European Coal and Steel Community

The European Coal and Steel Company was a union started in 1951. Its purpose was to bring the western countries of Europe together during the Cold War so they would be harder to attack. It was the forerunner of the European Union. Its original purpose was to prevent war between France and Germany. It created a market for coal and steel between all of the countries that signed it. It was dissolved in 2002 and put into the European Community.