Geografia d'Europa: introducció

Europe
Although referred to as a continent, Europe is actually just the western fifth of the Eurasian landmass, which is made up primarily of Asia. Modern geographers generally describe the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, part of the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains as forming the main boundary between Europe and Asia. The name Europe is perhaps derived from that of Europa, the daughter of Phoenix in Greek mythology, or possibly from Ereb, a Phoenician word for “sunset.”
The second smallest continent (Australia is the smallest), Europe has an area of about 10,525,000 sq km (about 4,065,000 sq mi), but it has the second largest population of all the continents, about 728 million (1994 estimate). The northernmost point of the European mainland is Cape Nordkinn, in Norway; the southernmost, Punta de Tarifa, in southern Spain near Gibraltar. From west to east the mainland ranges from Cabo da Roca, in Portugal, to the northeastern slopes of the Urals, in Russia.
Europe has long been a center of great cultural and economic achievement. The ancient Greeks and Romans produced major civilizations, famous for their contributions to philosophy, literature, fine art, and government. The Renaissance, which began in the 14th century, was a period of great accomplishment for European artists and architects, and the age of exploration, beginning in the 15th century, included voyages to the far corners of the world by European navigators. European nations, particularly Spain, Portugal, France, and Great Britain, built large colonial empires, with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. In the 18th century modern forms of industry began to be developed. In the 20th century much of Europe was ravaged by the two world wars. After World War II ended in 1945, the continent was divided into two major political and economic blocs—Communist nations in Eastern Europe and non-Communist countries in Western Europe. Between 1989 and 1991, however, the Eastern bloc broke up. Communist regimes surrendered power in most Eastern European countries. East and West Germany were unified. The Soviet Communist party collapsed, multilateral military and economic ties between Eastern Europe and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were severed, and the USSR itself ceased to exist.
 

The Natural Environment
Europe is a highly fragmented landmass consisting of a number of large peninsulas, such as the Scandinavian, Iberian, and Italian, as well as smaller ones, such as the Kola, Jutland, and Brittany. It also includes a large number of offshore islands, notably Iceland, the British Isles, Sardinia, Sicily, and Crete. Europe has coastlines on arms of the Arctic Ocean and on the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, in the north; on the Caspian Sea, in the southeast; on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, in the south; and on the Atlantic Ocean, in the west. The highest point of the continent is El’brus (5642 m/18,510 ft), in the Caucasus Mountains in southwestern Russia. The lowest point of Europe is located along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea, about 28 m (about 92 ft) below sea level.
 

Physiographic Regions
The geological underpinning of Europe includes, from north to south, an ancient mass of stable, crystalline rocks; a broad belt of relatively level sedimentary materials; a zone of mixed geological structures created by folding, faulting, and volcanism; and a region of comparatively recent mountain-building activity. This geological pattern has helped to create the numerous physiographic regions that make up the landscape of Europe.
The Fenno-Scandian Shield, formed during Precambrian time, underlies Finland and most of the rest of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Tilted toward the east, it forms both the mountains of western Sweden and the lower plateau of Finland. Glaciation has carved the deep fjords of the Norwegian coast and scoured the surface of the Finnish plateau. The movement of a segment of the earth's crust against the stable shield during the Caledonian Orogeny (about 500 to 395 million years ago) raised the mountains of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and western Norway. Subsequent erosion has rounded and worn down these mountains in the British Isles, but the peaks of Norway still reach 2472 m (8110 ft).
The second major geological region, a belt of sedimentary materials, sweeps in an arc from southwestern France northward and eastward through the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, and into western Russia. It also includes a part of southeastern England. Although warped in places to form basins, such as the London Basin and the Paris Basin, these sedimentary rocks, covered by a layer of glacially deposited debris, are generally level enough to form the Great European Plain. Some of the best soils of Europe are found on the plain, particularly along its southern margin, where wind-borne material called loess has been deposited. The plain is widest in the east.
South of the Great European Plain, a band of dissimilar geological structures sweeps across Europe, creating the most intricate landscapes of the continent—the Central European Uplands. Throughout this region the forces of folding (the Jura range), faulting (the Vosges and Black Forest mountains), volcanism (the Massif Central, or central highlands, of France), and uplift (the Meseta, or central plateau, of Spain) have interacted to create alternating mountains, plateaus, and valleys.
The major European physiographic province farthest to the south is also the most recently formed. In mid-Tertiary time, about 40 million years ago (see Oligocene Epoch), the Afro-Arabian plate collided with the Eurasian one, triggering the Alpine Orogeny (see Plate Tectonics). Compressional forces generated by the collision thrust upward great thicknesses of Mesozoic sediment, creating such ranges as the Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, Carpathians, and Caucasus, which are not only the highest mountains of Europe but also the most steep sided. The frequent occurrence of earthquakes in this region indicates that changes are still taking place.
 

