1. Strength in Numbers Mar 9 2009

2. 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 5 th century BCE, when Athens, created the Delian League.  The League initially served as a military deterrent against Persia.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Date JoinedCountries 1952- 58Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, West Germany 1973Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom 1981Greece 1986Portugal, Spain 1995Austria, Finland, Sweden 2004Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia

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