Jean Monnet producing the first European
steel ingot on 30 April 1953 in Esch-sur-Alzette
Introduction
Nowadays European Union is at a crossroads. Historic steps as
enlargement to 10, and shortly 12 or 13, new State members or the draft of a
European constitution will change the Union that pioneers of European Unity
envisaged.
The European integration process is usually taught in schools
in isolation, which turns this subject into quite a juridical and
uninteresting lesson in the History Curriculum. Students should learn EU
history as an integral part of general World and European history.
Jean Monnet was undoubtedly one of the main founders of the
European Union. By tracing Monnet’s life, students are exposed to the main events of
European history, from the First World War to the birth and first enlargement
of the EU.
Task
Students should design and publish a newspaper based on Jean
Monnet’s life and European history. If possible, this newspaper will be
uploaded on a web site. Each article will have a headline and some image to
illustrate it.
Students will be organised by groups, which will have
different tasks that imply diverse abilities:
-
Elaborating statistics and graphics that highlight the fact
that WWI was mainly a “European Civil War” that started a painful process of
self-destruction.
-
Writing a report on the main pro-European integration
attempts over the Inter-war period.
-
Editing two articles on the failed Monnet’s proposal of
Franco-British Union in 1940 and on Winston Churchill’s role in world and
European political scene in the postwar first years.
-
Setting up a chronology relating Cold War, European
integration process and Jean Monnet’s life.
-
Writing short biographies of five other pioneers of European
unity that were contemporary with Monnet.
-
Gathering and editing a collection of images to be displayed
in the newspaper.
-
Designing and laying out the newspaper to be published on
line.
Process
1. First World War Statistics
Though we talked about First World War, the Great War was
basically a European war. Forget Allies and Central Powers and calculate the
European damage through statistics: Mobilised forces along the war,
casualties (Killed, Wounded, Prisoners)... Take
into account only the current or future members of the European Union.
Elaborate, using percentages, statistics tables and graphics
(Microsoft Excel) dividing the belligerent nations in EU countries (current
and future members) and non-EU countries. In that last case, write the whole
damage in a box and show the Russian damage in a box apart.
|
EU
members |
Non EU
members |
Russia |
| |
|
|
Encyclopedia of the First World War- War Statistics
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWstatistics.htm
2. Inter-War period pro-European integration initiatives
After the slaughter a new hope emerged: the League of
Nations, inspired by US President Wilson, constituted a first attempt to
guarantee “collective security” to big and small countries. Nevertheless,
European powers didn’t learn anything from the war: Germany was humiliated in
Versailles and the winners, Britain, France and Italy, stuck to their
nationalist and imperialist foreign policies without any European concern for
our continent’s problems.
Jean Monnet, who fought for a closer alliance between France
and Britain during the WWI, was named Secretary General of the League of
Nations in 1919. In 1923 he resigned to come back to manage his family
business.
Quite a few Europeans drew from the war the conclusion that
adopting the ideal of a united and peaceful Europe as a common project was the
only solution to our continent’s problems. Coudenhove-Kalergi’s Paneuropa
movement and Aristide Briand’s Memorandum on European Unity are two
significant examples of this frustrated attempt to start up a European
integration process. Hitler and WWII put a tragic end to these efforts.
Write a report on these pro-European initiatives, it should
include:
-
A general overview on European integration initiatives
during the 1919-1939 period
-
Short biographies of Coudenhove-Kalergi and Aristide Briand.
-
A summary of their proposals on Europe with some quotations
from original documents.
The European Union: Integration Process and European
Citizenship
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/anteceden.htm
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/biografias.htm
Pioneers of European Unity
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/pioneers/index.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SpringEurope.htm
European Prospect
http://www.ellopos.net/politics/europeanunion.htm
3. World War II and its aftermath
France’s dramatic defeat in June 1940 brought a last desperate
Monnet’s proposal of Franco-British Union. Hitler’s crushing victory put a
quick end to this initiative.
In September 1946, after a war that devastated Europe, Winston
Churchill, former Prime Minister who had led Britain to victory, gave a famous
speech at Zurich University calling up European nations to “recreate the
European family”.
Both initiatives were born in very different historical
contexts:
Dossier 18 Juin 1940 – Charles de Gaulle web site
http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/en/dossiers/18june/documents/introduction.htm
France 1940 - Timeline
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/Prelude12.html
Pioneers of European Unity
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/pioneers/index.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SpringEurope.htm
European Prospect
http://www.ellopos.net/politics/europeanunion.htm
Second World War Encyclopaedia
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW.htm
The abrupt failure of the French in World War II
http://www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/france/interwar/fall.htm
4. Jean Monnet and the birth of the European
Economic Community (1945-1957)
The EEC, antecedent of the current European Union, was born in
a historical context, the Cold War, in which Jean Monnet had to intervene.
Create a table that covers the 1945-1957 period and links the main events of the
Cold War, the European integration process and Jean Monnet’s life.
| |
Cold War |
European Integration |
Jean Monnet’s life |
|
1945
1946
… |
|
|
|
The European Union: Integration Process and European
Citizenship
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/anteceden2.htm
The History of the European Union - A chronology from 1946 to
2002
http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/index_en.htm
Cold War chronology
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cold%20war%20chronology.htm
Foundation Jean Monnet for Europe
http://www.jean-monnet.ch/anglais/index.php
5. Other founders of the European Union
Write five short biographies (less than 100 words) on 5
contemporaries of Monnet who had significant roles in the European integration
process.
Pioneers of European Unity
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/pioneers/index.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SpringEurope.htm
6. Newspaper layout
Design a layout for the newspaper on-line where all the
assignments will be gathered. Here you can find a possible dummy page.
Search on the internet for photographs or pictures that can
illustrate the newspaper
Google Image Search
http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=
Altavista Image Search
http://www.altavista.com/image/default
Resources
Pioneers of European Unity
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/pioneers/index.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SpringEurope.htm
The European Union: Integration Process and European
Citizenship
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/index.htm
Encyclopedia of the First World War
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm
Second World War Encyclopaedia
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW.htm
Cold War
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ColdWar.htm
European Prospect
http://www.ellopos.net/politics/europeanunion.htm
Dossier 18 Juin 1940 – Charles de Gaulle web site
http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org/en/dossiers/18june/documents/introduction.htm
The abrupt failure of the French in World War II
http://www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/france/interwar/fall.htm
France 1940 - Timeline
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/Prelude12.html
Foundation Jean Monnet for Europe
http://www.jean-monnet.ch/anglais/index.php
The History of the European Union - A chronology from 1946 to
2002
http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/index_en.htm
Cold War chronology
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cold%20war%20chronology.htm
Conclusion
After completing up this webquest, students should be able to
recognise that the first steps of European integration process, represented by
Monnet's political biography, were deeply related to European and World
history. They should acknowledge that the impetus that brought about the
beginning of the European unity process was caused by events such as World War I
and II and Cold War.
Ideally, students will change their attitude towards
nationalist theories by understanding that, to a great extent, they were
liable for both first and second world war and, therefore, for the decline of
Europe.