Drainage
The peninsular nature of the European continent has resulted in a generally radial pattern of drainage, with most streams flowing outward from the core of the continent, often from headwaters that are close together. The longest river of Europe, the Volga, flows primarily in a southerly direction into the Caspian Sea, and the second longest, the Danube, flows west to east before entering the Black Sea. Rivers of central and western Europe include the Rhône and Po, which flow into the Mediterranean Sea, and the Loire, Seine, Rhine, and Elbe, which enter the Atlantic Ocean or the North Sea. The Odra (Oder) and Wis?a (Vistula) flow north to the Baltic Sea. The radial drainage pattern lends itself to the interconnection of rivers by canals.
Lakes occur both in mountainous areas, such as in Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, and in plains regions, such as in Sweden, Poland, and Finland. Europe's biggest freshwater lake is Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia.
 

Climate
Although much of Europe lies in the northern latitudes, the relatively warm seas that border the continent give most of central and western Europe a moderate climate, with cool winters and mild summers. The prevailing westerly winds, warmed in part by passing over the North Atlantic Drift ocean current, bring precipitation throughout most of the year. In the Mediterranean climate area—Spain, Italy, and Greece—the summer months are usually hot and dry, with almost all rainfall occurring in winter. From approximately central Poland eastward, the moderating effects of the seas are reduced, and consequently cooler, drier conditions prevail. The northern parts of the continent also have this type of climate. Most of Europe receives about 510 to 1530 mm (about 20 to 60 in) of precipitation per year.
 

Vegetation
Although much of Europe, particularly the west, was originally covered by forest, the vegetation has been transformed by human habitation and the clearing of land. Only in the most northerly mountains and in parts of north central European Russia has the forest cover been relatively unaffected by human activity. On the other hand, a considerable amount of Europe is covered by woodland that has been planted or has reoccupied cleared lands.
The largest vegetation zone in Europe, cutting across the middle portion of the continent from the Atlantic to the Urals, is a belt of mixed deciduous and coniferous trees—oak, maple, and elm intermingled with pine and fir. The Arctic coastal regions of northern Europe and the upper slopes of its highest mountains are characterized by tundra vegetation, which consists mostly of lichens, mosses, shrubs, and wild flowers. The milder, but nevertheless cool temperatures of inland northern Europe create an environment favorable to a continuous cover of coniferous trees, especially spruce and pine, although birch and aspen also occur. Much of the Great European Plain is covered with prairies, areas of relatively tall grasses, and Ukraine is characterized by steppe, a flat and comparatively dry region with short grasses. Lands bordering the Mediterranean are noted for their fruit, especially olives, citrus fruit, figs, apricots, and grapes.
 

