75 years European Defence. Anything to celebrate?
Bring on the cake and candles: on 11 August 2025, it is 75 years since Winston Churchill called for the immediate creation of a unified European Army in Strasbourg; subject to European democratic control and in close cooperation with the United States and Canada. The never fully ratified treaty establishing the European Defence Community provided for a European security council (the Commissariat) and the formation of a European armed force of 40 divisions with a clearly defined division of tasks and safeguards for the powers of national governments and parliaments, such as conscription or the recruitment of professional soldiers. A common defence budget, military disciplinary law, international barracks, and training are regulated in the treaty in a common European Defence Union. The deployment in relation to the United Nations, NATO, and disaster relief is also clearly elaborated in the text. As its main objective, the treaty mentions nothing less than the maintenance of internatio...