European Civil War

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The "European Civil War" is the name given by some academics to the repeated confrontations that occurred in the continent during the 20th Century. It is often used to explain the rapid decline of Europe's global hegemony and the emergence of the European Union. While the theory is a minority interest within the academic community, it is growing in prominence.

The proposed period typically includes World War I, World War II and many (but not all) of the major European regime changes that occurred in the inter-war period. However, there is no firm consensus over this. Those who support the position point to the level of international involvement in the Spanish Civil War and, occasionally, the Russian Civil War to substantiate their claims.

Contents 1 The case for a "European Civil War" 2 The case against a "European Civil War" 3 Start and end dates 4 References

[edit] The case for a "European Civil War"

Those supporting the idea of a European Civil War contend that the heads of state in many European nations were so closely related as to constitute branches of the same family. European culture is also relatively homogeneous, with most nations tracing the roots of their culture to two principal sources; the Judeo-Christian Bible and Classical antiquity. Their respective legal systems, while separate, were remarkably similar and evolved to become more so over time. A single culture and a single ruling elite could therefore lead to the assumption that Europe was evolving (albeit slowly) towards becoming a single state.

At the end of the conflict, elites in the different countries of Europe began work to create a centralized "state" that has since grown into the European Union. The emergence of the EU from World War II is central to the argument, as a civil war typically occurs when competing parties within the same country or empire struggle for national control of state power. Civil wars usually result in the emergence of a new or restrengthened central authority.

Such academics are supported by the current trend to regard the First and Second World Wars as part of the same conflict with a 22-year cease-fire (in much the same way as the 1337–1453 Hundred Years' War and the Napoleonic Wars are treated as single entities by most historians^{[weasel words]}). If one regards the two World Wars as being a single conflagration, including the Spanish and Russian civil wars as intermediate conflicts, tracing the routes of World War I back to the earlier Franco-Prussian conflict and linking all of them becomes an easy step to make. From there, political changes in Italy, Portugal and elsewhere may be examined within a single context.

The central proponents of the European Civil War were originally based at the history department of the London School of Economics. Paul Preston – in his 1996 work The Republic Besieged: Civil War in Spain 1936–1939 – describes the Spanish Civil War as an "episode in a greater European Civil War that ended in 1945." The department even included the subject as a course in its own right (taught by Dr. Robert Boyce).^[1] However, their position has since gained ground with academics elsewhere.

Others who have used the notion of a European Civil War in their work include Franco Ferrarotti – Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Rome, Anthony Adamthwaite – Professor at UC Berkeley,^[2] and Duke University's J. M. Roberts. In his 1996 work A History of Europe, Roberts stated that the "European Civil War ended the dominance of Europe in the world" - a typical claim of the idea's proponents.

An early reference to this concept occurs during the 1970s television series The World at War, when historian Stephen Ambrose comments that 1945 witnessed an invasion of an exhausted Europe by Russian and American armies, "thus ensuring that no European nation actually wins the European Civil War". Earlier still were comments by Indian diplomat K. M. Panikkar in his 1955 book "Asia and Western Dominance 1498-1945".^[3]

[edit] The case against a "European Civil War"

Civil wars typically occur between elites within a state. It is rare for them to occur across national boundaries, though this can happen when ethnic groups are split across national borders in irredentias or when nations split into separate components who then enter into a war with one another, which is arguably what happened in the American Civil War.

In either case, opponents argue that Europe of the 1890s to 1940s cannot be regarded as a nation or a single state in formation.^{[citation needed]} Each nation had individual governments, separate bodies of law and individual empires. Each was a clearly defined nation in its own right. Therefore all wars were international rather than internal.

Under this schema, the emergence of a single European state (in the form of the EU) is born from a desire to prevent future wars rather than as a consequence of the victorious side in any European Civil War exerting its influence over the others.

[edit] Start and end dates

All academics who agree with the hypothesis of a European Civil War include the date range from 1936 to 1945, beginning with the conflict in Spain and ending with the European portion of World War II, but beyond this there is disagreement.

Most usually, the period from 1914 to 1945 is agreed upon, in keeping with K. M. Panikkar’s original date range. Dr. Franz-Willing concurs with this position, saying: "By this self-mutilation, Europe lost its position in the world, its hegemony, and caused itself to be divided into two spheres of influence: one American, and one Russian".^[4] However, it has been stretched to begin as early as the Franco-Prussian War on July 19, 1870 and end as late as the reunification of Germany. For example, the University of Hong Kong's Department of History has started two courses covering the European Civil War, one covering 1914-45 and the second 1945 onwards.^{[5] [6]}

Spencer M. Di Scala of the University of Massachusetts, Boston accepts 1945 as the end date but begins the conflict in 1917, with the Russian Civil War.

While the London School of Economics course title on the subject is “European Civil War: 1890 to 1990”, its professors typically agree with the 1945 end date and interpret the second half of the 20th Century as the result of the conflagration’s aftermath.

[edit] References