DSE History — European Integration and EU Enlargement Teaching Guide (for tutors) | Treaty dates, enlargement arithmetic, evaluating integration

2026-11-02

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary History

Students treat 1993 as the starting point, so the 1951 coal and steel community and the 1957 Treaty of Rome disappear. This lesson strings fifty years together with one sequence of member numbers.

Objectives — Students can: (1) order the key years, 1951 coal and steel community, 1957 Treaty of Rome, 1993 European Union, and separate signature from entry into force; (2) compute every enlargement with the member sequence, 6 to 28, up 367 percent, about 4.7 times; (3) explain motives in three layers, peace, economics and Cold War security, each with a treaty as evidence.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Percentage growth	6 states to 28	Denominator 6, so 367 percent
Treaty terms	Signature against entry into force	Ratification comes between them
Cold War context	How integration relates to the Cold War	Western Europe united against the Soviet Union

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-6 min	Diagnostic three	Ask the EU founding year, first membership, euro cash year	Answer orally, write it down
6-16 min	Timeline	Order 1945 to 2020, mark five years	Do it once, circle errors
16-26 min	Enlargement arithmetic	Run 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 25	Compute each step
26-34 min	Three motive layers	Peace, economics, Cold War, one treaty each	One sentence per layer
34-42 min	Evaluation practice	Supranational against intergovernmental	Stance, two proofs, one concession
42-45 min	Exit check	Three items marked live	All three right before leaving

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Signature and entry into force are two dates

The Treaty of Rome was signed on 25 March 1957 and took effect on 1 January 1958, 282 days of ratification later.
Maastricht was signed in 1992 and in force in 1993; writing that the EU was founded in 1992 loses the mark.
Rule: after a year always write the action, signed, in force or joined.

Ask students: when was Rome signed and when did it take effect.

Scene 2: Enlargement is a sequence, not a list

1951 six states, 1973 nine, 1981 ten, 1986 twelve, 1995 fifteen, 2004 twenty-five, 2007 twenty-seven, 2013 twenty-eight, then twenty-seven after the United Kingdom left in 2020.
From 6 to 28 states the club added 22, up 367 percent, about 4.7 times; the 2004 round alone added ten, which is 67 percent on top of fifteen.
The common trap is jumping from fifteen to twenty-seven in 2004.

Ask students: how many members after 2004, and why not twenty-seven.

Scene 3: Supranational against intergovernmental

The single market, customs union and single currency involve pooled sovereignty; foreign policy and defence remain largely intergovernmental.
Evidence on both sides: deepening through the single market and the euro, which was used for accounting from 1985 and in cash from 2002; backlash through referendums and Brexit in 2020.
Budget shares show the shift: farm support fell from about 70 percent to 33 percent, a fall of 37 points.
Answer format: one stance, two proofs, one concession.

Ask students: give one supranational and one intergovernmental example.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Chronology	Five key years	Year plus action	1951 community, 1958 treaty in force
Calculation	Growth in membership	End minus start, divided by start	367 percent
Explanation	Motive layers	Peace, economics, Cold War	One treaty per layer
Evaluation	Was integration a success	Stance, two proofs, one concession	Six to eight sentences

Sanity check (teach this): Membership must match the year: 28 ran from 2013 to 2020, then twenty-seven.
Percentages use the earlier figure as denominator: 22 over 6 is 367 percent.
Population figures are approximate: the 2004 intake was about 75 million, some 17 percent of 448 million.
The euro was an accounting unit from 1985 but notes and coins arrived only in 2002.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Growth from 6 to 28 states	367 percent	22 over 6
2004 intake against fifteen existing members	67 percent	Ten over fifteen
Days from Rome signature to effect	282 days	25 March 1957 to 1 January 1958

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Treating 1993 as the start	The EU was founded in 1993, before that there was nothing	1993 was only a renaming; 1951 and 1957 came first.
Confusing signature with effect	Maastricht took effect in 1992	Signed in 1992, in force in 1993.
Wrong enlargement totals	Ten joined in 2004 so there were twenty-seven	Fifteen plus ten is twenty-five; twenty-seven came in 2007.
Economics only	They integrated because it paid	Peace and Cold War security matter as much; write all three layers.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Past paper: integration chronology and enlargement — Years first, then the action
Practice: evaluate the success and limits of integration — Stance, two proofs, one concession
All lesson-prep guides — Compare the ten-section structure

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Members after 2004	Twenty-five	All three right: move on
Growth from 6 to 28	367 percent	One wrong: redo the sequence
Maastricht in force	1993	Two wrong: back to act one

09 Tutor FAQ

Is the EU off-syllabus at S6

The syllabus asks for motives and limits of European integration, which this chapter covers.

How many years must be memorised

Five core years plus the enlargement sequence; the rest comes from source material.

Is there practice material

The homework links the in-site history practice pages with matching item numbers.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.