On 22 January 1948, addressing the House of Commons, the British Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, condemns the Soviet Union's political ambitions and calls for greater unity amongst the countries of Western Europe.

On 26 January 1948, René Blum, the Luxembourg Ambassador to Moscow, sends a telegram to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he warns the Luxembourg authorities of the strong opposition of the Soviet press to plans for the establishment of a ‘Western bloc’ with which Benelux would be associated.

On 30 January 1948, Hervé de Gruben, Director-General for Policy in the Belgian Foreign Ministry, submits for the approval of the Foreign Ministers of the Benelux countries, among others, his memorandum on the consolidation and organisation of Western Europe, dated 28 January.

On 19 February 1948, Pierre Saffroy, French Ambassador to Luxembourg, sends a letter to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he sets out a plan for a treaty between France and Luxembourg broadly based on the Treaty of Dunkirk of 4 March 1947.

Joint memorandum dated 19 February 1948 from the three Benelux countries to the United Kingdom and France concerning the military defence of Europe and the establishment of a Western Union.

This British memorandum, dated 19 February 1948, outlines to the Luxembourg Government the logic behind the Franco-British proposals regarding the establishment of a Western Union, based on the model of the Dunkirk Treaty of 4 March 1947.

Summary record of the first meeting between the diplomatic representatives of Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, held on 4 March 1948 in Brussels with a view to concluding the treaty establishing Western Union.

On 10 March 1948, Robert Als, Minister Plenipotentiary of Luxembourg in Brussels, sends a letter to his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Bech, in which he lists the main provisions of the future Brussels Treaty and summarises the position of the various negotiating countries.

On 13 March 1948, in Luxembourg, Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, delivers an address during which he outlines the implications of the establishment of Western Union (WU).

On 15 March 1948, René Blum, the Luxembourg Ambassador to Moscow, sends a telegram to Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, in which he warns him of Moscow’s hostility to participation by Luxembourg in the Treaty establishing Western Union, and advises the Luxembourg authorities to act with the utmost caution.

On 16 March 1948, on the eve of the signing of the Brussels Treaty, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the efforts made by Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, and George C. Marshall, US Secretary of State, for the establishment of Western Union, under the suspicious eye of Moscow.

The Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence, signed in Brussels on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It enters into force on 25 August 1948. Although this Treaty provides only for ‘cooperation’ between the contracting parties, ‘which will be effected through the Consultative Council referred to in Article VII’, and it does not provide for the establishment of an international organisation, in practice it leads to the creation of an organisation known as the ‘Brussels Treaty Organisation’ or ‘Western Union’.

Dates on which the instruments of ratification of the Brussels Treaty of 17 March 1948 were deposited. The treaty entered into force on 25 August 1948, the date on which the last instrument of ratification was deposited.

Map showing the five founding Member States of Western Union (WU). The Brussels Treaty establishing Western Union is signed on 17 March 1948 and enters into force on 25 August 1948.

On 17 March 1948, in Brussels, the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence. This Treaty leads to the establishement of Western Union. From left to right: Paul-Henri Spaak, Georges Bidault, Joseph Bech, Baron Carel Godfried van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout and Ernest Bevin.

On 17 March 1948, in Brussels, the Treaty of Economic, Social and Cultural Collaboration and Collective Self-Defence between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom is signed. This Treaty leads to the establishment of Western Union.

On 17 March 1948, Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, signs the Brussels Treaty which establishes Western Union and sets up a defensive alliance as well as military, economic, social and cultural cooperation between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

On 20 October 1948, Raoul de Fraiteur, Belgian Defence Minister, sends a confidential letter to Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, in which he reviews the decisions adopted by the conference of defence ministers of the five Member States of Western Union.

On 23 February 1949, British cartoonist Leslie Gilbert Illingworth illustrates the overwhelming military superiority of the Eastern bloc over Western Europe, which, despite the signing of numerous treaties and pacts, does not carry much weight against the Communist threat. On the right: Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary.

In July 1949, the fleets of the Member States of Western Union, composed of destroyers, aircraft and aircraft carriers, carry out naval exercises in the Bay of Biscay.

On the beaches adjoining Weybourne Camp near Norwich, in the county of Norfolk in the United Kingdom, British gunners prepare to train the Belgian and Dutch troops of Western Union in anti-aircraft techniques.

In an address given to the Foreign Press Association in London in 1949, Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary, reaffirms his desire to establish European unity and to provide citizens from all European countries with access to progress.

On 15 September 1954, the Information and Documentation Service of the Council of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) publishes a brief historical overview of the establishment of Western Union (WU).

In his memoirs, Georges Bidault, former French Foreign Minister, describes the circumstances in which Western Union was established in March 1948.

In his memoirs, Jean Chauvel, Secretary-General of the French Foreign Ministry, recalls the lengthy diplomatic negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaty establishing Western Union on 17 March 1948 in Brussels.