美国有线新闻 CNN 卡梅伦彻底退出英国政坛 回顾欧盟的前世今生

We're starting our international events coverage 1 with news from the United Kingdom. David Cameron, who was Britain's leader three months ago, has resigned altogether from the British government. It's another step in a series of dramatic events that the country has seen over the summer.

Cameron became leader of his nation's Conservative Party in 2005, and he became British prime minister, the head of the government in 2010. Before his party's second consecutive 2 election win last year, Cameron made a promise that he'd allow Britons to vote on whether they like to remain part of the European Union.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is the E.U.?

The European Union is a group of countries that work together to create a single market, to allow goods, capital, services and people to move between the member states, as long as they follow the rules and they pay the entry fee.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. To start this story, we need to go right back to the end of World War II. After six years of fighting, Europe was decimated. Economies were collapsing 3 and mistrust was rife 4 as old enemies face the prospect 5 of recreating trade ties.

France and previous occupiers Germany faced the difficult task of creating a unity 6 for profit. So, they started talking, mainly about steel and coal.

In 1951, a total of six countries, France, Belgium, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands reached their first accord by uniting the steel and coal industries, creating the European Coal and Steel Community, or the ECSC. They later introduce the European Economic Community, the EEC, in 1958. These two organizations are seen as the origin of the modern European Union, that wouldn't adopt its new name until 1993.

More than six decades later, the European Union now represents more than half a billion people across 28 countries and with a common currency, the euro, which generates an estimated 14 trillion euros in GDP per year. The premise 7: countries who are economically linked are less likely to have conflicts.

AZUZ: But that wasn't always the case. Some E.U. countries didn't agree with all the rules they had to follow to remain part of the union, and Britain became the strongest example. On June 23rd, Britons voted almost 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the European Union. It was known as the Brexit. The British exit from the E.U. and it was characterized as the single most momentous 8 day in British politics since World War II.

Two major issues included immigration and the British economy. Those who wanted to remain part of the E.U. said most migrants who came to Briton were there to work and that they paid their way in taxes. Those who wanted to leave the E.U. said the union didn't give Britain enough control over the migrants coming in, and that those who moved to Britain were putting pressure on housing, welfare and wages.

On the economy, those who wanted to remain said leaving would be an economic disaster because 45 percent of Britain's exports go to the European Union. Those who wanted to leave said Britain could do better business without European Union rules, and that Britain's trade deals could be renegotiated with the E.U.

When Britain's voted to leave, David Cameron immediately stepped down from this position as prime minister. International stock markets initially 9 took a dive but they recovered in the weeks that followed. And the conservative party's Theresa May eventually became the new British prime minister.

The country has not officially left the European Union yet. It's currently working on the complicated negotiations 10 that all take.