Animal Life
At one time Europe was home to large numbers of a wide variety of animals, such as deer, elk, bison, boar, wolf, and bear. Because humans have occupied or developed so much of Europe, however, many species of animals have either become extinct or have been greatly reduced in number. Today, deer, elk, wolf, and bear can be found in the wild state in significant numbers only in northern Scandinavia and Russia and in the Balkan Peninsula. Elsewhere they exist mainly in protected preserves. Reindeer (domesticated caribou) are herded by the Saami of the far north. Chamois and ibex are found in the higher elevations of the Pyrenees and Alps. Europe still has many smaller animals, such as weasel, ferret, hare, rabbit, hedgehog, lemming, fox, and squirrel. The large number of birds indigenous to Europe include eagle, falcon, finch, nightingale, owl, pigeon, sparrow, and thrush. Storks are thought to bring good luck to the houses on which they nest, particularly in the Low Countries, and swans ornament many European rivers and lakes. Scottish, Irish, and Rhine salmon are prized fish here, and in the coastal marine waters are found a large variety of fish, including the commercially important cod, mackerel, herring, and tuna. The Black and Caspian seas contain sturgeon, the source of caviar.
 

Mineral Resources
Europe has a wide variety of mineral resources. Coal is found in great quantity in several places in Great Britain, and the Ruhr district of Germany and Ukraine also have extensive coal beds. In addition, important coal deposits are found in Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, and Spain. Major sources of European iron ore today are the mines at Kiruna in northern Sweden, the Lorraine region of France, and Ukraine. Europe has a number of small petroleum and natural-gas producing areas, but the two major regions are the North Sea (with Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Norway owning most of the rights) and the former Soviet republics, especially Russia. Among the many other mineral deposits of Europe are copper, lead, tin, bauxite, manganese, nickel, gold, silver, potash, clay, gypsum, dolomite, and salt.
 

The People
Although it is not precisely known when humans first lived in Europe, they probably migrated here from the east in several waves, mostly via a no longer extant land bridge from Asia Minor into the Balkans and by way of grasslands north of the Black Sea. Parts of Europe had a substantial human population by about 4000 BC. Geographical barriers such as forests, mountains, and swamps helped divide the peoples into groups that remained largely separate for long periods. Some intermixing of peoples occurred as a result of migrations, however.

Europe includes a large number of ethnic groups—persons associated by a common culture, especially language. European nations are generally composed of one dominant group, such as the Germans of Germany and the French of France. Several countries, particularly in south central Europe, have large minorities, and most countries contain smaller groups, such as the Basques of Spain and the Saami of Norway. In addition, substantial numbers of Asian Turks, black Africans, and Arabs live in western Europe, many of them as workers on a temporary basis. The collapse of Communism during the period from 1989 to 1991 led to the breakup of the USSR into 15 separate republics, each with its own dominant ethnic group. The Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians, each of which constituted the largest part of the population in their respective republics within Yugoslavia, all voted to secede from Yugoslavia in 1991 to become independent nations. Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a more diverse array of ethnic groups, became the site of great ethnic conflict after declaring its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992.
 

Demography
The distribution of the European population has not been stable over long periods, but has shifted, both through differential birth and death rates and by migration. At the beginning of the Christian era, the most densely populated part of Europe bordered the Mediterranean Sea. In the 1980s Europe had the highest overall population density of the continents. The most heavily populated area was a belt beginning in England and continuing eastward through the Low Countries, West and East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and into the European USSR. Northern Italy also had a high population density.
The average annual growth rate for the European population during the period from 1980 to 1987 was only about 0.3 percent; in the same period the population of Asia grew by about 1.8 percent per year, and that of North America by about 0.9 percent annually. At the same time, wide variations in growth rate occurred from country to country in Europe. For instance, during the late 1980s Albania had a yearly growth rate of some 1.9 percent and Spain of about 0.5 percent, while the populations of Great Britain did not change appreciably and that of East Germany declined. The overall slow rate of population increase was due primarily to a low birthrate. Europeans generally enjoy some of the longest average life expectancies at birth—some 75 years in most countries—compared with less than 60 years in India and most countries of Africa.
Population movements, both voluntary and involuntary, have been a constant aspect of European life. In the late 20th century, two movements were particularly noteworthy—the migration of people seeking jobs as “guest workers” (German Gastarbeiter) and the migration of persons from rural to urban areas. Italian, Yugoslav, Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese workers (as well as some from Asian Turkey, Algeria, and other non-European areas) moved—mostly on a nonpermanent basis—to Germany, France, Switzerland, Great Britain, and other countries in search of jobs. In addition, many Europeans moved within national boundaries from rural areas to cities. From 1950 to 1975, the population of Western Europe changed from roughly 70 to nearly 80 percent urban; that of Eastern Europe grew from 35 to 60 percent urban. On the other hand, far fewer Europeans left the continent than in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Most people leaving Europe in the late 20th century migrated to South America, Canada, or Australia.
In most European countries the national capital is the largest city, but the continent has many additional cities of substantial size. Most European capitals have great economic and cultural significance and contain many noted historical sites. Among the most famous cities are Berlin, Budapest, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, and Vienna.
 

