Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
O que significa e onde se situa a Europa? Essa palavrinha plurissignificativa é corriqueiramente desgastada por muitos de nós para designar um lugar idílico, no qual finalmente reina a paz e o bem estar-social após longos séculos de aprendizados através de intenso conflito e de inúmeras guerras. Mas será mesmo que a Europa é una e indivisível, quiçá uma sociedade coesa e integrada? Mark Mazonwer, numa linguagem clara mas não acrítica, tenta "desmistificar" este pedacinho de terra que tanto atiça nossa imaginação. Separando o livro por "partes" o autor descreve o que a Europa era no pós Primeira Guerra e o que ela se tornou no pós Segunda Guerra, passando por numerosos atritos internos até ir se transformando, paulatinamente, no que ela é hoje. Esmiuçando os contornos do território europeu, separa-o em oeste, leste e centro, mostrando que, ao invés de coesão, esses blocos estavam em constante atrito ideológico até a metade do século XX, quando acalmaram-se gradualmente com a chegada de uma "paz brutal", também conhecida como guerra fria. Rejeitando ideais os quais consideramos inerentes à Europa - "berço da civilização ocidental" - e ostentando em seu lugar ideologias de extrema direita, avessas à liberdade e à integração social, a Europa do entre guerras era solo fértil para o desenvolvimento do fascismo e do nazismo; Mazonwer não deixa de apontar, contudo, os supostos porquês da aversão à razão e à fé no capitalismo e na democracia, demonstrando como a Crise de 1930 abalou o pensamento da época. Aponta também que muitos desses ideais ainda (infelizmente) vigoram no pensamento político europeu ocidental do século XXI, através de suas leis para imigrantes, ciganos e outras minorias indesejáveis. O autor ressalta também a bifurcação territorial do pós Segunda Guerra, e como se deu a reestruturação deste continente destroçado, que fora dividido e abocanhado, de um lado pelo capitalismo americano e de outro pelo julgo soviético, sendo uma excelente referência para se entender o que é a Europa atual, e qual o seu papel neste intrincado mundo globalizado.
This is a great book, but I don't think it does what it says it does. Dark Continent is billed as, or at least the reviews printed in this edition claim it is, a take down of the positive spin on Europe's 20th century history. The author places himself in opposition to the comfortable "whig history" narrative that Europe naturally chose a peaceful and democratic reaction to the 20th century's horrors, and that things have been improving since. In my opinion, the book supports that narrative quite well rather than discrediting it. It is a great book, and provides a quick and comprehensive history of Europe's last century. It is just not as revisionist as the author and its reviewers seem to think it is.It is a fantastic piece of historical writing though. By telling the entire history of the century, the author avoids falling into the easy periodization that most other histories follow. Before this book, my understanding was the common one: Europe's golden 19th century ended with two cataclysmic wars, followed by a glorious reconstruction in a new peaceful system. Nothing important happened in the "low, dishonest decades" in between, and if you want to know about the wars check out some History Channel documentaries. Mazower provides a valuable service by examining the decades before WWII, and WWII itself from a different perspective. His focus on the failed attempts at liberal democracy between the wars, and Hitler's surprisingly long-lasting attempts at setting up a European system is invaluable. He successfully makes the case that you need to understand these periods to understand modern Europe. His interpretation of what these decades say about Europe is not entirely convincing, but the story is enlightening.
What do You think about Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century (2000)?
I thought this was a tremendously well-written historical journey through the tragic history of Europe in the 20th Century by an eminent historian. This is not a heavy historical account - instead it is suffused with clarity, wisdom, and insight. It is also a book you look forward to reading, as if you are listening to a vastly knowledgeable, erudite, yet friendly historical guide. It does take a commitment of time and intellectual effort but is well worth it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the unfortunate combination of circumstances in 20th C Europe that led to the largest human slaughter in both World Wars, as well as how the continent finally learned to live in peace during the second half of the century. The differences between Eastern and Western European development are set forth in illuminating detail, as is the gradual and inevitable disintegration of communism in Eastern Europe. Reading this book will increase the reader's understanding of the many factors - political and economic - that play into today's European economic crisis, although, as this books was written almost at the end of the 20th C (in 1998) the economic crisis that began in 2008 was still 10 years away.
—Helen
Dense but worth it.Its connection of fascism and Nazism to the larger exhaustion of interwar democracy as well as deep seated European anti-Semitism, as opposed to facile discarding of these movements as horrifying anomalies, is as well-supported as it is disquieting. You can feel Mazower's passion wane slightly in his review of post-World War II Europe, but still there is much to enjoy, most notably his succinct dismissal of Thatcherism as largely failing to realizing its goals (which, in turn, sought to undermine the economic and social shifts that allowed for post-war stability). I learned a lot but was also kind of glad to come to the end.
—Christopher
A very interesting and important book that will have to be taken into account for decades to come. It sweeps away many of the mythologies about Europe that post-WWII generations on both sides of the “pond” grew up with and brings East European countries back into European history as actors to be respected and not just as weaker cousins to be played around with by great powers. Mazower is at his best when analyzing and re-imagining Europe before WWII when the populations of the continent first embraced democracy and self-determination and then lost their faith in both while anti-Semitism and virulent, imperialist nationalisms grew in popularity. Finally one caveat: Mazower does not examine European colonialism in any detail.
—Joanna
