which intended to make a French dominated army under French command. However, for many countries like the Dutch and British this just seems to be a way for them to improve their own status within europe.(click) There is evidence of the Pleven plan being used to improve their own status as in the european defence force treaty (which had changed considerably since the Pleven Plan) article 43 said that the more soldiers that were in the EDC the more votes you got. This would have been fine if not for the(click) colonial war in Indo-China in 1952. They had to reduce their number of troops from 14 to 10. This would mean having less votes than both Germany and Italy. Moreover, a war would mean they couldn’t devote as much time as Germany with no colonial problems, military experience and the restoration of their economic strength.However complications may have also come about because opposition to the EDC within the French government (powepoint)Slowly the EDC was becoming the opposite of what the Pleven Plan was and therefore, to France was unsellable and therefore meant that eventually they declined the EDC.
- Britain dismissed it becayuse of it’s suprantional nature but also According to Jones, London viewed Britain as one of the world’s leading powers and was more concerned with it’s special relationship with the US than with it’s relationship with Europe.This British didn’t want to miss out on including themselves in some way and therefore allowed the British army to train alongside the EDC army but it seems like this may have just been a way for Britain to look like it wasn’t to blame for the breakdown of the EDC. Especially if they wanted to protect their special relationship with the United States. They basically played a waiting game.ClickTherefore, the british are to blame somewhat and I think Martin Dedman explains it well when he said
- 1.It might seem like an odd thing to say but time did have a big impact on the European Defence Community.2.In those 4 years a lot had changed with the end of the Korean War the United states didn’t need to worry about Europe being alone in a soviet attack.3. moreover, When Stalin died on the 5th March 1953 these plans weren’t needed as the new leader Malenkov was seen as more moderate and therefore less of a chance of a Soviet invasion.4. However, again France are to blame, without France ratifying the treaty for 2 years this wouldn’t have even been relevant. The only reason time is a cause is because of France.