The difference was that the second major internecine war in Europe in a generation led to a profound change in political thinking, at least in Western Europe, about how states should conduct their relations. It took the Second World War to bring about sufficient political forces to embark on a revolutionary new approach to inter-state relations.Īfter both wars Europe was exhausted and devastated.
The balance of power approach to international relations was broken but not shattered. Diplomatic alliances and promises made during the First World War, especially in the Middle East, also came back to haunt Europeans a century later. The First World War destroyed empires, created numerous new nation-states, encouraged independence movements in Europe’s colonies, forced the United States to become a world power and led directly to Soviet communism and the rise of Hitler. When Europeans commemorate the Great War of 1914-18 this summer they should be reflecting not only on the diplomatic blunders and the enormous waste of lives but also the beginning of a new approach to international relations epitomised by the EU. The EU has provided the essential infrastructure to deal with ‘the German Question’ – the role of the largest and most powerful state in Europe.
But without both World Wars there would be no European Union (EU) today. The Second World War was an even bigger calamity for Germany and Europe. The First World War was a calamity for Germany and Europe.