Languages
Europeans speak a wide variety of languages. The principal linguistic groups are the Slavic, which includes Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Macedonian, and Serbo-Croatian; the Germanic, which includes English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic; and the Romance, which includes Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. These languages have basically the same origins and are grouped as Indo-European languages. Other Indo-European languages include Greek, Albanian, and such Celtic languages as Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton. In addition to the Indo-European language speakers, the continent has groups of people who speak Finno-Ugric languages, such as Finnish, Hungarian, and Saami, as well as speakers of the Basque and Turkish languages. Many Europeans use English or French as a second language.
 

Religion
In the late 1980s the great majority of Europeans were Christians. The largest single religious group, Roman Catholics, lived mainly in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, southern Germany, and Poland. Another large group was composed of followers of Protestant faiths, concentrated in countries of northern and central Europe such as England, Scotland, northern Germany, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian nations. A third major Christian group was composed of members of an Orthodox church. They lived principally in Russia and Georgia in the USSR, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and all the republics of Yugoslavia except Slovenia. In addition, there were Jewish communities in most European countries (the largest of them in Russia), and the inhabitants of Albania and Turkey were predominantly Muslim.
 

Culture
Europe has a long tradition of excellence in literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and dance. In the late 20th century Paris, Rome, London, Madrid, and Moscow were particularly famous as cultural centers, but many other cities also supported important museums, musical and theatrical groups, and other cultural institutions. Most European countries had highly developed mass-communications media, such as radio, television, and motion pictures. European nations had excellent educational systems, and the literacy rate was high in most countries. Some of the world's oldest and finest universities are in Europe, including Cambridge University and Oxford University in England, the Universities of Paris in France, the University of Heidelberg in Germany, Charles University in the Czech Republic, the University of Bologna in Italy, and Moscow State University in Russia.
 

Economy
Europe has long been a world leader in economic activities. As the birthplace of modern science and of the Industrial Revolution, Europe acquired technological superiority over the rest of the world, which gave it unquestioned dominance in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the 18th century and from there spread throughout the world, was a transformation involving the use of complex machinery and resulting in greatly increased agricultural production and new forms of economic organization. An important impetus for growth since the mid-20th century has been the formation of supranational organizations such as the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
 

Agriculture
Farming in Europe is generally of the mixed type, in which a variety of crops and animal products are produced in the same region. The European portion of the former USSR is one of the few large regions where one-product agriculture predominates. The Mediterranean nations maintain a distinctive type of agriculture, dominated by the production of wheat, olives, grapes, and citrus fruit. In most of these countries farming plays a more important role in the national economy than in the northern countries. Throughout much of western Europe dairying and meat production are major activities. To the east, crops become more important. In the nations of the Balkan Peninsula, crops account for some 60 percent of agricultural production, and in Ukraine wheat production overshadows all other agriculture. Europe as a whole is particularly noted for its great output of wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, potatoes, beans, peas, and sugar beets. Besides dairy and beef cattle, large numbers of pigs, sheep, goats, and poultry are raised by Europeans.
In the late 20th century Europe was self-sufficient in most basic farm products. On most farmland advanced agricultural techniques, including the application of modern machinery and chemical fertilizers, were used, but in parts of southern and southeastern Europe, traditional, relatively inefficient techniques were still dominant. For much of the period when the Communists held power, agriculture in the countries of the Eastern bloc (with the exception of Poland and Yugoslavia) and the USSR was based on large, state-owned farms and state-dominated collectives.
 

