Editing European Union (section)

===Initial years and the Paris Treaty (1948{{Non breaking en dash}}1957)===
{{Main|History of European integration (1948–1957)}}

{{Multiple image
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| image1 = Schuman Declaration.ogg
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| caption1 = An excerpt of the [[Schuman Declaration]], by [[Robert Schuman]] on 9 May 1950 ([[Europe Day]])
| image2 = 1951 CECA ECSC.jpg
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| caption2 = [[Treaty of Paris (1951)|Treaty of Paris]] (1951), establishing the [[European Coal and Steel Community|ECSC]]
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Immediately following the [[1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état|February 1948 coup d'état]] by the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]], the [[London Six-Power Conference]] was held, resulting in the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] boycott of the Allied Control Council and its incapacitation, an event marking the beginning of the [[Cold War]].

The year 1948 marked the beginning of the institutionalised modern [[European integration]]. In March 1948 the [[Treaty of Brussels]] was signed, establishing the [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]] (WU), followed by the [[International Authority for the Ruhr]]. Furthermore, the [[Organisation for European Economic Co-operation]] (OEEC), the predecessor of the OECD, was also founded in 1948 to manage the [[Marshall Plan]], which led to the Soviets creating [[Comecon]] in response. The ensuing [[Hague Congress (1948)|Hague Congress]] of May 1948 was a pivotal moment in European integration, as it led to the creation of the [[European Movement International]], the [[College of Europe]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.isbnplus.com/9789080498310 |title=The College of Europe. Fifty Years of Service to Europe |publisher=[[College of Europe]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-90-804983-1-0 |editor-last=Mahncke |editor-first=Dieter |editor-link=Dieter Mahncke |location=Bruges |editor-last2=Bekemans |editor-first2=Léonce |editor-link2=Léonce Bekemans |editor-last3=Picht |editor-first3=Robert |editor-link3=Robert Picht |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228030332/http://www.isbnplus.com/9789080498310 |archive-date=28 December 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and most importantly to the foundation of the [[Council of Europe]] on 5 May 1949 (which is now [[Europe day|Europe Day]]). The Council of Europe was one of the first institutions to bring the sovereign states of (then only Western) Europe together, raising great hopes and fevered debates in the following two years for further European integration.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} It has since been a broad forum to further cooperation and shared issues, achieving for example the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] in 1950. Essential for the actual birth of the institutions of the EU was the [[Schuman Declaration]] on 9 May 1950 (the day after the fifth [[Victory in Europe Day]]) and the decision by six nations (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, West Germany and Italy) to follow [[Schuman]] and draft the [[Treaty of Paris (1951)|Treaty of Paris]]. This treaty was created in 1952 the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] (ECSC), which was built on the [[International Authority for the Ruhr]], installed by the Western Allies in 1949 to regulate the coal and steel industries of the Ruhr area in West Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Declaration of 9 May 1950 |url=http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/9-may/decl_en.htm |access-date=5 September 2007 |publisher=European Commission}}</ref> Backed by the [[Marshall Plan]] with large funds coming from the United States since 1948, the ECSC became a milestone organisation, enabling European economic development and integration and being the origin of the main institutions of the EU such as the [[European Commission]] and [[European Parliament|Parliament]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blocker |first=Joel |date=9 April 2008 |title=Europe: How The Marshall Plan Took Western Europe From Ruins To Union |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1084818.html |access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref> [[Founding fathers of the European Union]] understood that coal and steel were the two industries essential for waging war, and believed that by tying their national industries together, a future war between their nations became much less likely.<ref name="Europa History 45-59">{{Cite web |title=A peaceful Europe&nbsp;– the beginnings of cooperation |url=http://europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/1945-1959/index_en.htm |access-date=12 December 2011 |publisher=European Commission}}</ref>
In parallel with Schuman, the [[Pleven Plan]] of 1951 tried but failed to tie the institutions of the developing European community under the [[European Political Community (1952)|European Political Community]], which was to include the also proposed [[Treaty establishing the European Defence Community|European Defence Community]], an alternative to [[West Germany]] joining [[NATO]] which was established in 1949 under the [[Truman Doctrine]]. In 1954 the [[Modified Brussels Treaty]] transformed the Western Union into the [[Western European Union]] (WEU). [[West Germany]] eventually joined both the WEU and NATO in 1955, prompting the [[Soviet Union]] to form the [[Warsaw Pact]] in 1955 as an institutional framework for its military domination in the countries of [[Central and Eastern Europe]]. Assessing the progress of European integration the [[Messina Conference]] was held in 1955, ordering the [[Spaak report]], which in 1956 recommended the next significant steps of European integration.