In order to begin to grasp and analyze the roots of the Greek financial crisis and gain a sense of the political and economic disenfranchisement and nationalism the Greeks endured in the wake of this crisis, a brief history of the Euro is imperative to understanding this resurgence of economic nationalism.
The Eurozone, the economic and monetary union of 19 of the 27 member countries of the European Union, is far from excellent health. At the root of its multi-causal ailment is the Euro, one of the grander experiments in economics in modern history. The Euro sought to be the cornerstone of the multi decade campaign for the full unification of Europe in the ruble of World War II. Politicians conveyed magnificent ideals of full economic and
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It was clear that Europe was no longer the economic powerhouse that it was pre-war, and handful of Western European leaders achieved the first step towards economic unification in 1957 with the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (ECC), with six member states comprising of France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The community sought economic integration within member states that were distinctly different societies with unique cultures, languages, and currencies, striving for the ultimate goal of creating a single market. For the first time in European history, governments that have historically waged longstanding wars with one another forwent a portion of their sovereignty, (albeit regulatory powers over a portion of their economies) to a newfound international institution, “a European authority enjoying executive powers to take decisions in the interests of all six countries”. The Treaty of Rome was emblematic of a unique turning point in European history, that sparked the movement towards massive political and economic cooperation. The treaty sought to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation, remove barriers to trade, and to adopt a common commercial policy towards other foreign trade partners. Over the subsequent decades,
Despite a blistering cold war between east and west Europe in the 1950’s, including the violent suppression of anti-communist protests in 1956 Hungary, the six founders of the ECSC reconvened in 1957 and signed the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community, or the “Common Market”.
EEC (1958) was the European Economic Community, originally consisting of France, (then West) Germany, Italy, and the Benelux nations (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).
(2) European nations began to form economic organizations (e.g. OEEC, EFTA, EEC) to promote economic co-operation & growth.
1955 saw the start of the Western European Union and talks began at Messina about a European Economic Community, the EEC. Britain maintained a strong opinion when referring to Europe and the EEC. This being scepticism, Britain didn’t take these plans very seriously. Such feelings were clearly displayed, when Britain didn’t even send an Ambassador to the Messina Conference. Instead, in keeping with their, thus far sceptical approach, only an observer was sent on the British behalf, rather than Foreign Sectary of State Harold MacMillan. Britain’s feelings hadn’t changed by 1957 when the Treaty of Rome, which created the EEC, which was signed by the six. Italy, France, Western Germany and the Benelux countries, but not by Britain.
A country who’s economy was devastated by the monetary exports demanded of them by the second world war, Greece has shown great financial fluctuation and vulnerability within the last 80 years, resulting in one of the most disputed economic records in the history of the European Union. Dubbed the ‘Greek Economic Miracle’, Greece showed great resilience throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, with credit to their superior food trade and shipping industry, continuing to produce high levels of economic growth in contrast to others that had also been affected by the war. With the Treaty of Accession (1979) entering into force on 1st January 1981, Greek’s commitment to the European Communities (European Union) proved pivotal regarding it’s controversial qualification into the Eurozone in 2000. Owing to this, in an attempt to recover the unstable foundations of its economy, Greece has since been subject to various regulations and measures of austerity, leaving what was once a highly commended country both financially and socially, in a deplorable state of desperation.
The European Economic Community was an organization started in 1957 by France, West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Luxembourg, in post War World II torn European. This organization was a union between the Steal and Coal Community and The European Atomic Energy Community. The goal of the organization, heavily influenced by John Monnet one of its founders and National Liberation Committee member at the time, was to build a stronger cohesive Europe through collaboration and economic ties to bring mutual prosperity. This organization and its ideals developed into the well know European Union of today, that currently sits with 28 members. However, one controversial possible membership has increased in importance over the years.
This story is enlightening due to a clear overview of how a single currency with the ultimate goal of union and growth results idealistic as differences, not only regarding cultural and social backgrounds but also political ones, makes it very difficult for the Eurozone as a whole to have the same objectives and interests.
The end of WW2 resulted in the creation of an intergovernmental organization The United Nation, promoting Peace and Human Rights. In 1946, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced ‘we must build a kind of United States of Europe’. Those actions undoubtedly sparked a new sense of enthusiasm across Europe and demonstrates Britain 's influence on the community. In 1948 Britain,France,Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg creating a unified defence alliance after signing the Brussels Treaty and the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An unclear soviet strategy boosted the desire to strengthen military alliances and led towards the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 1949 The Council of Europe, was founded in 1949 to provide advice and promote legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. Influenced by the UDHR the CoE drafted the European Convention on Human Rights in 1950 and advised on the creation of the European Court of Human Rights. The Treaty of Rome in 1957 established the European Economic
To Greece, the potential idea of entering the Eurozone was one that was too tempting. A key benefit would be the reduction of inflation rates in the short term. “By joining a monetary union with a credible anchor country or set of countries, a client country eliminates the inflation bias arising from time inconsistency in monetary policy” (Alesina & Barro, 2002). The inflation rate falls to that of the lowest member nation - representative of the credibility and reputation of the German banks and the entire OCA. Hence, a country such as Greece, which lacked the regulation and financial supervision, jumped at the opportunity of sharing the same credible status Germany worked hard to maintain.
Actually, since the late 1960s, the three original EU institutions have shared a common organization and have enlarged the EU’s mission as they came to be called “the European Community.” (Kegley, 2009) Based on this large community, the other more European countries joined in this supranational organization in order to earn financial development under sharing common interests. From that time, the membership of the European Union grew and its geographical scope broadened either that it aggrandized more 15 countries by 1997. According to Dunford and Perrons (1994), the mechanisms of
In recent history, following World War II, the Paris Peace Treaty and The Potsdam Agreement, reorganized Europe’s countries dramatically and by the late 1940’s the idea of a European Union was presented. It began as a way to preserve peace among the nations of Europe. In 1951, the first
The treaty of Rome stated the establishment of the EEC as an economic union, which provided free flow of investments, trade of goods, common agricultural policy and common EEC customs. But it included some social aspects as providing common transportation
The European Economic grew bigger with up to 31 countries joining the ECA having limited rights for each country. The treaty had plans on building a common market in 1957 this came into reality in 1958 with the creation of a customs union along with the Single European Act (SEA) in 1957. ‘They declared in its preamble that signatory state was determined to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe’. This confirmed a political objective of a progressive political interrogation from the member of states.
The European Union of today was established in 1990, but dates back to 1952, with the start of the European Coal and Steal Community. This original community was made up of six countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Their focus by joining together was to keep economic independence and peace after the end of World War II. They hoped to sustain close relationships across borders to keep the individual states from turning against each other. By 1963, the countries had signed policies standardizing food and crop prices within the Union. They also agreed upon providing nations in Africa with aid to create quicker development of partnerships. Years later the Treaty of Rome
Due to success of the ECSC, the six member countries decided to extend their unity and as a result, two new treaties were signed in 1957. The first treaty was signed in Rome and it established the European Economic Community (EEC) aiming to form a custom economy within the countries (Wild, 2017). The second treaty was European Atomic Energy Community and it was aimed for developing nuclear energy as a corporation.