Forestry and Fishing
The northern forests, which extend from Norway through northern European Russia, are the main sources of forest products in Europe. Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia all have relatively large forestry industries, producing pulpwood, wood for construction, and other products. In southern Europe, both Spain and Portugal produce a variety of cork products from the cork oak. Although all of the coastal European countries engage in some commercial fishing, the industry is especially important in the northern countries, particularly Norway and Denmark. Spain, Russia, Great Britain, and Poland also are major fishing nations.
 

Mining
The present pattern of population distribution in much of Europe has been influenced by past mining activities, particularly coal mining. Coal mined in such areas as the British Midlands, the Ruhr district of Germany, and Ukraine attracted factories and helped establish the industrial patterns that continue today. Although employment in mining is declining in Europe, largely because of mechanization, several centers are still important. Northeastern England, the Ruhr region, the Silesian area of Poland, and Ukraine are major coal producers. Iron ore is produced in large quantities in northern Sweden, eastern France, and Ukraine. A wide range of other minerals, such as bauxite, copper, manganese, nickel, and potash, are mined in substantial amounts. One of the newest and most important extracting industries in Europe is the production of petroleum and natural gas from offshore fields in the North Sea. These products have been extracted in great quantity for longer periods in the southern part of European Russia, notably in the Volga River region.
 

Manufacturing
Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing has been a dominant force in shaping ways of life in Europe. Northern and central England became early centers of modern manufacturing, as did the Ruhr and Saxony regions of Germany, northern France, Silesia in Poland, and Ukraine. Products such as iron and steel, fabricated metals, textiles, clothing, ships, motor vehicles, and railroad equipment have long been important European manufactures, and a great variety of other items also are produced. The production of chemicals and electronic equipment and other high-technology items have been leading growth industries of the post-World War II period. On the whole, manufacturing is particularly concentrated in the central part of the continent (an area including England, eastern and southern France, northern Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, southern Norway, and southern Sweden) and in European Russia and Ukraine.
 

Energy
Europe consumes great quantities of energy. The leading energy sources are coal (including lignite), petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power, and waterpower. Norway, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Spain all have major hydroelectric installations, which contribute large portions of the annual output of electricity. Nuclear power is important in France; Great Britain; Germany; Belgium; Lithuania, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics; Sweden; Switzerland; Finland; and Bulgaria. The Republic of Ireland is highly unusual in that peat is a major fuel source both for household use and for generating electricity.
 

Transportation
Europe has highly developed transportation systems, which are densest in the central part of the continent. Scandinavia, the former European USSR, and southern Europe have fewer transport facilities. Large numbers of passenger cars are owned in Europe, and much freight is transported by truck. Rail networks are well maintained in most European countries and are important carriers of passengers as well as freight. Water transport plays a major role in the European economy. Several countries, such as Greece, Great Britain, Italy, France, Norway, and Russia, maintain large fleets of merchant ships. Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, is one of the world's busiest seaports. Other major ports include Antwerp, Belgium; Marseille, France; Hamburg; London; Genoa, Italy; Gda?sk, Poland; Bilbao, Spain; and Göteborg, Sweden. Much freight is carried on inland waterways; European rivers with substantial traffic include the Rhine, Schelde (Escaut), Seine, Elbe, Danube, Volga, and Dnepr. In addition, Europe has a number of important canals. Almost all European countries maintain national airlines, and several, such as Air France, British Airways, Swissair, and KLM (Netherlands) are major worldwide carriers. Most transportation systems in European countries are government controlled. Since World War II a large number of pipelines have been built in Europe to transport petroleum and natural gas.
 

