> "That mandate of the EU is, and always was, to prevent WW3." Sort of. Many see that start of the EU was the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). Robert

> "That mandate of the EU is, and always was, to prevent WW3." Sort of. Many see that start of the EU was the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). Robert Schuman proposed it in 1950 to "make war not only unthinkable but materially impossible". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coal_and_Steel_Community https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coal_and_Steel_Commun... However, the ideas behind the EU started before the ECSC. Jean Monnet is regarded by many to be the 'father' of the EU. Here's a quote from a speech he gave in 1943... https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Monnet https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Monnet "There will be no peace in Europe if the States rebuild themselves on the basis of national sovereignty, with its implications of prestige politics and economic protection…. The countries of Europe are not strong enough individually to be able to guarantee prosperity and social development for their peoples. The States of Europe must therefore form a federation or a European entity that would make them into a common economic unit." Furthermore, there have been other groups that have promoted peace in the region, namely NATO and OSCE. The agreement that led to NATO was signed in 1949, and OSCE was started in 1975, well ahead of the formation of the political union of the EU (the ECSC and EEC were mostly trade deals). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_for_Security_and_Co-operation_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_for_Security_and_... It's also worth noting that there was a failed attempt to build a pan-European military in 1952, and that Jean-Claude Junckher has indicated the EU may want its own army in the future: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Defence_Community https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Defence_Community https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/08/jean-claude-juncker-calls-for-eu-army-european-commission-miltary https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/08/jean-claude-ju...