The idea of Europe
McGormick
Introduction:
- We live in a european world: most of the countries had been colonized by
Europe at some point (leading to the transfer of European culture and
politics) or are part of Europe itself
- So: the world culture is European at its origin
- Ironic that even then the idea of Europe is hard to pin down
- Common interests, goals and values within Europe = called europeanism
- New perception of Europe; from a collection of sovereign states to a regional
collective
- European unity seen as an ideal from the Middle Ages to now on
Europe’s changing identity:
- The rise of the EU added new dimensional thinking: the inhabitants of the
region are not just belgians, spaniards etc., but also Europeans
- European identity not only reformed from above (EU) but also from below
(walloons, flemings, catalans)
- Europeans have been better to define themselves in relation to outsiders
than in relation to each other → othering = an essential element of finding
European identity as it is so hard to pin down
- The word Europe comes from greek mythology but it is unclear when the
word European was first used
- Perhaps during the expansion of the Persian Empire – confrontation with
Ancient Greece
- Roman Empire at its peak brought Europe for the first time under a single
cultural complex, but not solely european (middle East + north africa)\
- Birth of Europe often dated to the Early Middle Ages: emergence civilization
with Christianity as religion, Rome as its spiritual capital and latin as the
language of education
- 15th century: term europe became synonymous with christendom
- 16th & early 17th century: Europe destabilized by religious warfare
- Renaissance saw loyalty shift away from the church and supported
individualism ad republicanism
- The idea of European unity through christianity was given up
- The tumult of the French Revolution and napoleonic wars made
philosophers think that European peace should be achieved through unity.
- Napoleon was an example of trying to build unity by force (European
association, 1 body of law, 1 currency)
- The rise of nationalism led to this idea not being executed: unified italy and
germany but also prompted rivalry among European states.
, - After seeing the horrors of the Great War not only intellectuals but politcians
as well sought European unity
- Plans for a pan-European union in 1923 by Coudenhove-Kalergi, but failed
to get a big audience – did inspire many
- Briand later called for a European confederation between the league of
nations but WW2 left that idea in the air as well
- After WW2 Europe was divided into 2 blocks – the capitalist west and
socialist east
- This division also sparked an interest for European cooperation with in 1952
the creation of the European Coal and Steel community and in 1958 the
European Economic community
- By the time the Cold War came to an end the foundations for the economic
integration of the entire continent were firmly in place
- Compared to the past, what unites Europeans has become more distinct and
important than what divides them
Where is Europe?
- Europe often gets described as a continent, however it is hard to tell where
Europe starts and where it ends.
- West is easy to demarcated by the atlantic, the arctic and the mediterranean
seas, but the East is hard to demarc
- It is usually defined as running down the Ural mountains, across the Caspian
Sea, along the southern edge of the Caucasus mountains, across the black
sea
- Differences between EU and Europe are rapidly disappearing
Europeanism:
- Europeanism is usually understood to mean support for the process of
European integration
- By the twin effects of European integration and removal of Cold War
ideological and social division, there has been an emerging sense that
Europeans have much in common
Conclusion:
- The conflicts that brought instability, death and changes to the balance of
power in Europe prompted many for unification
- The idea of Europe is one associated with peace and progress
, Out of the ruins of the Ottoman
Empire
Hajdarpasic
Introduction
- Serbs attempted after the Ottoman rule to wipe away all traces of Ottoman
occupation. When restoration was proposed this was seen as the deepest
humiliation and a lot of Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia protested against these
restorations.
- Meanwhile Bosnian Muslims organized symposiums aimed at extolling the
virtues of Ottoman rule in Bosnia. Observing that the Ottoman period was a
glorious and inspiring age.
- A Bosnian Muslim even recently praised the conquest of the Medieval
Balkans as they were saved by the Europeans feudalism and gifted with a
higher civilization and life
- Divide in the balkans between the foreign Muslim Turks and the native
Christian nations of the Balkans
Origins and persistence of Christian vs. Muslim dichotomy
- 1990s: escalating tensions in Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo combined
images of Alien turks, Muslims and Ottomans as synonymous categories
that are opposite to the Serb, Croat and other native christian Balkan nations
- Non-muslims (Christians) were inequally treated, which led to the idea that
Christians and Muslims could never coexist (overtaxation, abuse,
child-levying)
- When nation-forming in the Balkans, during the late 19th century,
happened they tried to make out of the ruins of the ottoman empire the
opposite (de-ottomanization) and tried to change to the Western idea. Islam
and other cultural characteristics became stigmatized and was seen as a part
of ‘Ottoman oppression’
- In most towns in Serbia, during the late 19th century, the native muslim
population was forced to leave, similarly in Bulgaria.
- Out of the ruins - New York Times: bad connotation, by implying that
something comes out of the ruins of something else it means that
something has to be destroyed to be able to rise
- After the collapse of the 3 empires after WWI we see a gradual un-mixing of
populations
- Critics of the Ottoman rule were insulted for being Christian-sympathisers
and slammed down, even if they were Muslim.
- The Tanzimat reforms within the Ottoman Empire in the late 18th century
provided equal rights within the empire regardless of their religion