International Trade
Almost all European countries conduct a large international trade. Much of the trade is intracontinental, especially among members of the European Union, but Europeans also engage in large-scale trade with nations of other continents. Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands are among the world's greatest trading nations. A large portion of European intercontinental trade involves the exporting of manufactured goods and the importing of raw materials.
 

Twentieth Century History
For most Europeans, the years 1871-1914 constituted La Belle Epoque (“the beautiful times”). Science had made life more comfortable and secure, representative government had achieved wide acceptance in principle, and continued progress was confidently expected. Proud of their accomplishments and convinced that history had assigned them a civilizing mission, Europe's powers laid colonial claim to vast territories in Africa and Asia. Some believed, however, that Europe was dancing on a volcano. The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and the German sociologist Max Weber cautioned against a facile optimism and dismissed the liberal conception of rational humanity, while artists such as the Dutch Vincent van Gogh and the Norwegian Edvard Munch explored the darker regions of the human heart. Such forebodings began to seem less eccentric in the light of contemporary challenges to the liberal consensus. A new and virulent strain of anti-Semitism infected the political life of Austria-Hungary, Russia, and France; in the home of the revolution, the Dreyfus affair threatened to bring down the Third Republic. National rivalries were exacerbated by imperial competition, and the nationality problem in the Hungarian half of the Habsburg monarchy intensified as a result of the government's Magyarization policies and the example German and Italian unifications set for the Slavic peoples.
As the industrial working class grew in number and organized strength, Marxist social-democratic parties pressured European governments to equalize conditions as well as opportunities. In the midst of an increasingly unsettled atmosphere, Emperor William II of Germany dismissed Bismarck in 1890. For two decades the Iron Chancellor had served as Europe's “honest broker,” juggling with great dexterity a bewildering array of alliances and alignments and thereby maintaining the peace. None of his successors possessed the skill needed to preserve Bismarck's system, and when the incompetent emperor jettisoned realpolitik in favor of Weltpolitik (imperial politics), England, France, and Russia formed the Triple Entente.

The German danger, coupled with Russian-Austrian rivalry in the Balkans, created a diplomatic configuration that presented difficulties far too great for the mediocre men who headed European foreign offices on the eve of 1914. When the Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, he ignited the diplomatic powder keg.

The enthusiasm with which the European peoples greeted the outbreak of hostilities quickly turned to horror as casualty lists lengthened and limited aims became irrelevant. What had been projected as a brief war between states became a four-year struggle between peoples. When the guns finally did fall silent in the last weeks of 1918, the German, Austrian, and Russian empires had collapsed, and the greater part of a generation of young men lay dead. A portent of things to come was that the principal figure at the Paris Peace Conference (1919) was United States President Woodrow Wilson. Determined to make the world “safe for democracy,” Wilson had led the United States into war with Germany in 1917. As he was issuing a clarion call for a democratic Europe, Vladimir Ilich Lenin, the Bolshevik leader who in the same year had seized power in Russia, was summoning the European proletariat to class war and offering to supply the ideological keys to a Communist state. Turning a deaf ear to both prophets of a world transformed, France and England insisted upon a punitive peace, and Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey were obliged to sign treaties that had nothing to do with messianic dreams.

