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US and European Integration Prior to 1968: An Overview

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Richard M. Nixon and European Integration

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Abstract

Siracusa and Nguyen provide a critical review of US policy on Western Europe from 1945 to 1968. Employing archival research as the main research methodology, they have analysed the official documents from both the EU and US archives to explore the US views and attitudes towards European economic and political integration from 1945 to 1968, before President Nixon took possession of the White House. This historical excursion will demonstrate why and how the US administrations prior to 1968 had supported Western European integration.

It is of vital importance to the United States that European recovery be continued to ultimate success… If Europe failed to recover the peoples of these countries might be driven to a philosophy of despair—the philosophy which contends that their basic wants can be met only by the surrender of their basic rights to totalitarian control. Such a turn of events would constitute a shattering blow to peace and stability in the world.

Harry S Truman, 1947

I will say here and now, on this Day of Independence, that the United States will be ready for a Declaration of Interdependence, that we will be prepared to discuss with a united Europe the ways and means of forming a concrete Atlantic partnership, a mutually beneficial partnership between the new union now emerging in Europe and the old American Union founded here 175 years ago.

All this will not be completed in a year, but let the world know it is our goal.

John F Kennedy, 1962

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Notes

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    Buruma, I, 2013, Year Zero: A History of 1945, Penguin Press, New York.

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  4. 4.

    George, S, & Bache, I, 2001, Politics in the European Union, Oxford University Press, New York, p. 47.

  5. 5.

    Ibid., p. 47.

  6. 6.

    Laqueur, W, 1972, Europe since Hitler, Penguin, Harmondsworth, pp. 17–18.

  7. 7.

    Ibid., p. 26.

  8. 8.

    NPR, 2013, After WWWII, Europe was a ‘Savage Continent’ of Devastation, viewed September 25, 2013, <http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=204538728>.

  9. 9.

    Clayton, WL, 1947, Memorandum by the Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, the European Crisis, viewed December 26, 2013, <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php#axzz2fn5ynM2m>.

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  14. 14.

    Gaddis, JL, 1990, Russia, the Soviet Union and the United States: An Interpretative History, McGraw Hill, New York, pp. 13–23.

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    Ibid., p. 156.

  16. 16.

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  17. 17.

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  19. 19.

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  25. 25.

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  26. 26.

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  27. 27.

    Johnson, C, 2004, The Sorrow of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic, Metropolitan Books, New York.

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    Truman, HS, 1947, Harry S. Truman’s Address before a Joint Session of Congress, March 12, 1947, Avalon Project, viewed September 30, 2013, <http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/trudoc.asp>.

  29. 29.

    NATO-official text, viewed September 30, 2013, <http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm>.

  30. 30.

    Simmons, RR, 1975, The Strained Alliance: Peking, Pyongyang, Moscow and the Politics of the Korean Civil War, Free Press, New York.

  31. 31.

    Westad, OA, 2005, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our times, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 110–157.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., pp. 180–187.

  33. 33.

    Duiker, WJ, & Spielvogel, JJ, 2010, World History, Volumes II: Since 1500 (6th ed.), Wadsworth, Boston, p. 772.

  34. 34.

    Powaski, RE, 1998, The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union 1917–1991, New York: Oxford University Press, p. ix.

  35. 35.

    Ridley, J, 1970, Lord Palmerston, Constable, London, p. 334.

  36. 36.

    Miscamble, WD, 2009, Debating American Grand Strategy after Major War: Roosevelt, Truman and the Development of Postwar Grand Strategy, Elsevier Limited on behalf of Foreign Policy Research Institute, p. 554.

  37. 37.

    Leffler, Melvyn P, 2000, ‘American grand strategy from world war to cold war,’ 1940–1950, in Kennedy P & Hitchcock, WI (eds.), From War to Peace: Altered Strategic Landscapes in the Twentieth Century, New Haven, New York, pp. 58–59.

  38. 38.

    Department of State’s report, viewed January 27, 2014, <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/pdfs/6-1.pdf#zoom=100>.

  39. 39.

    Obama, B, 2009, A Just and Lasting Peace, Nobel Peace Prize lecture, viewed January 18, 2013, <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/obama-lecture_en.html>.

  40. 40.

    Hoffman, P, 1949, Hoffman’s Speech before the OEEC Council Calling for Greater Integration in Europe, viewed on September 16, 2013, <http://www.hum.leiden.edu/history/eu-history/historical/schuman.html>.

  41. 41.

    Eisenhower, J, 2003, General Ike: A Personal Reminiscence, Easton Press, Norwalk, p. 230.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., p. 230.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., p. 232.

  44. 44.

    Kennedy, JF, 1962, Address at the Independence hall in Philadelphia, viewed January 7, 2014, <http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03IndependenceHall07041962.htm>.

  45. 45.

    Eisenhower, J, 2003, General Ike: A Personal Reminiscence, Easton Press, Norwalk, p. 232.

