European Civil War - Comparative Application of The 'European Civil War' Concept

Comparative Application of The 'European Civil War' Concept

This construct attempts to characterize both World War I and World War II, and the inter-war period and its conflicts as a protracted civil war taking place in Europe. It is used in referring to the repeated confrontations that occurred during the first-half of the 20th century. Unlike traditional approaches to history, this construct reinterprets the past in light of a present reality, rather than interpreting that reality in light of the past. In current literary works, this device or analysis, is known as a retcon, or "retroactive continuity."

The term does not easily encompass aspects of several conflicts in the period of its presumed application. There is no consensus over many details and links, such as the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the Russian Revolution, and Russian Civil War (1917–1923). There is no consensus on its application to related conflicts within or between proximate European colonies in North Africa and in the Middle East. There is no consensus on its application to related conflicts outside the fringes of Europe Japanese invasion of China and campaigns in the Pacific theater and Southeast Asia theater of World War II. The role of the United States in these events is difficult to explain within the construct. Further, the concept of a European Civil War is difficult to reconcile with the involvement of numerous sovereign, non-colonial combatants in the conflict from continents other than Europe, including South America (Brazil), and the Pacific archipelagos (Thailand).

In comparison with traditional historical analysis of 20th century European conflicts, the utility of the "civil war" concept has not been demonstrated. The extent of the period, the geographic coverage, the multiple causes of the subsets of conflicts within the historical period and geographical range of to operations and effects have not yet been completely explained by the construct of a continental European "civil war." At least two historically understood national "civil wars" the Russian Civil War(1917–1923), and the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) are among some of the internally conflicting arguments of the thesis. K. M. Panikkar’s original range from 1914 to 1945 is among the chronological ranges argued for, but does not explain some of these problems, such as the ideological content of both nationalist and communists movements, the decline or elimination of related monarchies, and the rise of national and transnational social democratic organizations, (political parties and trades union movements) in the period.

The period of events between 1936 and 1945 which began with the conflict in Spain and ended with the European portion of World War II are commonly cited. The University of Massachusetts Boston argues 1945 as the end date but begins the conflict in 1917, with the Russian Civil War . However, for the self-mutilation perspective there is a tendency to stretch the beginning as early as the Franco-Prussian War on July 19, 1870 and end as late as the reunification of Germany . The London School of Economics course “European Civil War: 1890 to 1990” argues that 1945 was the end date but the second half of the 20th century was the result of the conflagration’s aftermath. The University of Hong Kong's Department of History argues to divide the content in two sections; one covering 1914-45 and the second 1945 onwards.