The European Civil War is a historical framework that characterizes World War I, World War II, and the conflicts of the interwar period as segments of a single overarching civil war within a supposed European society. Proponents argue that Europe's shared culture, intertwined royal dynasties, and similar legal systems made it a coherent enough entity for its wars to be understood as internal conflict. Consensus among historians does not support the concept.
What time period does the European Civil War concept cover?
The timeframe varies among historians. Common proposals range from 1914 to 1945, though some extend the starting point to the Franco-Prussian War, which began on the 19th of July 1870, and some extend the end date to the reunification of Germany in 1990. The London School of Economics offered a course titled "European Civil War: 1890 to 1990."
Who were the main proponents of the European Civil War thesis?
The central proponents were originally based at the history department of the London School of Economics, where Dr. Robert Boyce taught it as a course. Paul Preston used the framework in his 1996 work The Republic Besieged, describing the Spanish Civil War as "an episode in a greater European Civil War that ended in 1945." J. M. Roberts of Duke University and Indian diplomat K. M. Panikkar, in his 1955 book Asia and Western Dominance 1498-1945, also applied the concept.
What are the main arguments against the European Civil War concept?
Critics point to the strong distinctions in religions and political systems among European nations, which undermine the claim that Europe formed a united civil society. The global nature of both world wars, including the involvement of combatants from South America and the Pacific, is difficult to explain within a European frame. The Russian Civil War (1917-1923) and the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) are also already understood as distinct civil wars, creating internal contradictions for the thesis.
How does the European Civil War concept relate to the creation of the European Union?
Proponents argue that the European Union represents the natural outcome of a civil war: a new central authority emerging from conflict among parties within the same society. The London School of Economics framed the second half of the twentieth century as the aftermath of the European Civil War's end in 1945, making European integration a consequence of the conflagration rather than an independent development.
When did Stephen Ambrose reference the European Civil War concept?
Stephen Ambrose commented on the concept during the 1970s television series The World at War. He observed 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."