This lecture summary provides a detailed overview of information provided in the lectures of the course; going through thematically and chronologically. The course is taken in the Second year, as part of the major European History.
The Ordering of Europe in the 20th and 21st Century Summary Lectures
Lecture 1: Political and Ideological Ordering Before 1945
Within Western Europe, borders were more important than in the East
Europe after WW1
At the beginning of the 20th century large parts of the world were administered by colonial powers
WW1 brought with it the economic ascent of the USA; it was on the other hand viewed as a crisis of
Europe
The division of the Astro-Hungarian Empire led to smaller states that caused ethnic conflicts
Hope for providing stability in the future was placed in the League of Nations
National states started to protect their own economies, especially in the agricultural sector after the
war
There was also a crisis of democracy that was connected to the introduction of parliamentary
democracy and votes for all democratic politicians were blamed for artificially dividing the public
in order to gain votes
There was also little confidence in the capacity of the majority of the voters to choose wisely
Fascism could be seen as a direct response to this European crisis of democracy
Definitions of Fascism/Nazism
Attempted to create “the new man”
Roger Griffin proclaims that fascism is an extreme version of nationalism
Communists would view fascism as an attempt of the ruling capitalist class to remain in power
during a crisis of capitalism
Authoritarian Regimes
The most common type of regime in the interwar years was, however, the authoritarian
conservative regimes (these authoritarian states sought to replace parliamentary democracy with
corporatism)
Corporatism is the political organisation of society NOT by political parties BUT by major interest
groups that represent economic communities
In the late 19th century, Corporatism was invented by the Catholic church that presented it as a third
way between capitalism and Marxism
Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote his book Paneuropa in 1923 in response to the crisis of democracy it
was based on Corporatist ideas he believed larger economic entities would lead to better and
mass economic production, which would lead to lower prices he believed that the clash between
the middle class and the working class would be solved through European cooperation and unity
In the early 1930s, people begin to fantasise about the connection of Africa and Europe, and a
number of novels were produced in the 1930s concerning this subject
,Many of the different European ideologies in this era looked at the origins of the WW2 differently:
1. According to Communists, they believed Hitler was a puppet of the German middle class
On the eve of WW2
The Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany
The US remained neutral until 1941 they recognised Vichy France but not Free French as Allies
The Anglo-Franco Union proposed by the UK failed to gain traction with the French governmental
cabinet merely a year later the British Navy bombarded a French fleet in North Africa to stop it
from falling to the German Army
Portugal took sides with the Allies, and allowed the US to use national military facilities
Vichy France
It was a French invention, it wasn’t imposed upon France by Nazi Germany
However, it wasn’t a very effective shield against the Germans
The aim of Vichy France was to have France and their overseas colonies included in a pact with the
Nazis although it attempted to remain neutral
Europe 1940-41
In July 1940, a German minister proposed that economic cooperation be under multilateral effect
across European countries
In Nazi Germany, many officials considered a customs union but this wasn’t a priority for Hitler
These more liberal ideas were crushed when Nazi Germany declared war with The Soviet Union and
the US
Many hoped that the Hitler regime would be pushed aside by moderate German forces; because
they feared that if the German state would experience total political collapse it would be a victim of
Russian invasion
In Western Europe, the fear of Communism was stronger than the fear of Nazism
Difference between the Western and Eastern Front (according to Nazis)
The Nazis were willing to cooperate with the Western Front
The Russian and Polish population were seen as racially inferior and susceptible to slavery in the new
European order
Jewish people were isolated before an attempt to exterminate Jewishness in terms of the
Nuremberg laws
The Nazis defined someone’s race on the religion of their grandparents
Conclusions
, There was a fundamentally different take on liberal democracy, fascism and communism based on
the nature of one’s own ideology
According to the Nazis the antagonism between Capitalism and Communism was a tool of global
Jewry to divide and rule over Europe
There is a slightly caricatural image of the European tripartition during WW2 between Fascism,
Communism and Liberal Democracy
Moreover, the dividing lines between enemies and allies in many cases changed during the course of
WW2
Ideas about European integration were very elastic, different ideologies developed their own plans
about European unity
Lecture 2: Geopolitical Ordering After 1945
There were radical differences between the Europe of the interwar years and Europe after 1945
German Question
It refers to the attempts before and after 1945 to reunite the Germans there were two solutions:
1. The attempt to unite all German-speaking people
2. The attempt to unite Northern German states (excluding Austria)
‘Quest for Lebensraum’ = insufficient living space for all Germans proclaimed by the Nazis this
arose because German didn’t have much colonial power
Germany was also seen as ‘too big for Europe, but too small for the world’ this was the main
rationale for European integration and the establishment of NATO (1949)
As a consequence of its central location in-between European countries, the danger of encirclement
was always great
Germany’s European neighbour had a strong view to keep Germany disunited, because they
believed it would grow too strong if united
Solutions to the German Question
1. Federalisation of Europe originated from the resistance against Hitler within Germany
himself they believed Europe was to become a nation of federalised nations that were
united under one umbrella
2. Italian anti-Fascists also proposed a federalist solution to the German problem (Manifesto di
Ventotene)
These federalists’ plans can be seen as a response to Allied plans
Among the Allies there was no consensus on the German question
3. US Plans thought to de-industrialise and partition Germany these plans ran into problems
because it meant keeping Germany industrially small which would have an effect on its
European trade partners
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