In the wake of the catastrophic war and an influenza epidemic that claimed 20 million lives worldwide, many Europeans believed, with the German philosopher Oswald Spengler, that they were witnessing the decline of the West. Signs of hope, to be sure, could still be found; the League of Nations had been created, and the principle of self-determination was said to have triumphed in east-central Europe. Russia had rid itself of czarist autocracy, and imperial Germany had become a republic. The League of Nations exerted little influence, however, and nationalism continued to be a double-edged sword. The creation of nation-states in Central Europe necessarily entailed national minorities, because ethnicity could not be the sole criterion for the construction of defensible frontiers. The czars had been replaced by Bolsheviks, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of any European government. Most important, perhaps, the Treaty of Versailles, with its war-guilt clause, had wounded German national pride, and Italians were convinced that they had been denied their rightful share of the postwar spoils.
Exploiting national discontent and fear of communism, Benito Mussolini established a Fascist dictatorship in 1922 (see Fascism). Although his political doctrine was vague and contradictory, he recognized that in an age of mass politics, a blend of nationalism and socialism possessed the greatest revolutionary potential. In Germany, inflation and depression provided Adolf Hitler with an opportunity to combine the same two revolutionary ideologies. For all his nihilism, Hitler never doubted that the National Socialist German Workers' party was the promising vehicle for his ambition (see National Socialism). As Lenin's successor, Joseph Stalin subordinated international to national communism; proclaiming “socialism in one country,” he erected a governmental apparatus that was unrivaled in its pervasiveness.

In the face of the growing belligerence of these totalitarian states and the confirmed isolationism of the United States, the European democracies found themselves on the defensive. Under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain, England and France adopted a policy of appeasement, which was finally abandoned only after the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. As World War II began, the stunning victories of the German armies persuaded almost everyone but Winston Churchill that Hitler's “new order” was Europe's destiny. But after 1941, when Hitler ordered an attack on the USSR and the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the USSR and the United States joined a stubborn England in a concerted effort to compel Germany to surrender unconditionally. The tide turned in 1942 and 1943, and after the Normandy invasion (June 1944), Germany and its remaining allies succumbed in the wake of bitter fighting on two fronts. In the spring of 1945, Hitler committed suicide and a ravaged Germany surrendered to the Allied powers.

In the final days of war, advancing units of the United States and Soviet armies met near the German town of Torgau. This dramatic encounter symbolized the decline of European power and the division of the continent into United States and Soviet spheres of influence. Before long, the tension and suspicion engendered by the geographical proximity of the world's two superpowers took the form of Cold War, a test of resolve that was particularly nerve-racking at the dawn of the atomic age.

Having sustained staggering losses during the war, the USSR was determined to establish a buffer zone in Eastern Europe. Between 1945 and 1948, Soviet-sponsored dictators contrived to seize power in Europe's war-torn heartland. In Germany, the pivotal arena, the zones of Allied occupation began to harden into political entities; by 1949, West and East German governments had been organized, finalizing the division of the continent. Alarmed by the ruthless imposition of Communist governments in Eastern Europe and by the vulnerability of a Western Europe that lay in economic ruin, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a far-reaching program of aid designed to speed European recovery (see European Recovery Program). Rejected by the Soviet-dominated governments to the East, the Marshall Plan made possible a miraculous economic recovery in the West. The creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 further evidenced Western Europe's dependence upon the United States.

No longer masters of their own destiny, the European nations, particularly England and France, were forced to dismantle their far-flung empires. During the first two postwar decades a stunning process of decolonization occurred, which had been prepared in part by the rise of the national movements in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in the period between the wars. This decline of empire reflected a European crisis that was as much spiritual as it was political. Shattering revelations concerning Nazi death camps and painful memories of collaboration were transmuted into a sense of general guilt. For many, the nihilistic existentialism of the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre represented the last word concerning the human condition.

Nevertheless, Europe proved remarkably resilient. Almost from the first, the Soviet leaders learned that the fierce national pride that animates the peoples of Eastern Europe could not easily be suppressed. In 1948, they were unable to prevent Josip Broz Tito, a resistance fighter and loyal Communist, from embarking on a distinctly Yugoslav road (see Communist Parties). In 1953, the year of Stalin's death, the East Germans rioted, and in 1956 the Hungarians waged a heroic if ill-fated battle against their Soviet masters. In 1968, Soviet control was tested in Czechoslovakia, where Communist leader Alexander Dub?ek began to liberalize Czech life during a brief period that became known as the  Prague Spring. Again, Soviet military force, along with troops from other Warsaw Pact countries, crushed the experiment, but voices of resistance and reform continued to be heard. The USSR itself faced nationalist pressures as the constituent republics began to repudiate central government.

