Title: The Euro: How a Common Currency Helped Europe Achieve Peace - HISTORY
Headings: The Euro: How a Common Currency Helped Europe Achieve Peace
The Euro: How a Common Currency Helped Europe Achieve Peace
A vision of peace led to the first economic union in Europe
Economic volatility made currency reform more important than ever
It took decades for a plan to emerge
How the currency got its name
A high-minded design—and an orderly rollout
Will the euro survive?
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Content: Erin Blakemore
It could have been a disaster: runs on banks, uncashed checks, confusion at the counter. But by all accounts, the European Union’s switchover from a rainbow of different currencies to a single currency, the euro, was so orderly it was downright dull. “The boring thing about the euro is that everything is working so well,” a German retailer told the New York Times in late January 2002, a few weeks after 8.1 billion euro notes flooded the market. The transition may have been quick and quiet. But the road to a common European currency was a bumpy ride from economic confusion to eventual unity. Here’s a brief history of the money that has come to define the hopes of the European Union. pinterest-pin-it
The currencies of the 15 EU-member countries over their flag and a 1 EURO coin. Ulrich Baumgarten/Getty Images
A vision of peace led to the first economic union in Europe
It all began with the Treaty of Paris, a 1951 treaty negotiated in the aftermath of World War II. Officials at the time worried that hyperinflation and economic instability similar to that experienced by Germany after World War I might ensue.