This is the first large-scale historical investigation of the critical first stage of European integration, the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). John Gillingham discusses the thirty year Franco-German struggle for heavy industry mastery in Western Europe, describes the dreams and schemes of Jean Monnet, who designed the heavy industry pool, reveals the American vision that inspired his work, and discloses how his transatlantic partners used their great authority to assure its completion. Gillingham also lays bare the operating mechanisms of the coal-steel pool, showing that contrary to the hopes of Monnet and his supporters, the ECSC restored rather than reformed the European economy, leaving as a legacy not a detrustified industry, but one still dominated by the giant producers of the Ruhr.

‘John Gillingham has had the wit to get to the bottom of one of the central issues of Franco-German relations in the twentieth century and thus to a crucial aspect of modern international affairs more generally. Gillingham’s work is one of the fundamental studies on the economic presuppositions of the reconstruction period.’

Charles Maier - Harvard University

‘Gillingham has produced a significant contribution to the growing literature on Europe’s postwar economic and political stabilization. Made especially timely by the unification of Germany and the hopes of 1992, this book is also essential reading for those interested in the historical origins of contemporary Europe.’

Michael J. Hogan - Ohio State University