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    Kennedy, JF, 1962, Address at the Independence hall in Philadelphia, viewed January 7, 2014, <http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03IndependenceHall07041962.htm>.

  47. 47.

    Larres, K, 2009, Assertive Supremacy and Enlightened Self-interest: The United States and the ‘Unity of Europe’, AICGS American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, Johns Hopkins University, p. 5.

  48. 48.

    State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee Files: Series 360, Report of the Sepcial ‘Ad Hoc’ Committee of the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee 1947.

  49. 49.

    See Memorandum from Mike Mansfield, 1947, Clifford Papers,<http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1947-00-00&documentid=5-9&pagenumber=>; Charles Kindleberger to Benjamin Cohen, April 5, 1946, Kindleberger Papers, <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1946-04-05&documentid=4-6&pagenumber=1>; and Notes for Acheson speech, “The Economics of Peace,” March 1947, JM Jones Papers, <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1947-03-00&documentid=1-3&pagenumber=1>.

  50. 50.

    Objective Committee, 1947, European recovery program basic document no. 1, October 31, 1947, viewed September 29, 2013, <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/pdfs/6-3.pdf#zoom=100>.

  51. 51.

    See Hogan, M, 1987, The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; Milward, AS, 1984, The Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1945–1951, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles; Jones, JA, 1955, Fifteen Weeks, The Viking Press, New York; and Gimbel, J, 1976, The Origins of the Marshall Plan, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

  52. 52.

    Aren, JVO, 2000, Uniting Europe: European Integration and the Post-Cold War World, Rowan & Littlefield, New York, p. 3.

  53. 53.

    Gilber, M, 2003, Surpassing Realism: The Politics of European Integration since 1945, Rowman & Littlefield, New York, pp. 22–23.

  54. 54.

    McMahon, RJ, 2003, The Cold War: Very Short Introductions, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 30.

  55. 55.

    Norman, AG, Richard, DB, & Joseph, MS, 2010, America and the Cold War, 1941–1991, Praeger Security International, California, p. 126.

  56. 56.

    Scott, S, 1997, From War to Wealth: 50 Years of Innovation, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Paris, p. 16.

  57. 57.

    Eichengreen, B, 2008, The European Economy Since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, pp. 62–73.

  58. 58.

    Truman, HS, 1948, Statement by the President Upon Signing the Foreign Assistance Act, viewed on December 15, 2013, <http://trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/viewpapers.php?pid=1430>.

  59. 59.

    Truman, HS, 1948, Marshall Plan, viewed on December 29, 2013, <http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/BERLIN_A/MARSHALL.HTM>.

  60. 60.

    Papayoanou, PA, 1999, Power Ties: Economic Interdependence, Balancing, and War, University of Michigan Press, Michigan, p. 132.

  61. 61.

    Ibid.

  62. 62.

    Ibid.

  63. 63.

    The Marshall Plan for Rebuilding Western Europe, Constitutional Rights Foundation 1975.

  64. 64.

    Eichengreen, B, 2008, The European Economy since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, p. 57.

  65. 65.

    Mee, CL, Jr., 1984, The Marshall Plan: The Launching of the Pax Americana, Simon and Schuster, New York.

  66. 66.

    Milward, AS, 1984, The Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1945–1951, Newton, London, p. 466.

  67. 67.

    Van der Wee, H, 1984, Prosperity and Upheaval: The World Economy, 1945–1980, Penguin, London, p. 44.

  68. 68.

    The Council of Europe, 1949 viewed January 20, 2014, <http://www.hum.leiden.edu/history/eu-history/historical/collections.html>.

  69. 69.

    Agnew, J, & Entrikin, JN, 2004, The Marshall Plan Today: Model and Metaphor, Routledge, New York, p. 211.

  70. 70.

    Ibid., p. 220.

  71. 71.

    Tipton, FB, & Aldrich, R, 1987, An Economic and Social History of Europe from 1939 to the Present, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, p. 87.

  72. 72.

    Scott, S, 1997, From War to Wealth: 50 Years of Innovation, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Paris, p. 25.

  73. 73.

    Graebner, NA, Burns, RD, & Siracusa, JM, 2010, American and the Cold War, 1941–1991: A Realist Interpretation, Volume 2, Praeger, California, p. 132.

  74. 74.

    NATO, 1948, The Brussels Treaty, March 17, 1948, viewed December 23, 2013, <http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-207E2B09-4E1A764B/natolive/official_texts_17072.htm?>.

  75. 75.

    Graebner, NA, Burns, RD, & Siracusa, JM, 2010, American and the Cold War, 1941–1991: A Realist Interpretation, Volume 2, Praeger, California, p. 134.

  76. 76.

    For outstanding overviews of the creation of NATO, see Lawrence, SK, 1980, A Community of Interest: NATO and the Military Assistance Program, 1948–1951, Government Printing, Washington, DC; Lawrence, SK, 2007, NATO 1948: The Birth of the Transatlantic Alliance, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham; Escott, R, 1977, Time of Fear and Hope: The Making of the North Atlantic Treaty, 1947–1949, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto; and Ireland, TP, 1981, Creating the Entangling Alliance: The Origins of NATO, University of Chicago, Chicago.

