Background Timeline • 22 January 1948: British foreign minister
Ernest Bevin announces that the United Kingdom will propose, in agreement with their French colleagues, the drafting of a treaty that expands the 1947
Treaty of Dunkirk to also include the Benelux countries. • 31 January 1948: Benelux foreign ministers declare that their countries agree to begin these talks. • 19 February 1948: France and the United Kingdom submit a draft treaty to the Benelux states. • 4 March 1948: A conference is held in Brussels between the five foreign ministers, from which point the proposal is elaborated, and on 12 March transmitted to the respective governments.
Motivation The treaty was intended to provide
Western Europe with a bulwark against the communist threat and to bring greater collective security. There were cultural and social clauses and concepts for the setting up of a 'Consultative Council'. Co-operation between Western nations was believed to help stop the spread of Communism.
Signing The Treaty was signed on 17 March 1948 by the following
plenipotentiaries: •
Prince Charles of Belgium, as the reigning
prince regent of Belgium •
Vincent Auriol,
President of France •
Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg •
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands • King
George VI of the United Kingdom •
Paul-Henri Spaak,
Prime Minister of Belgium •
Georges Bidault,
French Minister of Foreign Affairs •
Joseph Bech, Luxembourgish
Minister of Foreign Affairs •
Gaston Eyskens, Belgian Minister of Finance •
Carel Godfried Willem Hendrik baron van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout,
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs •
Ernest Bevin,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom •
Jean de Hautecloque, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic in Brussels •
Robert Als, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Luxembourg in Brussels •
Baron Binnert Philip van Harinxma thoe Slooten, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands in Brussels •
George William Rendel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty in Brussels
Ratification and entry into force Dates of deposit of the instruments of ratification of the treaty:
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (UK) was appointed permanent Chairman of the Land, Naval and Air Commanders-in-Committee, with headquarters in
Fontainebleau, France. The nominated commanders-in-chief were General
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (France) as C-in-C, Land Forces, Air Chief Marshal Sir
James Robb (UK) as C-in-C, Air Forces, and
Vice-Admiral Robert Jaujard (France) for the Navy, as Flag Officer Western Europe. Volume 3 of Nigel Hamilton's
Life of Montgomery of Alamein gives a good account of the disagreements between Montgomery and de Lattre which caused much ill-feeling in the headquarters.
Cannibalisation and marginalisation The treaty was left devoid of much of its authority after the signing of a succession of treaties establishing the
Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (April 1948), the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (April 1949), the
Council of Europe (May 1949) and the
European Coal and Steel Community (April 1951). Responding to calls from the 1948
Congress of Europe for European cooperation on a wider front, the Consultative Council convened a
Committee for the Study of European Unity, which met eight times from November 1948 to January 1949, formulating proposals for a new organisation that was to become the Council of Europe. When the division of Europe into two opposing camps became considered unavoidable, the threat of the USSR became much more important than the threat of German rearmament. Western Europe, therefore, sought a new mutual defence pact involving the United States, a powerful military force for such an alliance. The United States, concerned with containing the influence of the USSR, was responsive. The need to back up the commitments of the North Atlantic Treaty with appropriate political and military structures led to the creation of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In December 1950, with the appointment of General
Eisenhower as the first
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the members of the Treaty of Brussels decided to merge the
Western Union Defence Organisation (WUDO) into NATO. Social and cultural aspects were handed to the Council of Europe to avoid duplication of responsibilities within Europe.
Termination In 2009, Article 42.7 of the
Treaty of Lisbon effectively replaced Article V of the Modified Brussels Treaty as the mutual defence clause for EU member states who were also WEU allies. After discussions, the ten WEU member states decided to terminate the Treaty of Brussels on 31 March 2010. ==See also==