Origins

World War II had only just ended when, in 1951, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany agreed that key economic resources should be managed jointly under the new supranational institutional architecture of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

The ECSC, and subsequently the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community in 1957, were born in the wake of centuries of devastating conflict that had ravaged the continent. They were established with the vision of a future where peace, cooperation and prosperity would replace war, closed borders and nationalism. 

The European integration process did not follow an easy or predetermined path, as the failure to build a European Defence Community in 1953-1954 testifies. Nevertheless, it initiated one of the longest periods of peace in European history for the countries that signed onto the project.

The posters in this section illustrate the origins of European integration, and lead us to reflect not only on the roots of the current European Union, but also on the roads not taken. The art and messages they communicate help us more fully appreciate a crucial phase of Europe’s recent history.

Jacopo Cellini