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Fact check: When the EU was proposed and began, they screamed and yelled from the hilltops this will just be an economic thing
1. Summary of the results
The original statement oversimplifies the complex history of European integration. While economic cooperation was indeed a primary goal of the European Economic Community as established in 1957 [1], the historical record shows that the EU's conception and implementation was far more multifaceted from the beginning.
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
Several crucial pieces of context are missing from the original statement:
- The EU's founding fathers explicitly designed economic integration (through initiatives like the European Coal and Steel Community) as a means to "make war unthinkable and materially impossible" and to strengthen democracy [2]
- There was significant international support for European political integration, particularly from:
Winston Churchill
American policymakers
The Council on Foreign Relations
These groups actively promoted the idea of European political and economic unification as early as the mid-1940s [3]
There was an organized media campaign and congressional resolutions supporting comprehensive European integration, demonstrating that it was viewed as a broader political vision rather than just an economic arrangement [3]
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The statement contains several misleading elements:
- The phrase "screamed and yelled from the hilltops" suggests widespread opposition or dismissal of the EU's broader aims, but historical evidence shows that influential figures and organizations were actually promoting a comprehensive vision of integration [3]
- The characterization of the EU as "just an economic thing" contradicts historical evidence showing that while economic cooperation was a primary goal [1], it was deliberately designed as a tool for achieving broader political objectives like maintaining peace and strengthening democracy [2]
- The statement ignores the deliberate and strategic nature of European integration, which was supported by a coordinated international effort rather than being downplayed as merely economic [3]