Far more welcome than the Russians, the Americans had addressed Europeans as partners in an Atlantic alliance. Some, however, perceived dangers in America's embrace. Chief among these proud Europeans was General Charles de Gaulle, who became president of France's Fifth Republic in 1958. Refusing to concede to the United States a permanent presence in Western Europe, de Gaulle ended military collaboration with NATO and began to develop France's own nuclear deterrent. Because of the “special relationship” Britain was then cultivating with the United States, the French president vetoed British membership in the European Economic Community, or EEC (Common Market). De Gaulle had a vision of a Europe extending from the Atlantic to the Urals and advocated a loose federation of independent states. This vision was opposed by those who believed that a more integral union was both necessary and possible. The first step in that direction had been taken in 1951, when France, West Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries agreed to establish the Common Coal and Steel Market. This was followed in 1957 by the formation of the EEC. Although a considerable economic success, the Common Market did not evolve into a Western European political union as rapidly as some of its founders had hoped.

In the early 1980s when the Polish labor federation Solidarity called for a referendum on the continuation of Communist rule, the Polish government, with Soviet backing, declared martial law and jailed many of the anti-Communist protesters. By the late 1980s, however, economic conditions in Eastern Europe were deteriorating so rapidly that Communist governments could no longer hold back the tide of public protest. During 1989 and 1990, free elections installed multiparty governments in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. In late 1989 the dividing line between East and West, the Berlin Wall, was opened; the East German regime collapsed, and in October 1990 East Germany was absorbed by West Germany. In September 1991 the independence of the three Baltic republics—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—was recognized; the independence of the rest of the Soviet republics was recognized by the USSR before the end of 1991, signifying the collapse of the former USSR. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formed in December 1991 by former Soviet republics, serves as a partial successor to the USSR.
Political developments in Europe and the former USSR resulted in a major change in United States military presence on the Continent. By the end of 1995, the U.S. Army reduced its European installations from a total of 858 to 381; the number of U.S. Air Force installations was reduced from 35 to 6, with a force equivalent to fewer than 3 fighter wings, compared to 9 during the Cold War.
In Western Europe, the end of the Cold War raised hopes for full cooperation and even friendship between East and West. These prospects were clouded, however, by growing instability in the former Soviet republics and by the outbreak of war between Serbs and Croats in Croatia, and Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By April 1992 four of the six constituent republics of Yugoslavia had declared their independence (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia), and the remaining two (Serbia and Montenegro) had formed the new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved into two separate republics, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Member nations of the European Community (now called the European Union), had originally set January 1, 1993, as the target date for economic integration. The Treaty on European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, designed to foster closer economic and political integration of the European Community, was finally ratified by all 12 EC members in 1993. The European Union has eliminated most internal trade barriers and passport checks for union citizens, and Frankfurt, Germany, has been chosen as the site of a new European Monetary Institute. But plans for adopting common defense policies and creating a single currency by the end of the 20th century have been delayed. In May 1994 Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Austria were endorsed for membership in the EU. Norway rejected EU membership in November. On January 1, 1995, Austria, Sweden, and Finland became full EU members.
In the mid 1990s an influx of asylum seekers and refugees from eastern and southern Europe resulted in an escalation in nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiments, especially in reunified Germany. The Partnership for Peace plan, designed as a first step towards full NATO membership for the former Soviet republics, was instituted in 1994. The English Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, linking Folkestone, England, and Calais, France, opened that year after more than five years of construction. High unemployment remained a major issue in Europe, even as many countries began to recover from recession. International efforts to negotiate the peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued, and in December 1995 a comprehensive agreement was signed by the presidents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Croatia, bringing the war to an end. NATO troops were sent into Bosnia to oversee the implementation of the agreement, which called for the partition of the republic into Muslim-Croat and Serb areas.

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Última actualització: 8 de juny de 2000