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原題目題號：DSE-2015-Essay-06
「歐洲國家在經濟合作方面日漸減少對美、蘇的的依賴，並且日漸自主。」參考1945-2000年間的歷史，評論此說能否成立。
背景於二次大戰後，東、西歐國家開展了經濟上的合作。 // 架構探究歐洲國家的合作過程，1945-50年代初時歐洲國家對於美、蘇等超級大國依賴程度十分高，但自主性則較低。至1950年代初至1990年代初，情況逐步改變。及後至1990年代初至2000年間，歐洲國家擺脫了對超級大國的依賴，並且實現自主。 // 立場因此，題目所言確能成立。
主旨句 1945-50年代初，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面高度依賴超級大國。 // 問題A的內容於二次大戰後，歐洲國家的合作是在超級大國的帶領或影響下展開。在西歐方面，美國於1948年推行了馬歇爾計劃，提供130億美元予西歐國家，使西歐國家成立了歐洲經濟合作組織(1948年)以分配馬歇爾計劃的援助，開展了西歐的經濟合作，反映美國是西歐經濟合作的引導者，西歐國家對於美國的依賴程度很高。東歐方面，蘇聯在1947年馬歇爾計劃的討論就推行了莫洛托計劃，與東歐國家簽訂不同的經濟協定，例如向阿爾巴尼亞提供600萬美元的貸款援助。及後，蘇聯於1949年成立了經濟互助委員會以承接莫洛托夫計劃，帶領東歐國家在經濟上進行合作，東歐國家同樣地十分依賴蘇聯。 // 小結可見，此時期歐洲國家的經濟合作由美、蘇帶領或影響之下開展，對超級大國有著很高的依賴程度。
主旨句同時，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面的自主性不高。 // 問題B的內容 此時期，只有部分小國會自主地進行合作，即1948年比利時、荷蘭和盧森堡所建立的比荷盧聯盟，減低成員國間的關稅，以促進貿易。然而，大國間的經濟合作並非自主地進行，例如在西歐方面，歐洲經濟合作組織(1948年)的出現只為分配美國馬歇爾計劃的援助而成立。此外，西德當時甚至被英、美、法三國佔領，喪失了主權，因此自主性很低。至於東歐方面，除了南斯拉夫於1940年代脫離蘇聯控制而獲得自主外，其他東歐國家均受到了蘇聯的嚴厲控制，難以談得上擁有自主，經濟合作均並非由他們根據己國意願而進行。 // 小結可見，1945-50年代初歐洲國家在經濟合作方面的自主性很低。
1950年代初至1990年代初，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面對超級大國的依賴有所減少。雖然西歐國家對美國依然有所依賴，例如歐洲經濟合作組織的成員國與美國、加拿大於1961年建立了經濟合作與發展組織(1961年)，以加強雙互間的經濟關係。然而，美國對於西歐國家的影響力已明顯大減，因西歐國家在不受美國影響下成立了多個經濟合作組織，例如歐洲經濟共同體(1958年)及歐洲共同體(1967年)等，美國沒有參與在，亦並非因美國的影響下而成立。東歐方面，儘管蘇聯在此時期對東歐仍然有強大的影響力，但亦不難發現東歐國家對蘇聯的依賴度已逐步降低，尤以在1980年代開始，隨著蘇聯自身的經濟問題日趨嚴重，蘇聯減低了對經濟互助委員會成員國的控制，未有強制要求成員國共同制訂「五年計劃」，東歐國家的蘇聯的依賴度亦有所減少。可見，雖然此時期歐洲國家仍然有依賴美、蘇兩國，但依賴程度已明顯下降。
同時，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面的自主程度不斷提高。西歐方面，為了進一步振興經濟發展，西德、法、意、比、荷、盧等內六國於1952年已成立歐洲煤鋼共同體，以充分運用會員國間的鐵和煤等資源。及後，更進一步成立了歐洲經濟共同體(1958年)及歐洲共同體(1967年)等，加強會員國間的合作。同時，英國等外七國也於1960年成立了歐洲自由貿易聯盟以進行經濟合作。上述西歐的經濟組織均在沒有依賴超級大國的情況下進行，顯示西歐國家的自主性大大有所提高。東歐方面，東歐的經濟合作也日益自主，例如阿爾巴尼亞不滿經濟互助委員會的運動而於1961年起停止參與會內的活動，至於南斯拉夫雖然未有加入經濟互助委員會，但於1964年起也在專門協定基礎上參與部分會內的工作，反映東歐國家在經濟合作上的自主性也得到了提高。可見，歐洲國家於1950年代初至1990年代初時在經濟合作方面日於自主。
至1990年代初至2000年，歐洲國家對於超級大國的依賴程度已十分低。西歐方面，歐洲共同體的成員國進一步深化內部的合作，建立歐盟(1993年)。歐盟與美國的依賴度並不高，相反，兩者之間保持著平等的關係，至1999年，歐盟已經成為僅次於美國的世界經濟體系(以歐盟作為單一國家計算)，實無依賴美國的必要性。至於東歐方面，隨著蘇聯於1991年解體，東歐國家對於蘇聯的依賴程度已經大大降低，東歐國家更希望擺脫蘇聯的控制，於1991年退出經濟互助委員會，最終使之解散。往後，蘇聯與東歐國家的經濟聯繫已經大大減少，加上蘇聯瓦解後，俄羅斯的國力大減，因而未能有效再控制東歐國家。而且，自冷戰結束後，東歐國家亦不用再尋求蘇聯的軍事保護，故對蘇聯的依賴度大大減少。可見，1990年代初至2000年間，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面對於超級大國的依賴程度已經很低。
同時，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面的自主性已經是十分高。歐洲國家於1990年代初至2000年間，積極自主地深化經濟合作，其中歐盟方面於1993年成立，進行更全面的經濟合作，目標是建立歐洲單一市場，於1995年《申根公約》生效後取消了各國的邊境關卡管制，及後又於1999年推出歐羅作為單一貨幣。此時期，歐盟成員國擁有高度的自主權，能不受他國影響，例如英國認為《申根公約》及歐羅會損害其國家的民族特色及自主權，因此選擇不參與，反映了歐洲國能完全自主選擇是否參與合作。至於東歐方面，於經濟互助委員會解散後，東歐國家完全得到獨立，能自由地選擇進行經濟合作的對象，更積極於1990年代積極申請加入歐盟，例如波蘭和匈牙利就於1994年申請加入歐盟，及後愛沙尼亞、拉脫維亞等多個東歐國家也陸續申請加入，使東歐多國能於21世紀初加入歐盟，反映東歐國家於1990年代初起在經濟合作方面已經取得了完全的自主權。可見，1990年代初至2000年間，歐洲國家在經濟合作方面已取得獨立自主。
總括而言，歐洲國家於1945-2000年間在經濟合作方面的自主性不斷得到提高，同時逐步減低了對美、蘇等超級大國的依賴，因此題目所言確能成立。
‘European countries became less dependent on the US and the USSR and more autonomous in terms of economic cooperation.’ Comment on the validity of this statement with reference to the period 1945-2000.
