Post-Cold War · 1951-2004

From coal and steel to the euro: the European Union

Six countries that had just fought a war began in 1951 by sharing coal and steel. Half a century later, hundreds of millions of Europeans crossed open borders and paid in euros. Students follow the growth of the European Union on the map, from Maastricht to the big enlargement of 2004.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1960 to AD 2010
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Six countries that had just fought a war began in 1951 by sharing coal and steel. Half a century later, hundreds of millions of Europeans crossed open borders and paid in euros. Students follow the growth of the European Union on the map, from Maastricht to the big enlargement of 2004.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why France and West Germany began to cooperate in 1951.
  • Order the main steps from the Coal and Steel Community to the euro.
  • Show on the map how the Union grew from six to 25 members by 2004.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1960

The six

Open the map in 1960 and find France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Why did these six, and not Britain, start working together?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 2000

Maastricht

Zoom in on Maastricht, where the treaty that created the European Union was signed in 1992. Find the borders of Belgium and Germany nearby. Why was a border city a good place for the signing?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 2010

Growing east

Move to 2010 and look at central Europe. Ask the atlas: "Which countries joined the European Union in 2004?" How many of them had been in the Soviet bloc?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Robert Schuman proposed in 1950 that France and Germany share coal and steel so that war between them would become impossible. Why coal and steel?
  2. The Schengen Agreement of 1985 removed border checks. What changed for people living near a border?
  3. In 2002 twelve countries gave up their own money for the euro. What did they gain and what did they give up?
  4. Ten countries joined in 2004, most of them former communist states. Why did they want to join, and why did the Union want them?
  5. Some people say the EU has kept peace in western Europe since 1945; others say NATO and prosperity did that. What do you think?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Charlemagne, whose empire once covered much of the land of the six founding countries. Then compare: Charlemagne united Europe by conquest. How did the EU try to unite it by treaty?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.