After World War II, Europe was left devastated and separated due to political and cultural differences. Following, the Cold War only furthered the divide between Europe causing a terrible economic situation for all countries. After the Cold War ended, Europe began to discuss a policy that would unite all of Europe on an economic and cultural basis to increase productivity and an overall better life for their citizens. While in the beginning the motions for European unity were met with little challenge, as time progressed more and more countries and people began to challenge and doubt the effectiveness of European unity.
In 1948, the idea of the European Community was conceived by Jean Monnet while speaking to the National LIberation Committee …show more content…
In 1988 Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister, gave a speech reacting to the Single European Act in which she said, “To try to suppress nationhood and concentrate power at the centre of a European conglomerate would be highly damaging and would jeopardize the objectives we seek to achieve.” (Doc 4) In this document, the point of view is important because the reason Britain is resisting European unity so much is because they have a lot to lose if they do. Britain has great relations with America, and if they were to be fully unified with Europe then they might have to give up some of those trading options, which they don’t want to do. In addition, Britain is for the most part economically stable and is a very strong, wealthy nation on its own, therefor doesn’t have much incentive to join in with the other European countries. Although, despite Britain’s resistance in 1992 the Maastricht Treaty was created which brought together European countries into one European Union. This union promoted economic and social progress, employment, a single currency, common foreign and security policy, and a common defence policy. (Doc 5) The purpose of the Maastricht Treaty was to further unify Europe and create a single European culture as well as open their countries for foreigners in order to increase economic growth. The Maastricht Treaty was very effective, after creating …show more content…
A citizen from Rotterdam confesses in 2003, “There are too many people coming here who don’t want to work. Before long there will be more foreigners that Dutch people, the Dutch people won’t be the boss of their own country. That’s why this has to be stopped.” (Doc 6) It is apparent in this document that the citizens of European countries are not happy that foreigners are coming and basically running their land without the people native there having much say. The fear of foreigners taking jobs and making it harder for someone to succeed in their own country is a big problem with European unity that as time progresses is being challenged more and more. Moreover, Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament, said in 2004 that the Islamic country of Turkey shouldn’t be allowed in the Eu and that the flow of Turks into the Netherlands was too great. He even mentioned that they brought criminality, unemployment, welfare payments, and domestic violence that hurt the country socially and economically (Doc 7) The context of this document could very well be a post 9/11 world where the fear of Muslim terrorism is at a high and people are wary of immigrants coming into their country after seeing what happened to America. This causes a lot of strain on European unity because there is now a distrust of foreigners that wasn’t as present before 9/11. Also,
In 1948, the idea of the European Community was conceived by Jean Monnet while speaking to the National LIberation Committee …show more content…
In 1988 Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister, gave a speech reacting to the Single European Act in which she said, “To try to suppress nationhood and concentrate power at the centre of a European conglomerate would be highly damaging and would jeopardize the objectives we seek to achieve.” (Doc 4) In this document, the point of view is important because the reason Britain is resisting European unity so much is because they have a lot to lose if they do. Britain has great relations with America, and if they were to be fully unified with Europe then they might have to give up some of those trading options, which they don’t want to do. In addition, Britain is for the most part economically stable and is a very strong, wealthy nation on its own, therefor doesn’t have much incentive to join in with the other European countries. Although, despite Britain’s resistance in 1992 the Maastricht Treaty was created which brought together European countries into one European Union. This union promoted economic and social progress, employment, a single currency, common foreign and security policy, and a common defence policy. (Doc 5) The purpose of the Maastricht Treaty was to further unify Europe and create a single European culture as well as open their countries for foreigners in order to increase economic growth. The Maastricht Treaty was very effective, after creating …show more content…
A citizen from Rotterdam confesses in 2003, “There are too many people coming here who don’t want to work. Before long there will be more foreigners that Dutch people, the Dutch people won’t be the boss of their own country. That’s why this has to be stopped.” (Doc 6) It is apparent in this document that the citizens of European countries are not happy that foreigners are coming and basically running their land without the people native there having much say. The fear of foreigners taking jobs and making it harder for someone to succeed in their own country is a big problem with European unity that as time progresses is being challenged more and more. Moreover, Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament, said in 2004 that the Islamic country of Turkey shouldn’t be allowed in the Eu and that the flow of Turks into the Netherlands was too great. He even mentioned that they brought criminality, unemployment, welfare payments, and domestic violence that hurt the country socially and economically (Doc 7) The context of this document could very well be a post 9/11 world where the fear of Muslim terrorism is at a high and people are wary of immigrants coming into their country after seeing what happened to America. This causes a lot of strain on European unity because there is now a distrust of foreigners that wasn’t as present before 9/11. Also,