Twentieth-Century Europe

by Bell, P. M. H.

• ISBN13: 9780340740552
• ISBN10: 0340740558
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-26
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

This insightful study explores the proposition that the idea of European unity makes sense when there is more that unites Europe than divides it, and then asks when that has been true during the past hundred years. Providing the historical context necessary to fully understand the complexity surrounding the European Union beginning with the fundamental definition of what "Europe" means, the book cites specific examples of European cooperation during the past hundred years with particular attention to the last decade of the twentieth century. By emphasizing the vital dimension of historical perspective over more immediate European integration issues such as the euro and constitution, the author demonstrates that Europe's complex history is as much about the destinies and competing claims of the smaller nations as of the larger states. P.M.H. Bell was formerly Reader in History at the University of Liverpool. This insightful study explores the proposition that the idea of European unity makes sense when there is more that unites Europe than divides it, and then asks when that has been true during the past hundred years. Providing the historical context necessary to fully understand the complexity surrounding the European Union beginning with the fundamental definition of what "Europe" means, the book cites specific examples of European cooperation during the past hundred years with particular attention to the last decade of the twentieth century. By emphasizing the vital dimension of historical perspective over more immediate European integration issues such as the euro and constitution, the author demonstrates that Europe's complex history is as much about the destinies and competing claims of the smaller nations as of the larger states. This insightful study explores the proposition that the idea of European unity makes sense when there is more that unites Europe than divides it, and then asks when that has been true during the past hundred years and provides the historical context necessary to fully understand the complexity surrounding the European Union.

Author Biography

P.M.H. Bell was formerly Reader in History at the University of Liverpool.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations and maps	vi
Preface	vii
Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction What is Europe? A historical perspective	1	(12)
PART ONE: EUROPE BEFORE 1914
Chapter 1 The land of lost content	13	(20)
Chapter 2 The diversity of Europe: contrasts and divisions	33	(10)
PART TWO: THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND THE DESTRUCTION OF EUROPE, 1914-1918
Chapter 3 The tragic mystery of 1914	43	(14)
Chapter 4 The Great War and the end of the old Europe	57	(22)
PART THREE: THE ILLUSION OF PEACE AND THE EUROPE OF THE -ISMS, 1919-1939
Chapter 5 Europe survives, 1919-1929	79	(22)
Chapter 6 Dangers and disasters, 1929-1939	101	(24)
PART FOUR: THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-1945
Chapter 7 The initial triumphs of Germany, 1939-1942	125	(12)
Chapter 8 The Allied victory and the division of Europe, 1942-1945	137	(12)
PART FIVE: THE GREAT DIVIDE: WEST AND EAST, 1945-1989
Chapter 9 Western Europe, 1945-1961	149	(20)
Chapter 10 Eastern Europe, 1945-1961	169	(14)
Chapter 11 The development of Western Europe, 1961-1989	183	(20)
Chapter 12 Eastern Europe, 1961-1989	203	(14)
PART SIX: EUROPE IN OUR OWN TIME
Chapter 13 East meets West? 1990-1999	217	(26)
Chapter 14 A new Europe? But what Europe? 2000-2004	243	(22)
Conclusion	265	(4)
Notes	269	(16)
Further reading	285	(6)
Index	291