European integration 1945 till 1957

In general the primary factors contributing to European integration were largely political and ideological. It was the French wariness of the Germany, the Western, most notably US, fear of Communism and Germany’s will to be accepted again that drove the integration forward. Nevertheless, for most countries the economic component was if not primary then still essential. Moreover, many of these factors are overlapping and interrelate with each other.
Although the impetus from various committed individuals played a crucial role, the European integration was based on a reaction to external and internal pressures rather than on inherent sense of a common European ideology and harmony.