The evolution of the European economic core area

1. The evolution of the European economic core area dr. Jeney László Senior lecturer jeney@elte.hu Economic Geography I. International Business bachelor study programme (BA) Autumn term 2015/2016. CUB Department of Economic Geography and Futures Studies

2. Economic core regions • Other definition: • Global North • Triad (North America, Europe, East Asia) + Australia • Appearance as core region: • Europe: from the Age of Discoveries and the industrial revolution • North America, Australia: from the late 19th century • Japan: from the 1960s (famous ancient East Asian cultures) • Its state of development: in the forefront of the age • Its development is autonomic and organic • Self-modernization: derived from the inner structure and the inner motivation of the society • Recognition of natural and human rules  getting the new resources  ensure a more higher state of satisfaction of needs

3. Question of definition of Europe

4. What does the European core of the world economy mean? Definition of Europe differs Geographically Politically • 4

5. Geologically: not an own continent Europe: part (peninsula) of Asia/Eurasia (Eurasian plate)  one huge continent India on the contrary: not part of Asia (Indian plate) Indian subcontinent • 5

6. Physical geographical borders: not clear East border More clear-cut: South: Mediterranean Sea West: Atlantic Ocean North: Arctic Ocean More debated: East Not a sharp borderline between Europe and Asia Humboldt: Eastern border of Europe is the Ural Mountains (fixed just in the 19th century) East: Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, Black Sea) • 6

7. Human geographical borders of Europe: hard to define the transcontinental countries European borders fall into the line of state borders Transcontinental countries: partly spread to Asia too Russia (European area 29%, pop. 72%) Kazakhstan (rather Asian) Turkey (European area 3%) Georgia (rather European) Azerbaijan (rather European) Physical geographically totally Asian countries with European orientation Cyprus (partly Christian, member of EU) Armenia (Christianity) • 7

8. Cultural and social criterions of Europeanism according to Jordan, T. G. (1996) Arbitrary criterions with arbitrary limit values Religion: Christian over 80% Language: Indo-Europeans over 80% Anthropological character: white population over 90% Health: infant mortality under 1% Developed economy: per capita GDP over 10.000 $ Education: illiteracy under 10% Developed transport network: road density over 400km/km2 Industrial/tertiary employment structure: share of agricultural workers under 15% High urbanization: urban residents over 50% Stable population number: natural increase under 1% Parliamentary democracy: before 1980 • 8

9. Political borders of Europe: membership of European integrations Council of Europe: European frontiers fall into the line of state borders Wider: whole territory of geographical Europe is included (expect for Western part of Kazakhstan) Spread also to Asia (Siberia, Caucasus Mountains, Anatolia, Cyprus) European Union Only 28 members The overseas dependencies also joined (e.g. French Guiana from South America) Greenland: entered as dependency of Denmark, but separated in 1983 • 9

10. Evolution of Europeanism till the WW II

11. Appearance of the concept of Europe In the early ancient times Name of Europe: Phoenician ‘ereb’ (=darkness, sunset) 8th century BC: 1st mention in Greek mythology At the beginning: Europe ≈ Thrace + Macedonia 6th century BC: from Gibraltar to Caucasus Mts. Herodotus, Hippocrates: political, cultural values (opposite to Asia, Persian Empire) • 11

12. Europe under the Roman Empire Roman Empire 1st big great political unit spreading to significant parts of Europe Beyond the ‘limes’ (visible borderline): Barbaric lands (≈not Europeans) But Middle East, North Africa also belonged to the empire concept of Europe turned to pale Classic Greek-Roman culture: part of the European intellectual heritage (Christianity, law, arts, Latin culture) • 12

13. Middle Ages: Europeanism = Christian religion and ethics Early Middle Ages: only Western (Catholic) Christianity 6th–7th century (Isidore, bishop of Seville): Europe = former Western Roman Empire 8th–9th century: Europe = Carolingian (Frankish) Empire 2nd big great political unit spreading to significant parts of Europe Europe ~ foundation members of the European integration (EU: honours about Charlemagne) Borders of EC ≈ the frontier of Western Christianity (except for orthodox East Balkan: GR, CY, BG, RO) Opposite to the ‘heterodox’ Byzantine Empire  not European Renaissance (pope Pius II): Europe ≈ whole Christian world Opposite to the ‘pagan’ Ottoman Empire (crusades) Today also arises by the EU-accession of Turkey Question of the word ‘Christian’ in the European Constitution • 13

14. Special European cultural waves Appearance of the common European identity 15th–16th century (Machiavelli): common history, culture and political interest of the European nations Students at medieval universities from whole Europe (Latin, as common linguistic heritage) Humanism ≈ Europeanism: (Dante: Alliances of states) West European feudalist structure building bottom-up Slackened bondages in the ruling class Civil rights with economic autonomy Rationalism, scientific–technical achievements Liberty, individualism (opposite to the more community orientated Eastern cultures) But reformation: reaction against to the common Europeanism Breaking line: Catholic South – Protestant North Organizations of nation states Nationalism: ‘fashionable’ • 14

15. European unity ideas during the long 19th century Colonization: strong European identity Quantitative and qualitative development: supremacy Empire of Napoleon 3rd big great political unit spreading to significant parts of Europe Liberty, equality, fraternity = Europeanism European integration Mazzini, Kossuth: European Confederation Victor Hugo (1849): European United States (like USA) • 15

16. Effects of European civilization on different parts of the World according to Jordan, T. G. (1996) • 16

17. European cultural pessimism at the 20th century WW I: European nations fought against each other Instead of the former fashionable nationalism international intellectual waves (but global, not European) Socialism: internationalism, but on the basis of working class Catholicism: universal Depression after WW I Europeanism = agony, pessimism Spengler: The Decline of the West Jose Ortega y Gasset: mass of humans instead of Europanism • 17

18. Pan-Europeanism at interwar period Except for Carlo Sforza: European United States Richard Coudenhowe Calergi: pan-European campaign (1923: book titled Pan-Europe) Hate of nations  further war Threats: From the East: communism (military) From the West: Americanism (economic) League of Nations 1926: 1st Pan-European Congress Briand (French foreign min.): integrated the Pan-European approach to the League of Nations Suggested the establishment of an EU • 18

19. WW II, Cold War: the worst periods in the European history 1933: Hitler – new European order (Pax Germanica) 4th big great political unit spreading to significant parts of Europe After WW II: Role of Europe decreased in global politics (Germany, Italy, England, France) 2 superpowers stand out: USA and SU Cold War: Europe’s division in two parts (iron curtain) Beginning of the European integration process Europe = step by step widening European integration (EU) • 19