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This. Obviously having massive troop presence prevented war with the soviets, but it can't be overestimated what stuff like the European Coal and Steel Communi
by berkut 10y ago
This.
Obviously having massive troop presence prevented war with the soviets, but it can't be overestimated what stuff like the European Coal and Steel Community, the EEC and other following integration steps did after WWII in terms of getting France and Germany to "need" each other, instead of wanting "revenge" and repayment.
- Semiapies 10y agoRevenge is an excuse to get citizens whipped up for the wars the governments already want. The problem with Europe is the concentration of powerful and aggressive nations jockeying for advantage. The world wars were just the latest examples of cyclic major wars in Europe, exacerbated by the empires many of those countries still had. The EEC and the EU haven't kept Europe from having another two or three major wars since the fall of Nazi Germany. (Whether they could have started more world wars after the end of their empires is less clear). Outside powers imposing alliances that prevented the usual suspects from going to war with each other kept this from happening. Today, NATO keeps this from happening.
- berkut 10y agoI suggest you read up on stuff like the European Coal and Steel Community and the Schuman Declaration. Some of their implicit goals were harmonising French and German interests so they wouldn't want to go to war again.
- Semiapies 10y agoI suggest you read up on stuff like the League of Nations.
- nl 10y agoWhat are the two or three wars you speak of? There have of course been wars in Europe outside the EU (the former Yugoslavia and various wars in the former Soviet states), but within the EU or even involving a EU member? The closest I know of is the Cyprus conflict in 1974, but Greece wasn't an EU member then.
- Semiapies 10y agoYou might reread the post you're responding to, more closely.
- nl 10y agoThe EEC and the EU haven't kept Europe from having another two or three major wars since the fall of Nazi Germany. What are the two of three major wars which they have had? (Quite puzzled, as I have studied this a little).
- cgriswald 10y ago>> Outside powers imposing alliances that prevented the usual suspects from going to war with each other kept this from happening. He isn't saying those wars happened. He is saying the preventive cause is other then the EEC and the EU.
- Semiapies 10y agoCorrect. He's asking me to defend a claim completely opposite from what I actually said.