Thanks to their economic and military strength, the European empires
had achieved global supremacy by 1900, with large parts of the world
under their dominance in the wake of colonial expansion. This
situation fuelled ideas of Europe's permanent, almost natural global
superiority, especially among the middle classes. However, as early as
the First World War, such claims came under increasing pressure. This
volume explains the role played by modern nationalism and
anti-imperial movements, the competition between different political
orders, changes in the economy and society, and the great ideas and
utopias. Their interplay gave rise to enormously destructive forces in
Europe. From the Boer and Balkan wars before 1914 to the Yugoslav wars
of the 1990s and the Ukraine war since 2022, they have produced a
continuum of violence. At the same time, the great promise of
political participation and social security is one of the constants of
Europe's history in the long twentieth century. Against this backdrop,
modern societies emerged whose values had moved far away from the
older models. Perceptions of the role of the sexes, families, and
generations changed fundamentally. In addition, the major internal
European migrations, together with the global immigration that became
increasingly significant after 1945, ensured that the ethnic profile
of European societies changed considerably. _Europe in the Long
Twentieth Century_ shows how, on the one hand, these different factors
led to a Europeanisation of living and working conditions and, at the
same time, how the political and economic integration of the countries
of Europe progressed. On the other hand, it demonstrates how Europe's
role in the global context changed fundamentally. As much as the
geopolitical provincialisation of Europe continued unabated, Europeans
were constantly searching for new ways to assert themselves throughout
the long twentieth century. The search continues.
Les mer
A Transnational History
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192699237
Publisert
2024
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter