Paris, Treaty of 1952

a treaty signed in Paris on May 27, 1952, by the foreign ministers of France, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It provided for the creation of the European Defense Community (EDC)—military groupings of the signatories. The members of EDC were to furnish military forces for a supranational “European army” under the leadership of the Supreme Commander of NATO forces in Europe. In flagrant violation of the decisions of the Potsdam Conference (1945), the Treaty of Paris (1952) provided for the rearmament of the FRG and its inclusion in the military alliance established by the treaty.

The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1952) evoked a wave of protest throughout Western Europe. On Aug. 30, 1954, the French National Assembly refused to ratify the treaty, thus defeating the plans for the creation of the EDC. However, the plans of the authors of the Paris treaty were revived in a modified form with the conclusion of the Paris Agreements of 1954 and the creation of the Western European Union, which consisted of the members of the EDC and Great Britain.