A Short History Of The EU And The Euro: A Citizen’s Guide
by Dr Vernon Coleman MB ChB DSc
In my books about the European Union I have described how the European Union was created by the Nazis. I have, inevitably, been ridiculed and abused for reporting this fact. Those who support the EU claim that it is a modern creation which was devised after World War II to ensure that Europe would never again be ripped apart by war. There are, for example, enthusiastic supporters who claim that the EU was founded by Kohl and Mitterand. I have heard it suggested on the BBC that these two politicians were so scarred by their memories of World War II that they decided to build a new Europe `where there would be peace, happiness and prosperity for all’.
This is a fairy tale of such Brobdingnagian proportions that even the Grimm Brothers and Baron von Munchausen would have blushed with embarrassment. And yet there are many credulous citizens who believe it.
The truth is that the history of the EU goes back much, much further than its proponents will usually admit.
It was back in the 1930s, in Hitler’s Germany, that the European Union was invented and designed. The finishing touches to the EU as we know it were put in place during World War II by a man called Walther Funk, who was President of the Reichsbank and a director of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It was Funk who predicted the coming of European economic unity. Oh, I almost forgot, Funk was also Adolf Hitler’s economics minister and his key economics advisor. The European Union was designed by Nazis and it has been carefully created according to the original design.
The BIS, by the way, was then and still is the world’s most powerful and secret global financial institution. During the Second World War the BIS accepted looted Nazi gold (handling 21.5 metric tons of Nazi gold) and supported the development and launch of what would, in 2002, become the euro.
The EU’s fans like to pretend that the fine points of the organisation were planned in the 1980s and 1990s. But it was Hitler and Funk who designed the EU as it exists today. They wanted to get rid of the clutter of small nations which made up Europe and their plan was quite simple. The EU was Hitler’s dream. And it was Funk who outlined the practical work which needed to be done.
In 1940, Funk prepared a lengthy memo called `Economic Reorganisation of Europe’ which was passed to the President of the BIS (who was an American called Thomas McKittrick) on July 26th 1940.
`The new European economy will result from close economic collaboration between German and European countries,’ wrote Funk. It is important to note that even then the EU was seen as a union between Germany, on the one hand, and the rest of Europe, on the other. There was never any doubt which nation would be in charge. There are commentators and economists today who note Germany’s control of today’s EU with surprise and who seem puzzled by the fact that Germany is booming and has by far the largest and most dominant economy in the EU. No one should be surprised. The EU was always planned that way. Germany is benefitting enormously from the euro crisis but Funk knew that would be the case. Back in 1940, he had the idea for the euro and argued that even after monetary union it would be impossible to have one standard of living throughout Europe. But he knew that Germany would come out on top. He would not be in the slightest bit surprised by the fact that modern Germany is by far the largest and most dominant economy in the European Union.
It was Funk who helped plan the European Union Community (although when it was established he was still labelled a war criminal and a resident of Spandau Prison in Berlin). It was Funk who planned a Europe free of trade and currency restrictions. The idea of a federal Europe was supported by America, which wanted to preserve America’s military and geopolitical interests and, in particular, to maintain and improve the links which had been established with Hitler’s Germany prior to the Second World War.
In June 1942, German officials prepared a document entitled `Basic Elements of a Plan for the New Europe’ which called, among other things, for a European clearing centre to stabilise currency rates with the aim of securing European monetary union and `the harmonisation of labour conditions and social welfare’.
The original plan was for the Reichsmark to be the new European currency but Funk never saw this as crucial, or being as important as Germany having economic leadership. Funk saw Germany as central to the planned EU, arguing that it would result in `better outlets for German goods on European markets’. Back in 1940 it was Funk who planned to introduce a United States of Europe via a common currency.
Hitler and the rest of the Nazi leadership welcomed Funk’s plans and in 1942 the German Foreign Ministry made detailed plans for a European confederation to be dominated by Germany. In the same year a group of German businessmen held a conference in Berlin entitled `European Economic Community’.
When the Nazis realised that they were losing the war they knew that they had to make a deal in order to preserve German domination in Europe. Thomas McKittrick, the American president of the BIS acted as go between and helped set up negotiations. The plan was to ensure that Germany dominated post-war Europe. Funk and his colleagues decided to talk about European spirit, liberty, equality, fraternity and worldwide cooperation as the basis for their planned European Union. They decided to agree to share power, and even to allow other countries to take charge for a while. The Nazis knew that all they needed to do was retain men in power in crucial posts. And this they succeeded in doing.
The technical preparations for Funk’s `European Large Unit Economy’ (now better known as the Eurozone) began in 1947 when the Paris accord on multilateral payments was signed, were strengthened in 1951 when the European Coal and Steel Community was created as the first step towards the development of a new European nation to be run by Germany, and continued in 1964 when the Committee of European Central Banks (made up of Bank Governors) met at the BIS to coordinate monetary policy.
The European Central Bank (ECB), (which today has so much power over European citizens) was designed and set up by the German Bundesbank which was Germany’s post war central bank. The Bundesbank was the son of the Reichsbank which was the name of Germany’s central bank before and during World War II. The President of the Reichsbank before and during World War II was, of course, Walter Funk.
As planned, the ECB is not democratically accountable to anyone. It is actually prohibited from taking advice from Eurozone Governments. The European Parliament has no authority over the ECB. And no one knows how the ECB makes decisions.
On January 1st 1999, eleven countries launched the euro and in January 2002 Funk’s dream currency finally replaced national currencies. The secretive BIS was crucial in helping to force through the euro – the first step towards the new European state. The truth is that the introduction of the euro was nothing more than the final instalment of World War II – the realisation of the Nazi dream of Adolf Hitler and Walter Funk.
The press was massively enthusiastic about the euro. Commentators drew attention to the trivial fact that travellers could now use the same currency over much of Europe. No attention was paid to the fact that when countries decide to share a currency they are making a significant political decision. No one seemed to care that the majority of people in all the countries which gave up their currencies were opposed to the euro. (The EU has never pretended to be a democratic organisation.)`It was a very peculiar thing to have a central bank without a Government,’ said Paul Volcker, chairman of the Federal Reserve in the USA. French politicians believed that the single currency meant that Germany would not be able to start any more wars. They also believed (quite wrongly, of course) that Germany would no longer be able to dominate the European economy.
Everyone involved with the creation of the euro knew that the new currency was fatally flawed. The aim was to use the euro to force through a political union, against the will of the European people and in spite of the massive, inevitable cost in terms of unemployment and hardship.
Walter Funk had predicted that uniting countries with different cultures, histories and economic policies would be hazardous. But he knew that Germany would come out on top.
Economists recognised from the start that the euro would be problematic and would create huge social difficulties (including terrible levels of unemployment) but politicians ignored all the warnings. They knew that introducing the euro would make the creation of a federal Europe inevitable and unstoppable.
Readers who want to know more about the EU might like to read my various books on the subject (particularly my most recent book called OFPIS). There is more material about the founding of the EU on this website.
But for now I will close with a note that the European Court of Justice has now decreed that the EU commission can restrict dissent and punish individuals who damage the institution’s image and reputation.
Walter Funk and his moustachioed friend would be proud of the modern European Union.
Please encourage your friends, relatives and enemies to read this article.
Copyright Vernon Coleman August 2013
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