EDC

The EDC (European Defence Committee) was a project launched in 1950, while the Korean War was breaking out. It anticipated the organisation of a single European army comprising detachments from the armed forces of member countries – including Germany, the former enemy – and placed under the authority of a Council of Ministers composed of a representative of each of these countries. The EDC was created on the 27th of May 1952 by the Treaty of Paris signed by France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries. On the 30th of August 1954, the French national assembly refused to ratify the treaty, thus putting an end to the project.