In the 1950s, the French Prime Minister, René Pleven, proposed a pan-European army.  The European Defence Community (EDC) was a response to US calls for the rearmament of West Germany. Memories of the Second World War were still fresh, and the French leader wanted a way to control German military might.
The plan collapsed after the French parliament rejected it, fearing a loss of sovereignty. However, the idea of a joint European military never went away, and a group of Central and Eastern European countries (including the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland) have now renewed calls for an EU army. [...]