Europe in the Twentieth Century

We tell you how the history of Europe was in the twentieth century. In addition, the economy and the birth of the European Union.

How was the history of Europe in the twentieth century?

In the first half of the twentieth century, Europe was the scene of two world wars that caused great human and material losses. They combined territorial rivalries, colonial interests and the impulse of totalitarian nationalisms that ruled in countries such as Germany (Nazism) and Italy (fascism). In turn, Spain had its own civil war (1936-1939) which culminated with the triumph of the “national” side and the establishment of the Franco regime.

After World War II (1939-1945), Europe was divided into a western block formed mostly by capitalist countries with multiparty democracies and an oriental block composed of communist states dependent on the Soviet Union.

The western zone began a phase of consolidation of democracy and economic growth (With exceptions such as Spain, Portugal and, during a short period, Greece). Until the moment of the oil crisis in 1973, the years after World War II were called the “thirty glorious” or the “golden age”, characterized by economic success and the welfare state.

During the second half of the twentieth century, too The European integration process was advancing that led to the formation of the European Economic Community in 1957 and to the European Union in 1993. After the 1989 revolutions that ended with the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, many countries in this region began to request their adherence to the European Union.

See also: History of the European Union

Democracy in Western Europe after World War II

Economic recovery after World War II facilitated The restoration of trust in democratic institutions in Western Europe. Although at the end of the conflict some communist parties, such as Italian or French, had broad support, the European political scene was onwards dominated by two great currents:

• The moderate rightmainly represented by Christian democracy
• The moderate leftorganized in socialist, social democratic or labor parties.

These two currents alternated in the government and formed a European version of the welfare state which was more advanced than that of the United States (universal health system, compulsory and free education, generous pension system).

The history of Western Europe in the second half of the twentieth century is exemplified by the three main countries of the continent: Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

The Federal Republic of Germany in the second half of the twentieth century

Germany was economically destroyed in 1945. His partition between the allies led to birth in 1949 of the Federal Republic of Germany in the three areas of occupation of the Western armies.

The new German State based its policy on cooperation with the United States and the search for reconciliation with France. The cold war helped him recover his political autonomy And, after the Korean War (1950-1953), the Federal Republic of Germany was re-reilitated and joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1955.

From that moment, West Germany lived an important economic take -off. Under the government of Christian democracy and the leadership of Konrad Adenauer, the Federal Republic of Germany became the mid -sixties in the great European economic power.

At the end of the sixties, the Social Democratic party agreed to power with Willy Brandt (Chancellor between 1969 and 1974) and Helmut Schmidt (Chancellor between 1974 and 1982). With social democracy, the Federal Republic of Germany finished building One of the most important welfare states in Europe.

In 1982, Christian democracy returned to power with Helmut Kohl in the position of Chancellor. The fall of the Berlin Wall In 1989 it allowed Kohl to direct the rapid reunification process that culminated on October 3, 1990. After absorbing East Germany, the Federal Republic of Unified Germany, with 79 million inhabitants, became the most powerful country in Europe.

See also: Blocks from the Cold war

The United Kingdom in the second half of the 20th century

The first elections after World War II in the United Kingdom turned the British political landscape. The conservatives, led by Winston Churchill, were defeated by the Labor Party, led by Clement Attlee.

Labor, inspired by Swedish social democracy, They dedicated themselves to building the welfare state in the United Kingdom. Nationalized the bank of England, the coal and steel industries, public transport, electricity and gas. In 1946, the Labor Government promoted the creation of the National Health System (National Health Service), which instituted a public health system.

The huge social expenses of the Labor Government decreased the exterior action of the United Kingdom and They precipitated the liquidation of the British colonial empire. International weight loss was linked to a long process of economic decline.

A political problem was added to economic problems. In Northern Ireland, two communities, the majority Protestant-unionist (who defended unity with Great Britain) and the Irish Catholic-nationalist minority, had lived for decades in a situation of inequality. The protest of Irish nationalism in the sixties gave way to the armed struggle of IRA (Irish Republican Army).

In 1979, conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, returned to power. The “Iron Lady” deployed a tax reduction policy and of the state bureaucracy, of restriction of union power and limitation of social spending. Its policies, very close to those that Ronald Reagan applied as of 1981 in the United States, had an economic success but also a serious social cost.

British victory in the Malvinas War (1982) caused a wave of nationalism that favored the re -election of Thatcher. However, the hardness of his fiscal policy caused his popularity to fall at the end of the eighties, and was forced to resign. His replacement, John Major, revalidated the conservative majority in 1992.

France in the second half of the twentieth century

The figure of Charles de Gaulle marked the story of France for almost a quarter of a century. He was the most important statesman during the IV Republic period (1946-1958), in which France starred in an important recovery after the war. It was the one who took the country out of the crisis caused by the war in Algeria and who promoted the drafting of a new constitution in 1958 that began the V Republic, still in force, of which he was president between 1959 and 1969.

De Gaulle raised a conservative internal policy and an external position aimed at recovering the international importance of France has already carried out an independent policy of the United States. De Gaulle had to deal with student protests and workers May 1968 (known as “French May”) and, despite winning the elections, resigned in 1969 and left active policy.

After more than a decade of the gaullista domain (followers of the political principles of De Gaulle), Economic discontent led to the victory of the left in the 1981 elections. The new president of the Republic, Socialist François Mitterand applied a nationalization policy which was very soon forced to rectify and accelerated the economic difficulties of the country.

In this period, The National Front, Extreme Right Party contrary to immigration (mostly of the Muslim population), reached very good electoral results. The electoral map was moving to the right in the nineties and, In 1995, the moderate right managed to take Jacques Chiracformer Gaullist mayor of Paris, To the Presidency of the Republic.

The economy of Western Europe in the second half of the twentieth century

Economic recovery after World War II

World War II had devastating economic consequences for Europe. In 1945, in some countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy or Holland) the GDP had fallen below the level before the First World War.

Nevertheless, The European economy experienced great growth during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. The average GDP per capita of Western Europe had an annual growth rate greater than 4 % (five times greater than the growth rate of the period 1913-1950). In 1950, Western European GDP did not reach 50 % of the American. In 1973, he had reached almost 70 %.

In turn, the differences between northwestern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula decreased substantially: in 1950, the PIB per capita of the Peninsula did not reach half of the GDP per capita of northwestern Europe, while in 1973 it had risen to two thirds.

Causes of economic recovery

Despite the material and human destruction suffered during World War II, Europe still had business, professional and work personnel and a higher growth potential to most of the world. In addition, American economic aid was decisive through the Marshall Plan.

The Marshall Plan lasted between 1948 and 1951 and its amount amounted to a figure equivalent to 100,000 million dollars in 2003. The largest receptor of funds was the United Kingdom, with almost 25 % of the total, followed by France, with just over 20 %.

The years of economic growth between 1945 and 1973 were called “golden age” or “thirty glorious”. The economic advantages obtained by European countries depended on the opening to international trade (through the liberalization of goods and services, on the acceptance of foreign investment (the installation of multinational companies) and the incorporation of new technology from abroad. The European economy incorporated new ways to organize production and favored mass consumption.

The economic integration process and the oil crisis

The European economic integration process initiated with The CECA (European Coal and Steel Community), created in 1951, favored the growth of the participating countries and the reduction of differences between them. In this period too An extension of the social layers benefited by economic growth took place Due to improvements in food, clothing and housing. A great impact on everyday life had the generalization of appliances and stood out Advances in Education and Health (to which the public sector contributed).

Europe was especially affected by The increase in oil in 1973. Thus an intense crisis began: economic growth stagnated (in some years it even became negative), and high rates of inflation and unemployment occurred.

The new increases in the price of oil from 1979 caused another intense recession of the world economy. This time economic policies in Western Europe were more coordinated. In the mid -1980s, the European economy recovered the path of growth. In this context some advances in the process of European economic integration took place.

The European Unity Process

The birth of the European Economic Community (CEE)

World War II (1939-1945) demonstrated the level of destruction that could cause nationalist rivalry in Europe and motivated attempts to achieve some type of European integration. The United States sought to deal with the Soviet threat and for this it contributed to the European unification process.

The first step was taken by French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, in 1950, when he proposed a plan to integrate Franco-German production of coal and steel.

The Schuman statement led to the Paris Treaty signing In 1951 that created the European Coal and Steel Community (CECA), in which six countries were integrated: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

March 25, 1957 Rome treaties were signed by which the European Economic Community (CEE) was createdwhich sought the construction of a customs union and the establishment of a common agricultural policy.

See more in: Background of the European Union

From the EEC to the European Union (EU)

The main political problem that the EEC began was that the United Kingdom remained on the sidelines. However, the United Kingdom requested its entry into the community when The economic growth of member countries became notorious.

In 1973, three new countries entered the EEC: the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland. The fall of military dictatorships in Greece (1974), Portugal (1974) and Spain (1975) allowed the accession of these southern countries.

In 1986 the European Unique Act was approved, which raised the objective of achieving the full constitution of an area without borders and the promotion of community funds for poor countries.

When the collapse of communist regimes occurred in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (the “popular democracies”) in 1989, German reunification in 1990 and the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, in Western Europe the Maastricht treaty was approved, which entered into force in 1993 and gave rise to the European Union. This left the path open for later adhesion, at the beginning of the 21st century, from the countries of central and eastern Europe that had been part of the communist bloc.

Continue with:

• Chronology of the history of the European Union
• United States in the twentieth century
• Japan in the twentieth century

References

• Barzun, J. et al. (2023). History of Europe. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
• Carpentier, J. & Lebrun, F. (Dirs.) (2006). Brief history of Europe. Alliance.
• Fernández Navarrete, D. (2022). History of the European Union: from the origins to post-overxit. Autonomous University of Madrid Editions.
• European Union (SF). Principles, countries, history. Official Portal of the European Union. https://european-union.europa.eu/