Lecture 29: The Eclipse of Violence? Europe as a Civilian Society

History 5 - Spring 2008: The Making of Modern Europe, 1453 to the Present

Intro:  Marx said ruling classes never give up power peacefully, a maxim borne out in China in June 1989 in Tiananmen Square. But that same year brings regime change to East Germany, the “Velvet” Revolution in Czechoslovakia and throughout Eastern Europe. In 1990-1991 Germany re-unifies and the Soviet Union dissolves. How can we explain such swift, massive, but non-violent, political change? Questions for the future: Europe is a magnate for immigration: can Europeans move from toleration to pluralism? Will support for the welfare state survive? Can independence survive dependence on Russia’s gas (Gazprom)? Is the expansion of NATO and the EU a threat to those left out (Russia; Turkey)? Will Turkey join the EU? [Showing 3 film clips of commercials for Cola Turka: Chevy Chase in “At the Café”; Chevy Chase in “Dinner with the In-Laws;” “Peace at Home, peace in the world”]. One obstacle: Turkish memory culture. The Turkish opposition: the secular newspaper Radikal (Showing film clip of its commercial  “Original Democracy”) The biggest threat to the future of Europe: demographic implosion.