History of the European Idea

Main Contents = Basis for the final (voluntary) Examination

Ath the end of this theme you should be able to demonstrate knowledge an understanding of the following:

1. Fundamentals of the European Idea

• Different ideas of "Europe"
• Geographic and other borders within Europe and between Europe and the other world
• Thoughts of philosophers, historians and politicians about the common nature of the Europeans and the European values

2. Europe between the Ancient Greek and the Revolutions 1848

• The birth of the European values in the ancient Greece, in the Roman Empire and the Christianity
• The main ideas of a European unification between Charles the Great and the French Revolution
• The independence movements in the USA - effects on Europe

3. Europe between the Revolutions 1848 and World War I

• 19th century philosophers and the European Idea
• Nationalism and it's effects on the European Idea
• The idea of European federalism

4. The European Idea between World War I and II

• The war between nations and ideologies from 1914 to 1945
• The main European drafts after World War I
• The attitude of the European nations towards unification of Europe between the world wars

5. The beginning of the European unification after Word War II

• The end of nationalism, the "Hour Zero"
• The main promoters of the European Idea after World War II
• From the foundation of the European Community on Coal and Steel to the European Union

6. Dreaming of Europe - new Visions

• "United States of Europe"?
• European Identity - does it exist?
• Europe - much more than an economical community