BY BRIAN J. WOODRUFF
It has been more than sixty years since Winston Churchill made the speech that has forever changed Europe. Churchill, speaking most directly to France and Germany, urged the continent of Europe to unite. He spoke to the creation of a “United States of Europe.” Churchill’s idea for France and Germany was quite simple; join French and German interests so as to avoid the start of another war that could ravage the continent of Europe that was still in recovery from the destruction of World War II. More than sixty years later, Churchill’s suggestions are being played out in the lives of nearly half a billion people and 27 member states that make up the European Union. The political landscape of Europe has changed beyond recognition since Churchill’s speech in 1946. Such changes are best exemplified by the creation of the European Union (EU) itself, the rise and fall of Communism on the continent, and most recently the “big bang” expansion of the European Union.
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