After WW2, Western and Eastern European countries started economic cooperation. To explore the process of their economic cooperation, European countries were dependent on the superpowers but of less autonomy from 1945 to 1950. From the early 1950s to the early 1990s, situation changed gradually. Later, from the early 1990s to 2000, European countries totally got rid of the superpowers and autonomy achieved. Hence, the statement is valid.
From 1945 to early 1950s, the economic cooperation of European countries relied heavily on the superpowers. After the WW2, the economic cooperation of European countries was led by the superpowers. In Western Europe, as the US launched the Marshall Plan in 1948, which provided US$13 billion for Western European countries, it prompted the Western Europe to establish the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (1948) to allocate the funds of Marshall Plan. This started economic cooperation in Western Europe. Also, this reflected that the US was the leader of economic cooperation in Western Europe and Western European countries were dependent on the US. In Eastern Europe, the USSR launched the Molotov Plan in 1947, signing different agreements with Eastern European countries like providing US$ 6 million loans for Albania. Afterwards, in order to sustain the Molotov Plan and lead the Eastern European countries to promote economic cooperation, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) was set up. Likewise, Eastern European countries were dependent on the USSR. Hence, it could be concluded that in this period, economic cooperation in Europe was mainly led by the superpowers and European countries were very dependent on the superpowers.
Meanwhile, the autonomy of European countries in economic cooperation was not high. During this period, only some small countries carried out economic cooperation out of their own initiative. The Benelux Union, which was founded in 1948 by Belgium, Netherland and Luxembourg, performed economic cooperation by means of reducing tariff among member states. This boosted the trade development among them. However, economic cooperation among large nations was not carried out on their own initiative. For example, in Western Europe, the establishment of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) was due to the fact that the funds provided by the US had to be allocated evenly. Besides, occupied by the US, Britain as well as France, West Germany lost her sovereignty so she had low degree of autonomy. Regarding the Eastern Europe, in addition to Yugoslavia which got rid of the control of the USSR in 1940s and had its own autonomy, other Eastern European countries were under strict control of the USSR. Hence, they could not be regarded as autonomous as they did not carry out economic cooperation under their own decision or willingness. Therefore, it could be seen that the degree of autonomy in economic cooperation of European countries from 1945 to early 1950s was low.
