Thousands of books have been written about the 1914-18 conflict with many seeking to apportion responsibility for the outbreak of war. Many believe that because of Germany’s role in both World Wars it is too big to act as an independent nation state and has to be embedded in structures such as the EU and NATO for its own good. Part of the debate in today’s Europe about Germany goes back to the origins of both world wars. It argues that the process of European integration has been extremely beneficial to Germany and that the German Question may finally be put to rest. It suggests that the horrors of the Great War remain alive in Europe today and colour the reluctance of most Europeans to resort to war to achieve political ends. This paper considers how the 1914-18 war led to fundamental changes in European politics, economics and society, paving the way after 1945 for a historic new way of dealing with inter-state relations in Europe. All Europeans thus have a stake in the continued success of the EU as it provides a safe anchor for the most powerful state in Europe. Today’s Germany, embedded in the EU, is the most successful, progressive, democratic state in its entire history. Europeans should contrast and compare today’s Germany with that in 1914 or 1939 when they look back on the two calamitous wars of the twentieth century. Yet Germany has dealt with Vergangenheitsbewältigung better than any state in history certainly much better than Japan or the Soviet Union/Russia. But Germany’s neighbours have not forgotten Germany’s role in both World Wars and hence the burden of history weighs more heavily on German shoulders than for any other nation in Europe. Germany was at the centre of both failed experiments and was unable to achieve a peaceful unification as a democratic state until 1990. The socialist and labour movements seized the opportunity to make considerable advances but so too did communism and fascism. The aristocracy was overthrown or its role greatly diminished. What is incontestable, however, is the number of advances in science, technology and medicine, as well as the revolutionary changes in social behaviour that occurred as a result of the 1914-18 conflict. Responsibility for the Great War remains hotly debated today with very different dimensions of the war accentuated by the various combatants. As Europe reflects on the titanic struggle of 1914-18 it is important to recall the advances made since 1945 through European integration and redouble efforts to combat nationalist and extremist forces. This system has brought many benefits to Europeans but in recent years the system has been under challenge by the rise of Euroscepticism, populism and nationalism. Die Stunde Null was the backdrop to the revolutionary ideas of the EU’s ‘founding fathers,’ statesmen such as Robert Schuman, Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet who developed the novel idea of a community of states establishing a political system based on sharing sovereignty. The difference was that the second major internecine war in Europe in a generation led to a profound change in political thinking, at least in Western Europe, about how states should conduct their relations. It took the Second World War to bring about sufficient political forces to embark on a revolutionary new approach to inter-state relations.Īfter both wars Europe was exhausted and devastated. The balance of power approach to international relations was broken but not shattered. Diplomatic alliances and promises made during the First World War, especially in the Middle East, also came back to haunt Europeans a century later. The First World War destroyed empires, created numerous new nation-states, encouraged independence movements in Europe’s colonies, forced the United States to become a world power and led directly to Soviet communism and the rise of Hitler. When Europeans commemorate the Great War of 1914-18 this summer they should be reflecting not only on the diplomatic blunders and the enormous waste of lives but also the beginning of a new approach to international relations epitomised by the EU.
The EU has provided the essential infrastructure to deal with ‘the German Question’ – the role of the largest and most powerful state in Europe.
But without both World Wars there would be no European Union (EU) today. The Second World War was an even bigger calamity for Germany and Europe. The First World War was a calamity for Germany and Europe.
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