It was by no means evident that Europe would ever find a path towards unification. Of course, World War II led to the self-destruction of the old system of international relations between sovereign nation states. Nevertheless, the nation states were revived in a new setting. Moreover, there were now 'superpowers': The US and the Soviet Union, who shaped the post-war world. The European Union struggled to emerge as a player of its own right. Its history was never a straight path forward towards ever-increasing membership and decision-making power at the EU level; it was marked by ups and downs, by enthusiasm and drama. This story helps us to understand what the EU is today.
