The Uniting of Europe: Political, Social and Economic Forces 1950–1957

Abstract

This work uses the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) as a case study of the community formation processes that occur across traditional national and state boundaries. Haas points to the ECSC as an example of an organization with the power to redirect the loyalties and expectations of political actors. Haas contends that, based on his observations of the actual integration process, the idea of a united Europe took root in the years immediately following World War II. His careful and rigorous analysis tracks the development of the ECSC, including, in his 1968 preface, a discussion of the eventual loss of the individual identity of the ECSC through its absorption into the new European Community. Featuring a new introduction by Haas analyzing the impact of his book over time, as well as an updated bibliography, The Uniting of Europe is a aimed at political scientists and historians of modern and contemporary Europe.