minister could call for a vote of confidence). The Cabinet could be dismissed if an absolute majority of the National Assembly's members voted against the Cabinet. Finally, the National Assembly could be dissolved after two ministerial crises in the legislature. However, these constitutional measures did not work. In January 1947, after his election by the National Assembly and the nomination of his ministers, Prime Minister Paul Ramadier called for a vote of confidence in order to verify that the Assembly approved the composition of his Cabinet. This initiated a custom of double election, a vote for the Prime Minister followed by a vote of confidence in the chosen Cabinet, that weakened the Prime Minister's authority over the Cabinet. Cabinets were dismissed with only a plurality (not the absolute majority) of the National Assembly voting against the Cabinet. Consequently, these ministerial crises did not result in the dissolution of Parliament. Thus, as in the Third Republic, this regime was characterized by ministerial instability. The Fourth Republic was also a victim of the political context. The split of the three-party alliance in spring 1947, the departure of Communist ministers, Gaullist opposition, and the new proportional representation did not create conditions for ministerial stability. Governmental coalitions were composed of an undisciplined patchwork of center-left and center-right parties. Finally, the Fourth Republic was confronted with the collapse of the French colonial empire. European countries The creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was first proposed by French foreign minister Robert Schuman and French economist Jean Monnet on 9 May 1950 as a way to prevent further war between France and Germany. Though the United Kingdom was invited, its Labour government, then preparing for a re-election fight, did not join the initiative. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by France, Italy, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Between these countries the ECSC would create a common market for coal and steel. The ECSC was governed by a 'High Authority', checked by bodies representing governments; representatives of the peoples of the member States (selected from each state's Members of Parliament); and an independent judiciary. The Treaty of Paris (1951), which created the ECSC, was superseded on 25 March 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (the forerunner to the European Union, created in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty). Algeria and collapse The