European Civil War
Encyclopedia
The European Civil War is a term that is used to characterise both World War I
and World War II
and the inter-war period as a protracted civil war
taking place in Europe
. It is used in referring to the repeated confrontations that occurred during the first-half of the 20th century. There is no firm consensus over the details and links, such as the Spanish Civil War
and, occasionally, the Russian Civil War
and Russian Revolution. The term is often used to explain the rapid decline of Europe's global hegemony
and the emergence of the European Union
. 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 "Western", and one Soviet.
"European Civil War" as an academic theory is a minority interest with a growing prominence. The extent of the period is the most conflicting argument. K. M. Panikkar’s original range from 1914 to 1945 is the mostly agreed upon. The events between 1936 and 1945 which began with the conflict in Spain and ended with the European portion of World War II are commonly cited.The University of Massachusetts Boston
accepts 1945 as the end date but begins the conflict in 1917, with the Russian Civil War. However, for the self-mutilation perspective there is a tendency to stretch the beginning as early as the Franco-Prussian War
on July 19, 1870 and end as late as the reunification of Germany
. The London School of Economics course “European Civil War: 1890 to 1990” agrees that 1945 was the end date but the second half of the 20th century was the result of the conflagration’s aftermath. The University of Hong Kong's Department of History divides the content in two sections; one covering 1914-45 and the second 1945 onwards.
and Classical antiquity
. Their respective legal systems, while separate, were remarkably similar and evolved to become more so over time.
At the end of the conflict, elites in the different countries of Europe began work to create a community of nations 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. 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
). However, their position has since gained ground with academics elsewhere.
Others who have used the notion of a European Civil War in their work – Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Rome
, Anthony Adamthwaite – Professor at UC Berkeley, 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 Russia
n 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".
Patrick J. Buchanan will go on to argue that this European Civil War has led to decline of the West and its world hegemony. His book, "Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War
: How Britain Lost its Empire and the West Lost the World", covers this topic extensively, and will connect much of his prophesies in his book, "The Death of the West
". Buchanan sees the World Wars as unnecessary conflicts mostly due to British foreign policy mistakes that led not only to the destruction of their own empire but also Western dominance, ideals, culture, and populations.
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. Each nation had its individual government, 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 scheme, 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.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the inter-war period as a protracted civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
taking place in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It is used in referring to the repeated confrontations that occurred during the first-half of the 20th century. There is no firm consensus over the details and links, such as the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and, occasionally, the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
and Russian Revolution. The term is often used to explain the rapid decline of Europe's global hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
and the emergence of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. 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 "Western", and one Soviet.
"European Civil War" as an academic theory is a minority interest with a growing prominence. The extent of the period is the most conflicting argument. K. M. Panikkar’s original range from 1914 to 1945 is the mostly agreed upon. The events between 1936 and 1945 which began with the conflict in Spain and ended with the European portion of World War II are commonly cited.The University of Massachusetts Boston
University of Massachusetts Boston
The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...
accepts 1945 as the end date but begins the conflict in 1917, with the Russian Civil War. However, for the self-mutilation perspective there is a tendency to stretch the beginning as early as the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
on July 19, 1870 and end as late as the reunification of Germany
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
. The London School of Economics course “European Civil War: 1890 to 1990” agrees that 1945 was the end date but the second half of the 20th century was the result of the conflagration’s aftermath. The University of Hong Kong's Department of History divides the content in two sections; one covering 1914-45 and the second 1945 onwards.
The supporting case
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; ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
. Their respective legal systems, while separate, were remarkably similar and evolved to become more so over time.
At the end of the conflict, elites in the different countries of Europe began work to create a community of nations that has since grown into the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The emergence of the EU from World War II is central to the argument, as a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
typically occurs when competing parties within the same country or empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
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. 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
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Paul Preston
Paul Preston
Paul Preston CBE is a British historian and Hispanist, specialized in Spanish history, in particular the Spanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 30 years....
– in his 1996 work The Republic Besieged: Civil War in Spain 1936–1939 – describes the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
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
Robert Boyce
Robert William Dewar Boyce was a Senior Lecturer in International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science...
). However, their position has since gained ground with academics elsewhere.
Others who have used the notion of a European Civil War in their work – Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Rome
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
, Anthony Adamthwaite – Professor at UC Berkeley, 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
The World at War (TV series)
The World at War is a 26-episode British television documentary series chronicling the events of World War II. It was produced by Jeremy Isaacs, narrated by Laurence Olivier and has a score composed by Carl Davis...
, when historian Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long time professor of history at the University of New Orleans and the author of many best selling volumes of American popular history...
comments that 1945 witnessed an invasion of an exhausted Europe by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n 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
Kavalam Madhava Panikkar
His Excellency Sardar Kavalam Madhava Panikkar was an Indian scholar, journalist, historian, administrator and diplomat...
in his 1955 book "Asia and Western Dominance 1498-1945".
Patrick J. Buchanan will go on to argue that this European Civil War has led to decline of the West and its world hegemony. His book, "Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War
Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War
Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, is a book by Pat Buchanan. The book was released in May 2008.- Synopsis :...
: How Britain Lost its Empire and the West Lost the World", covers this topic extensively, and will connect much of his prophesies in his book, "The Death of the West
The Death of the West
The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Culture and Civilization is a 2001 book by paleoconservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan.-Description of Book:...
". Buchanan sees the World Wars as unnecessary conflicts mostly due to British foreign policy mistakes that led not only to the destruction of their own empire but also Western dominance, ideals, culture, and populations.
The opposing case
Civil wars typically occur between groups 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 irredentiasIrredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
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
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
In either case, opponents argue that Europe of the 1890s to 1940s cannot be regarded as a nation or a single state in formation. Each nation had its individual government, 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 scheme, 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.
See also
- Second Thirty Years WarSecond Thirty Years WarThe "Second Thirty Years War" is a periodization sometimes used by historians to encompass the wars in Europe from 1914-1945 emphasizing the similarities of the period as an integral whole...
(another term for the period) - Long War (20th century)Long War (20th century)The Long War is a name proposed by Philip Bobbitt in The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History, to describe the series of major conflicts fought from the start of the First World War in 1914 to the decline of the Soviet Union in 1990....