Shared History Unites and Divides Europeans
by Ashared history has frequently divided Europeans as much as it has united them. Europeans are or have been divided in most other ways yet diversity is not always the same as being divided. There will be an evaluation of the factors that could have made a shared history more a divisive factor than a unifying factor amongst Europeans.
Therefore a shared history has played a part in uniting Europeans although it was also responsible for the differences and diversity between them. However the factors that have started to unify Europeans are only recent and should not be regarded as being complete. A shared history had previously done more to divide them than to unite them. Many Europeans share common or linked heritages although their shared roots had often led to a diversity of languages, cultures and nationalities. The rivalry between the Great Powers led to ruinous wars between many Europeans especially the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War. The Second World War resulted in severe disruption, damage and heavy human losses for most parts of Europe and its division between east and West. In fact the disastrous consequences of the Second World War provided the incentive for attempts to build unity between Europeans rather than animosity. The Cold War meant that the main attempts to do so were confined to the West until the collapse of communism in the East. The tricky part of unifying Europeans was and remains finding the right balance between moving towards unity whilst preserving national and diversities.
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