From Soviet sattelites to European intergration

1. From Soviet sattelites to European intergration From Soviet sattelites to European intergration

2. Overview: From empires to nation states to sattelites • Seeds of disaster--nationalism and war. • Empires and peace. • Problem of nationalism for empires • World War I and the breakup of empires • Interwar period--East European tinderbox • Eastern Europe as Soviet security problem • Monolithic, Soviet-type regimes and the division of Europe

3. Europe: virulent nationalism to unity • WWI and WWII unmitigated catastrophes–both largely attributable to nationalism. • Genre of nationalism developing from 19th century reaches point of grotesque absurdity in Nazi and other fascist regimes. • Adolph Hitler–Father of united Europe.

4. Devaluation of war and military values • Romanticism of war twice dispelled by realities of 20th century total war. • Military values devalued. “War is to a man what childbirth is a woman.” Came to sound strange. • Previous to 20th century, war considered natural phenomenon. Von Clausewitz: “War is the continuation of policy by other means.”

5. Poison of ideology • WWII ideological in character. • Laws of war adopted in interwar period did not fit. • Cooperation with occupying power traditionally recognized as normal. • Holy war, ideological character of WWII makes resistance moral obligation, and combatting resistance as essential to occupation. • Humiliation of guilt and moral compromise

6. Postwar consensus on peace and cooperation • Need to take measures to preserve peace widely-shared. • Already after WWI, horrors of modern warfare lead to adoption of international laws on conduct of civilized warfare. League of Nations. • World War II: magnification of destruction, totalitarian regimes, ideology in war • Not only catastrophes of two Word Wars, but also new threat of nuclear warfare.

7. Eastern Europe and Soviet security • Russia and Soviet Union suffered most in both World Wars. • Both wars started in East European tinderbox. • Stalin’s experiment with mixed regimes-- trappings of parlimentary democracy, but Communists holding levers of power. • Failure of experiment--imposition of monolitc regimes. • Isolation from Europe and the West.

8. Unifying impact of Cold War configuration • EU originally founded on basis of Europe divided by Cold War. • European states locked together by Marshall Plan and NATO. • US, Britain, and France cooperation in occupation of Germany; Germany integration into Europe through occupation.

9. Logic of European Unity • Compare with status of European states after WWI–tinderbox with loose matches. • During Cold War stability in Europe secured by Super-power confrontation. • Freedom to develop independent foreign and military policy severely constrained by membership in NATO and Warsaw Pact. • Patterns of cooperation: Marshall Plan, NATO and other European organizations.

10. Return of independence = distance from Russia • Principal drivers towards NATO and EU-- Escape from Communist past, and successful model of integration in the West. • To be on the right side of the line next time Russia turns expansionist. • Weakening of nationalism and all anti-West ideology • Explains willingness to endure hardships of accession.

11. Logic for Europe