Strength in Numbers

Mar 9 2009

The Delian League Countries do not want to be dominated by

other countries. But there are many advantages to be

gained from voluntarily linking up with another country.

An early union occurred in the 5th century BCE, when Athens, created the Delian League.

The League initially served as a military deterrent against Persia.

European Union Today the most highly developed

economic and political union is the European Union (EU)

The EU is a supranational organization consisting of 25 European countries.

The EU coordinates many aspects of national policy: health, the economy, foreign policy and defense.

Why is the Union needed? For much of European history Europe has

been comprised of a large number of independent countries, and these countries were regularly at war with each other.

The most devastating being the First World War (1914 – 1918) and the Second World War (1939 – 1945)

Following World War II, six European countries agreed to start working together to protect each other.

Date Joined Countries

1952- 58 Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, West Germany

1973 Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom

1981 Greece

1986 Portugal, Spain

1995 Austria, Finland, Sweden

2004 Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia

Assignment On this map find and highlight all the EU countries.