Dulce et Decorum Est

There’s a lot of debate around at the moment as to why the Europeans have made the European Union. Are they fools to willingly surrender their sovereignty? Is it a giving up of democratic rights? Is the EU just a big business conspiracy? Will the EU challenge the USA to a duel?

But if you want to know the real reason, deep down, why the Europeans have made the EU, I think you’ll find it’s very simple. The Europeans are sick to death of war. That’s why, however much we may criticize, however Eurosceptic we may profess to be, if we really think hard about it, we love the European Union. Because it guarantees peace in Europe. In fact it makes war in Europe impossible.

Below is one of the most influential pieces of writing that set the Europeans on the road to creating peace. It was written by an English soldier, Wilfred Owen, during World War One. If you read this, why will you need to ask again why we made the European Union?

Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, –
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Note: The phrase Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a quote from a poem by the Roman poet Horace. It means “How sweet and fitting it is to die for your country.” It was widely quoted at the beginning of the War to encourage young men and boys to join the army.

What comes to mind when you think of Sweden?

Someone asked on BlogCatalog, “What comes to mind when you think of Sweden?” There were loads of answers, like ABBA, IKEA, blondes etc. I must say that my first thought was ABBA. I think that possibly the greatest ABBA track is The Winner Takes It All.

Nobody on BlogCatalog mentioned Volvo cars (or if they did, I missed it) and also, nobody mentioned the group, Europe.
Their song The Final Countdown is considered by many to be the greatest pop song ever. I don’t think I would quite go that far. For one thing, the lyrics are totally absurd, even preposterous. The planet Venus would be a terrible choice as a place to emigrate to. It has an atmosphere that is lethal poison, and a runaway greenhouse effect. If there were life on Venus, it would have to be very weird in order to survive, and it would almost certainly be very unpleasant. Plus the distance to Venus is not measured in light years but in millions of kilometres; it is much too close for light year units.

However, you listen to The Final Countdown, not for its silly lyrics, but for the wonderful, anthemic theme tune.

The Schuman Declaration

In the previous post, I said that there is no one particular day when the European Union could be said to have been formed, and that is true. The essence almost of the EU and its formation is in its gradualism. As I said then, the ideas of a peaceful integration of the states of Europe has its origins as early as the First World War or even earlier.

But if you had to choose a day above all others which could act as the European counterpart to the American Declaration of Independence, which set that great nation on its path, then it would have to be May 9th 1950, the day of the so-called Schuman declaration. Many commentators agree that this was an historic day for Europe, and as such, May 9th is celebrated as a holiday (Europe Day) in many places within the borders of the EU.

The reason it is so momentous is that once the Schuman plan was put into effect, a process was begun which would not be easy to reverse, and as the years went by, became increasingly less likely to be reversed. Perhaps at the time, many of the participants in the plan were not aware of how irrevocable it was, but it has now become clear that the European Union as it is now is a direct result of that decision. So the Schuman Declaration, more than anything else, could be said to be the cause of the European Union.

It is true that the council of Europe, for example, had already been in existence since 1948, but it was the agreement to follow the Schuman plan which tied the Six together in an economic agreement. In particular, it meant that, ever after, France and Germany had no choice but to work in partnership.

On this link, you can watch the ceremony of the unveiling of a sculpture of Robert Schuman at the University of Cork in Ireland, and some beautiful readings by children from France and Ireland. http://eurofile/2008/12/robert-schuman

The European Union

The European Union is rapidly moving towards being a country in its own right. Some people are still resistant to the idea, but attitudes are gradually changing. This is because when people see the benefits to themselves and to those around them, they begin to come around to accepting the situation. This is always the way the European Union has worked, since it began.

Though really, it is quite difficult to pinpoint the time when it did begin. This is because the European Union was not inaugurated on any particular day, as the United States of America was. The European Union grew organically. The prime movers of the project were those people who had a vision of how things could be, and they gently began to work towards the fulfilment of those visions. The whole process had to be gradual, to give everyone the time to get used to the changes.

After all the events of Europe’s history, the people of the continent have a deep mistrust of anything that seems to them to be in any way dictatorial. Europe has had to suffer more than its fair share of dictators. So everything now has to be done by agreement, and by treaty, and by the democratic process.

So everything takes time. But over the last 50 years, the countries of Europe have moved inexorably towards what is termed “ever closer union” in the now famous phrase.

The original dream of the Union was to create a situation in which the European nations would never again go to war with one another. The dream actually began not long after the end of World War I, but because the punitive sanctions set upon Germany after that conflict were too severe, the continent had to endure the rise of Hitler and the Second World War before the dream of union and peace could at last be set in motion.

On this link http://eurofile1/2008/12/ode-to-joy you can hear the famous “Ode To Joy” by Ludwig van Beethoven, which has been adopted as the anthem of the European Union. Beethoven incorporated the tune into the final movement of his Ninth Symphony, setting it to the lyrics of the poem by Schiller which gives the tune its name.

New Europeans by Ultravox

I really like the track entitled “New Europeans” by Ultravox. It originally came out on the album “Vienna”. It seems in some way to set the tone for this blog. You can hear it on this link http://eurofile/2008/12/ultravox-live-new-europeans

This Blog is About Europe

They say the second post is the hardest one to write, but I’m finding this first one hard to get started on too! And I haven’t even thought about the second one yet. I suppose it’s because, in some way, you feel that you have to include in summary form in the first post, everything that will eventually go in the blog. Or to make, as it were, some kind of manifesto.

I just think that would be too hard.

So I’ll just say what my vague thoughts are. I’m a passionate believer in the European ideal. Principally, that means a united Europe. Because whatever it’s faults may be (and I will be the first to admit that there are a good number of those) I believe that the European Union is the greatest force for peace and harmony in Europe certainly. And even, as I hope will become clear in later posts, in the whole world.

Yes, I will say that again, I believe that the European Union is potentially the greatest force for peace and harmony in the world. And that’s why I am starting this blog today, because I want to try to convince everyone of that.