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1 - Early Forms of European Unity

from Part I - Milestones: Treaties and Treaty Changes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2023

By
Gérard Bossuat
Edited by
Mathieu Segers  and
Steven Van Hecke
Mathieu Segers
Affiliation:
Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
Steven Van Hecke
Affiliation:
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
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Summary

When did the first institutional forms of contemporary European unity emerge? There are essentially two approaches to answering this question. The first is to take the perspective of poets, writers and intellectuals. The second is to consider the projects and achievements of politicians. If we take the first approach, we must refer to all thinkers of European consciousness who imagined European unity, from the Abbé de Saint-Pierre and Victor Hugo to Émile Mayrisch and, more recently, Stefan Zweig. If we take the second, we must focus instead on institutional forms of unity, the ways in which citizens participate in it, and then assess its effects. We must present the most effective agents of unity, and explain their reasons for taking action.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of the European Union , pp. 29 - 59
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Recommended Reading

Bossuat, G., Gerbet, P. and Grosbois, T.. Dictionnaire historique de l’Europe unie (Brussels, André Versaille, 2009).Google Scholar
Bossuat, G. and Wilkens, A.. Jean Monnet, l’Europe et les chemins de la paix (Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1999).Google Scholar
Marjolin, R. Le travail d’une vie: Mémoires 1911–1986 (Paris, Éditions Robert Laffont, 1986).Google Scholar
Milward, A. The European Rescue of the Nation-State (London, Routledge, 1992).Google Scholar
Saurugger, S. Théories et concepts de l’intégration européenne (Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2010).Google Scholar

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