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I've wanted to start a thread on this topic, as it is one very interesting to me, and important.
For anyone of my generation, the two world wars in Europe feel like ancient history even if our grandparents lived through it (WW2, not WW1). Its kind of feels unreal when you compare Europe today to the Europe of first half of the 20th century.
I'm american, but my family's background is Polish and on my Moms side they've only been in the states since the 50s. I've been to Europe a couple of times, and have known or at least met countless people from all European countries either as immigrants/expats or just tourists passing through. (Especially countless Polish people given my family connections).
And of course the topic of 20th century history is obviously not really a topic of conversation the vast majority of the time, as that's sensitive and there are a million other more happy things to talk about.
But my personal views and feelings have been one of hope and a belief that slowly, two steps forward one step back, that humanity does ultimately learn to get a long. That after all the death and destruction between 1914-1945, a whole continent can figure out how to solve their disagreements without killing each other, and recreate societies and nations that are civilized and non-violent.
In fact when I was on a tour of France a few years ago with students and faculty from the community college I teach at in the states, we went to a peace museum in Normandy, France, and one person in our group was disgusted by all the images of bombed cities, etc., while I told her, "but look at Europe today!"
Yes there are some MAJOR exceptions, former Yugoslavia being the major worn torn area of the 1990s, but to get through the entire cold war without essentially firing a shot, to have a tighter economic union, while although having many problems (with some countries going bankrupt while others bail each other out).
So, out of curiousity, as a European citizen, do you . . .
A. Take pride in the "new Europe" that rose out of the rubble, and that's a model for other regions of the world to move on from a war-torn past.
B. You (OP) are a little too optimistic. The fact that there hasn't been a major war outside former Yugoslavia in 68 years means little.
C. think its best that we forget those events ever happened.
And of course, be nice and respectful with your posts.
It's D: need to understand that wars most of the time happen because of money somebody wants to make, Yugoslavia is no exception.
I don't see Europe as a model because what happend in war in Yougoslavia was a genocide of Slavic nations conducted by western folks. And it may well happen again, because money and greed still rule the world.
Definitely not a model for the world. I am from Europe as a continent, but I don't even like to say I am European as people might misinterpret that as a statement of pride. I don't identify with that pseudo-union that was forced upon people on this continent and which serves mainly the elites. I will continue to think in terms of nations. I only care about the country I live, I could not care less about the rest of Europe, frankly. I hope the EU will break apart and we will all get our borders and currencies and sovereign laws back. The prefix euro- has become a synonym for mediocrity and bureaucracy, loss of sovereignty, and lots of other negative developments.
I don't think there would be more wars if the union were gone. There will be wars again in the future, after a break. It is in the human's genome to wage war. Just look at the US, first they had the civil war, and since then they wage their wars on other continents.
In Europe the reasons for future wars might be different from the past, though. Maybe about resources, civil wars, things like that...
Location: Segovia, central Spain, 1230 m asl, Csb Mediterranean with strong continental influence, 40º43 N
3,094 posts, read 3,578,743 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuling
I don't identify with that pseudo-union that was forced upon people on this continent and which serves mainly the elites. I will continue to think in terms of nations.
It would be better if EU work for the people, not for the banks.
Well, I will continue to think in term of nations too, but we must also work together in order to creating a better continent. We cannot be enemies anymore.
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