Milestones of European History 1945-2019
In order to understand the decision making of the European Union in 2019 it is necessary to analyze the milestones of European history after the end of World War II in 1945. The Super Power confrontation between the US
and the Western Bloc and the Soviet Union, the so called “Cold War” and the Communist Bloc system and the possibility of all –out-Atomic Warfare in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s shape the development of the “West”,
the formation of NATO and European integration with the Council of Europe and the European Coal and Steel Community. At the same time the Soviet Union changes the economic and political structure of the Communist East
and Southeast establishing the military Warsaw Pact and the economic socialist counterpart, the Comecon.
In this course we shall discuss the reasons for the first major integration step, the foundation of the European Economic Community (EEC) in Rome in 1957 with six member states. Still the US plays a major role as a hidden
hand mediator helping to overcome the still strong resentments between France and Western Germany, as well as individual European decision makers like Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and others.
Already in the 1960s – a few years after the establishment of the EEC – the French President Charles De Gaulle vetoed the decision making and hindered an integration of Great Britain – which, however was just postponed only
until 1973.
Under Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission 1985-1995 the EU already seems to fall behind Asia and the US in economic terms during the beginning globalization. Delors convinced the EU member states to move
towards a strong and tight political, economic and military union (the later outside NATO). The unexpected end of the Cold War 1989/1991 and the mostly peaceful political transformations in the former Communist countries
of Eastern Europe and the Russia reduced this strategy to the economic union and a common currency.
The enlargement from 15 member states in 1995 to 28 and the negative effects of the world financial and economic crisis since 2008 as well as the recent migration and refugee flows pushes the EU into an unknown direction
and forces the necessity of total reform.
After Brexit and the UK preparing for leaving the European Community the EU is facing a major and deep crisis with an open end in the growing geostrategic and economic struggles between the US, China, Russia and the EU.
By analyzing the soft but very important emotional basis of Europeanness like identity, value systems and culture after 1945 as well as the integrative impacts of institutions like the European Court of Justice and the
European Court for Human Rights options for the future of the EU will be presented and debated.
Requirements: Your final score will be made up of the following three elements: 20% for participation in class room discussions, 40% for oral presentation of a short paper on a topic
of the course based on provided literature and supported research (3-4 pages) and 40% for an individual final essay on a broad general topic of the course written in class during the final exam.
