S.C. European Society Oxford University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
S.C. European Society of Oxford University After the Second World War the situation in Europe and the rest of the world it was very unstable, due to the divisions created between communist Russia and The West; former allies against Nazi Germany. Now the fear of a new world war using Weapons of Mass Destruction (i.e.: rockets carrying nuclear heads) was a serious threat for the entire World and for Europe in particular (which now was an impoverished continent desperate to rebuild itself in order to survive as a mere shadow of its former glories).
In that context, some philosophers, economists, thinkers and politicians like Sir Winston Churchill were beginning to point out how important it was for Europe to unite. In the case of Sir Winston Churchill the model to follow for this European Union, according to his famous speech given in 1946 in the University of Zurich was to create the United States of Europe following the example of Switzerland. And a few years later, in 1948 the College of Europe was created when Salvador de Madariaga, an Oxford University Professor proposed the establishment of a College where university graduates from many different countries, some only a short while before at war with each other, could study and live together.
Finally, emerging the idea from St. Catherine’s Society the S.C. European Society Oxford University was formed. [1] A Pan-European Club devoted to Europe as a whole. A new type of non-partisan debating society devoted to the study, the politics, the people, the problems, the culture and a long etc... And at a time, when travelling to the continent was something unaffordable for most undergraduates, the idea was to bring British and European politicians together with other relevant figures from the Continent to Oxford University, as well as creating and promoting undergraduate exchange programmes amongst European Universities. And all that before the 1970s when the British Middle Classes started to find affordable to travel with their families to European destinations like Spain and well before the early 1990s revolution in air tickets fairs when almost any one could afford flying tickets not just to Europe but the USA, Australia, New Zeeland and almost anywhere in the world.
When S.C. European Society of Oxford University ceased to exist before the 1980s it was replaced by a very similar society the “European Affairs Society of Oxford University” (also OUEAS) created in the early 1990s after the Maastricht Treaty. These days, the “European Affairs Society of Oxford University” is the largest and most popular Oxford Society for Graduates, Undergraduates and Professors alike.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Founding Committee Senior Members
| Position | Name | College |
|---|---|---|
| President | Maurice B Kekwick | St Catherine's |
| Hon. Secretary | Anne Robinson | St Hilda's |
| Membership Secretary | Albert CM Langtry | Greyfriars |
| Censor | Alan Bullock | St Catherine's |
[edit] See also
- Sir Alan Bullock St. Catherine's Society Censor
- OUEAS Oxford University European Affairs Society
- St. Catherine's College Till 1963 it was known as St. Catherine's Society
[edit] References
- ^ In the Archives of St. Catherine’s College, there is a minute book with information about the early meetings of S.C. European Society Oxford University (1950s-1970s)
