Abstract
Appearing in the series Europe’s Legacy in the Modern World, this is a broad-ranging, synoptic study by a Professor Emeritus of the University of Helsinki. The history of Europe is presented around the theme of how the utopias of peace sought to overcome the legacy of war, with the Schumann Plan succeeding the Congress of Vienna and the Peace of Versailles. Particular attention is focused on the relationship between warfare and welfare. While this is interesting, it is also rather dated. Nineteenth-century Europe’s place in the world emerges much more clearly in Jürgen Osterhammel’s The Transformation of the World (Princeton, 2014). Moreover, this interaction is even more urgent for the twentieth century. It is very difficult to understand Europe’s history then without giving due weight to the economic social, cultural, political, financial and military impact of the USA. Even in terms of social welfarism, it is necessary to give due weight to Australasian, Canadian, American Progressive, Japanese and even Latin American models. Moreover, to take a chronological perspective, it is unclear why it is appropriate to begin with 1815. Stråth offers a perfunctory account of 1648, does not mention the peace treaties of 1713–21 or 1763, and provides a somewhat lopsided account of his theme that Europe’s search for a political economy for welfare and warfare was a search for long-term stability. Work on the so-called Enlightened Despots might suggest otherwise. As on other occasions, such a political economy could be designed to provide particular attention in a system that was believed to be inherently competitive.