A.     Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)

1.     General Charles de Gaulle established the Fifth French Republic in 1958. He served as president until 1969.

2.     De Gaulle’s key foreign policy decisions included:

a.     Granting Algeria full independence

b.     Withdrawing French military forces from NATO

c.      Developing France’s own nuclear weapons

d.     Opposing Great Britain’s entry into the EEC

A.     The Christian Democrats

1.     Christian Democratic parties endorsed economic growth, European integration, national health insurance, aid to farmers, and political democracy.

2.     Key Christian Democrat leaders included Konrad Adenauer in West Germany, Alcide de Gasperi in Italy, and Robert Schuman in France.

3.     The Christian Democrats accepted Keynesian economic theory. According to Keynesian economics, governments should play a leading role in stimulating economic growth.

I.               The Revival of Western Europe

A.     Economic Integration

1.     The European Coal and Steel Community

a.     Jean Monnet, a French economic planner, convinced French Premier Robert Schuman that economic cooperation would be the key to future prosperity between France and West Germany.

b.     The Schuman Plan, as the project became known, led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

c.      The ECSC called for tariff-free trade in coal a steel among France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

2.     The European Economic Community (Common Market)

a.     The ECSC proved to be a success. As a result, in 1957 its six member nations signed the Treaty of Rome creating the European Economic Community (EEC), popularly known as the Common Market.

b.     The ECC eliminated trade barriers among its members, thus closely resembling a tariff union.

c.      The ECC rapidly emerged as the driving force behind economic integration in Western Europe.