  77. 77.

    NATO, 1949, The North Atlantic Treaty, April 4, 1949, viewed December 23, 2013, <http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-2A67C79B-7582223D/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm?>.

  78. 78.

    Hastings, I, 1954, Lecture on NATO: What it is and how it works, viewed December 23, 2013, <http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-A63F6257-8D0B59BB/natolive/opinions_17417.htm?selectedLocale>.

  79. 79.

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  80. 80.

    Dinan, D, 2010, Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to European Integration, 4th edn, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Colorado, p. 13.

  81. 81.

    Nicoll, W, & Salmon, TC, 1994, Understanding the New Europe Community, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, New York, p. 12.

  82. 82.

    See, Goldsborough, J, 1976, “The Franco-German Entente,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 54, No. 3; Storey, J, 1980, “The Franco-German Alliance within the European Community,” World Today.

  83. 83.

    Wallace, W, 1986, Introduction to Roger Morgan and Caroline Bray, Partners and Rivals in Western Europe: Britain, Franc and Germany, Gower, Brookfield, p. 4.

  84. 84.

    Milward, AS, 1984, The Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1945–1951, Newton, London, p. 391.

  85. 85.

    Acheson, D, 1949, Telegram from Dean Acheson to the U.S. Embassy in Paris, Washington, viewed December 16, 2013, <http://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2009/4/24/ef456d4c-b0cc-4a98-a496-586b8ccb19b5/publishable_en.pdf>.

  86. 86.

    Dinan, D, 2004, Europe Recast: A History of the European Union, Lynne Reinner Pub., London. Eichengreen, B, & Kenen, P, 1994, ‘Managing the world economy under the Bretton Woods system: An overview’, in Kenen, P. (eds.), Managing the World Economy: Fifty Years after Bretton Woods, Washington, DC, Institute for International Economics, p. 26.

  87. 87.

    Churchill, W, 1946, Winston Churchill’s speech on a Council of Europe, Zurich, September 19, 1946, viewed January 27, 2014, <http://aei.pitt.edu/14362/1/S2-1.pdf>.

  88. 88.

    Schuman, R, 1950, Declaration [on French Proposal to Place Coal and Steel under “Higher Authority,” viewed September 16, 2013, <http://aei.pitt.edu/14363/>.

  89. 89.

    Treaty of Paris, April 18, 1951, viewed December 22, 2013, <http://www.proyectos.cchs.csic.es/euroconstitution/library/historic%20documents/Paris/TRAITES_1951_CECA.pdf>.

  90. 90.

    The Schuman Declaration, viewed December 24, 2013, <http://www.hum.leiden.edu/history/eu-history/historical/schuman.html>.

  91. 91.

    Acheson, D, 1950, History of European Integration Site, viewed May 20, 2013, <www.let.leidenuniv.nl/pdf/geschiedenis/eu-history/EU_07.doc>.

  92. 92.

    Eisenhower, DD, 1953, Letter to Chairmen of Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees Concerning the European Coal and Steel Community, viewed January 21, 2014, <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9614>.

  93. 93.

    Acheson, D, 1969, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, p. 383.

  94. 94.

    George, S, & Bache, I, 2001, Politics in the European Union, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 72.

  95. 95.

    Walter Hallstein, President of the Commission European Economic Community, 1959, viewed on December 12, 2013, <http://aei.pitt.edu/43616/1/A7420.pdf>.

  96. 96.

    Johnson, LB, 1965, Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, the American Presidency Project, September 16, 2013, <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26907>.

  97. 97.

    Hirsch, E, 1950, Three Presidents on Official Visit to the U.S. Bulletin from the European Community, viewed December 23, 2013, Special issue, <http://aei.pitt.edu/43616/>.

  98. 98.

    Lundestad, G, 1998, ‘Empire’ by Integration: The United States and European Integration, 1945–1997, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 49.

  99. 99.

    Eisenhower, DD, 1956, Address at the International Airport, Miami, Florida, viewed January 22, 2014, <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=10680>.

  100. 100.

    Coppolaro, L, 2010, Trade, Security and GATT: The United States, Western Europe and the Political Economy of Trade Liberalisation (1947–1972), Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon.

  101. 101.

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  102. 102.

    Johnson, LB, 1965, Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, the American Presidency Project, September 16, 2013, <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26907>.

  103. 103.

    Marjolin, R, 1989, Architect of European Unity: Memoirs, 1911–1986, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, p. 306.

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  1. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Joseph M. Siracusa

  2. Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Hang Thi Thuy Nguyen

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Siracusa, J.M., Nguyen, H.T.T. (2018). US and European Integration Prior to 1968: An Overview. In: Richard M. Nixon and European Integration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75662-2_2

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