Between the early 1950s and early 1990s, European countries became less dependent on the superpowers in their economic cooperation. Although the Western European countries still relied on superpowers, the influence of the US on the Western European countries had obviously weakened. An example to illustrate was that the members of the OEEC participated in and helped build the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with the US and Canada, which strengthened the economic relations on both sides. However, the influence of the US was not as high as it was in the past as the Western European countries began to set up a number of economic organizations without the influence of the US, like the European Economic Community (1958) and the European Community (1967). The US neither joined nor affected the founding of these economic organizations. Concerning Eastern Europe, despite the fact that the USSR still had huge influence on Eastern Europe, it is not difficult to know that Eastern European countries were becoming less dependent on the USSR, especially in the 1980s. Facing serious economic problem, the USSR loosened the control over the members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon). As a result, the USSR did not force her satellite states to formulate the 'Five-Year Plan'. The dependence of Eastern European countries over the USSR was obviously lowered. Therefore, though the European countries still relied on the superpowers, the degree of dependence was obviously reduced.
At the same time, the autonomy of European economic cooperation gradually increased. For Western European countries, with a view to thriving the economy, set up the European Coal and Steel Community (1952), the members of which included West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherland and Luxembourg. They fully utilized the resources of iron and coal from one another. Subsequently, the European Economic Community (1958) and the European Community (1967) were set up. Meanwhile, Britain and her 'outer seven' also established the European Free Trade Association in 1960 so as to promote economic cooperation. The above economic organizations were solely set up by the Western European countries without any interference of the superpower, showing that the Western European countries became more autonomous in their economic cooperation. For Eastern Europe, Eastern European countries also became more autonomous in their economic cooperation. For instance, Albania was dissatisfied with the activities of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), thus stopping all the activities. While the Yugoslavia did not join the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), she negotiated a form of associate status in the organization, specified in its 1964 agreement with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon). This reflected that Eastern European countries were getting higher autonomy in terms of economic cooperation. Therefore, European countries were becoming more and more autonomous between the early 1950s and the early 1990s.
Between the early 1990s and 2000, European countries had a low degree of dependence on the superpowers. In Western Europe, the members of the European Community further cooperated and established the European Union (1993). The reliance of the European Union on the US was low. On the contrary, the European Union kept an equal relations with the US. In 1999, the economy of European Union reached the second in the world, which was only second to the US. European Union was regarded as a country. There were no grounds on relying on the US. As for the Eastern Europe, with the dissolution of the USSR, the Eastern European countries became less dependent on the USSR. They even hoped to get rid of the Soviet's control and quitted the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) in 1991. Afterwards, the linkage of the USSR and the Eastern European countries in economy was hugely reduced as a result. When the USSR dissolved in 1991, the strength of Russia was weakened and she could no longer control the Eastern European countries. Moreover, when the Cold War ended, the Eastern European countries did not need the military protection given from the USSR. Hence, they became less dependent on the USSR. Therefore, it could be seen that the European countries became less dependent on the superpowers between the early 1990s and 2000.
Meanwhile, European countries were autonomous in their economic cooperation. From the early 1990s to 2000, European countries were eager to deepen their economic cooperation. The European Union even founded in 1993, which allowed European countries to have a more comprehensive cooperation in economy. Their aim was to build a European Single Market. When the Schengen Agreement came into effect in 1995, border checks at the signatories' common border were abolished and the Euro was launched as the single currency in Europe in 1999. During this period, members of the European Union enjoyed high degree of autonomy and they were not affected by other countries. For instance, Britain thought that Schengen Agreement (1995) and the adoption of Euro would harm the national character and autonomy of her nation. Hence, she insisted on not joining the European Union. This revealed that European countries could choose to have economic cooperation on their own initiative. For Eastern Europe, after the dissolution of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), Eastern European countries became independent and they could choose which countries to cooperate with. They were even enthusiastic about applying for the European Union such as Poland and Hungary in 1994. Estonia, Latvia and other Eastern European countries also applied for the European Union later. Hence, lots of Eastern European countries gained autonomy in the early 1990s. Therefore, it could be seen that European countries became fully autonomous from the early 1990s to 2000.
To conclude, European countries became more and more autonomous from 1945 to 2000. At the same time, they became less dependent on the superpowers like the US and USSR. Therefore, the statement is true.
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