I have several questions about creating a Java Web application with Maven and Eclipse:
Just create a normal "Dynamic Web Project". Then right click the project name and select Configure > Convert To Maven Project. It can take up to a minute to complete the conversion, so be patient. See the following article:
http://aykutakin.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/create-eclipse-dynamic-web-project-with-maven-2/
If that doesn't work, try this:
http://crunchify.com/how-to-create-dynamic-web-project-using-maven-in-eclipse/