The European Civil War is a term of historical argumentation in the form of an overarching construct tying a series of 19th and 20th century conflicts between sovereign nations in the now partially unified continent of Europe.
Some historians argue the period that started with the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and ended with World War II constituted an era they term the European Civil War, that notably included both world wars and many lesser wars. The earlier wars are regarded as causes for the wars that followed.
The term seeks to explain the rapid decline of Europe's global hegemony and the emergence of the European Union. By this self-mutilation, it is argued, Europe lost its position in the world, its hegemony, and caused itself to be divided into two spheres of influence: one "Western", and one Soviet.
Read more about European Civil War: Comparative Application of The 'European Civil War' Concept, The Supporting Case, The Opposing Case
Famous quotes containing the words civil war, european civil, european, civil and/or war:
“The United States is just now the oldest country in the world, there always is an oldest country and she is it, it is she who is the mother of the twentieth century civilization. She began to feel herself as it just after the Civil War. And so it is a country the right age to have been born in and the wrong age to live in.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“Unsophisticated and confiding, they are easily led into every vice, and humanity weeps over the ruin thus remorselessly inflicted upon them by their European civilizers.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“In verity ... we are the poor. This humanity we would claim for ourselves is the legacy, not only of the Enlightenment, but of the thousands and thousands of European peasants and poor townspeople who came here bringing their humanity and their sufferings with them. It is the absence of a stable upper class that is responsible for much of the vulgarity of the American scene. Should we blush before the visitor for this deficiency?”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“The Civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, be infringed.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
“The War was decided in the first twenty days of fighting, and all that happened afterwards consisted in battles which, however formidable and devastating, were but desperate and vain appeals against the decision of Fate.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)