Sublime

While Europe is where much of twentieth-century history took place, it is less likely that either Europe or European countries will occupy so central a role in this century.

Hitler did not anticipate the British and French declarations of war. Their acquiescence in his 1938 seizure of Czechoslovakia, together with the impossibility of direct Anglo-French military succour for Poland, argued a lack of both will and means to challenge him.

In a second scenario, it is Europe that would forge ahead and tackle the new institutional challenges without relying on the US anymore. But this scenario is uncertain at best. As world leaders and experts look at Europe, what they see is a continent in disarray—one that is “disappearing into itself”, as it was once put by Kevin Rudd, the former Pr

Churchill had become increasingly opposed to a cross-Channel attack and was obsessed with taking the island of Rhodes.

A remarkable number of Poles made the decision to accept exile, separation from everything they knew and loved, in order to continue the fight against Hitler. Some 150,000 made their way westwards, often after memorable odysseys. This was by far the largest voluntary exodus from any of the nations eventually overrun by Germany, and reflected the Po

Nothing is stable in the realm of power, and even the closest of friends can be transformed into the worst of enemies.

Britain took for granted the loyalty of its black and brown peoples, and in 1939 this was promptly expressed in the form of messages of support from colonial governors and prominent citizens. There was no significant dissent: black Africa and the Caribbean eventually contributed some 500,000 recruits to the war effort; three African divisions carri

Following the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of a common threat, it has proved more difficult for Europe to maintain stability, democracy, and prosperity.

We learned to say that there was “no alternative” to the basic order of things, a sensibility that the Lithuanian political theorist Leonidas Donskis called “liquid evil.” Once inevitability was taken for granted, criticism indeed became slippery. What appeared to be critical analysis often assumed that the status quo could not actually change, and