EU matters for peace and democracy in Europe - one reason to remain

If the UK leaves the EU, it is likely that it would inflict serious damage on the EU itself. It could set off a chain reaction. The “macho” Johnson-Farage-Mail-Sun brigade would say that this is none of our concern. They would be wrong. 

On 27 September 1938, Neville Chamberlain made a radio address in which he described Czechoslovakia (at the time the only democracy in central and eastern Europe) as a “far away country” and said that the events there were “a quarrel between people of whom we know nothing”. In less than a year, Britain was at war.

The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the EU "for over six decades [having] contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe”.  This was greeted, largely, by sneering and derision in the British press. But there were powerful arguments behind the Nobel committee’s decision.

The EU is credited with having stopped France and Germany going to war again. Previously, over a seventy-year period, Germany and France had fought three wars. It seems unthinkable now.

The EU has nurtured democracy in many countries. Democracy means not only elections and voting. It means the Rule of Law and much more besides. 

Spain, Portugal and Greece had fascist dictatorships until the 1970s. Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia had communist dictatorships until the 1989 revolutions. 

The table below shows how many years each of the 28 countries in the EU have had without democracy in the last 80 years - that is in “living memory”. 

Only three countries in the EU have had no dictatorship or occupation in the last 80 years - the UK, Sweden and Ireland. Only another six countries have been democracies except during World War 2 - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. 

Only 11 of the EU countries were democracies in the years before WW2. The 28 EU countries between them have spent more time under anti-democratic rule than democratic rule over the last 80 years.

Democracy does not have deep roots in many countries in the EU. In 2016, democracy is threatened in some of them by parties of the extreme right. The EU has many faults but it has been a crucial force for peace and democracy in Europe. Let’s not repeat Chamberlain’s mistake. Let’s stay involved in the EU project. Let’s not undermine it. Isolationism can be dangerous

COUNTRY AND YEAR JOINED	YEARS WITHOUT DEMOCRACY  SINCE 1936	NOTES
Austria 1995	1936 to 1955 = 19 years	1933 to 1938 Austrian dictatorship 1938 to 1945 annexed to Nazi Germany 1945 to 1955 under Allied occupation
Belgium 1958	1939 to 1945 = 6 years	1939 to 1945 war including period of occupation by Nazi Germany
Bulgaria 2007	1936 to 1990 = 54 years	1918 to 1943 Bulgarian dictatorship 1943 to 1946 war and occupation 1946 to 1990 Communist dictatorship
Croatia 2013	1936 to 1995 = 59 years	1929 to 1941 dictatorship as part of Yugoslavia 1941 to 1945 war and occupation  1945 to 1991 Communist dictatorship  1991 to 1995 war of independence from Yugoslavia
Cyprus 2004	1936 to 1960 and 1974  = 25 years	1925 to 1960 all of Cyprus was a British colony. 1974 Cyprus invaded by Turkey and has been divided into Greek and Turkish parts ever since. 1974 also a brief lived coup in Greek Cyprus
Czech Republic 2004	1938 to 1989 = 51 years	1938 to 1945 Nazi diktats and then war and occupation 1945 to 1948 Soviet domination 1948 to 1989 Communist dictatorship 1993 country split into Czech Republic and Slovakia
Denmark 1973	1940 to 1945 = 5 years	1940 to 1945 occupation by Nazi Germany
Estonia 2004	1936 to 1991 = 55 years	1934 to 1939 Estonian dictatorship 1940 Soviet occupation 1941 to 1944 Nazi Germany occupation 1944 to 1991 Communist dictatorship as part of USSR
Finland 1995	1939 to 1945 = 6 years	1939 to 1945 war including period of occupation by Soviets
France 1958	1939 to 1945 = 6 years	1939 to 1945 war including period of occupation by Nazi Germany
Germany 1958	1936 to 1945 = 9 years	1933 to 1945 Nazi dictatorship Country then spit in two between 1945 and 1990
Greece 1981	1936 to 1949 1967 to 1974 = 20 years	1936 to 1941 Greek dictatorship 1941 to 1944 occupation by Nazi Germany 1945 to 1949 Civil War 1967 to 1974 Greek dictatorship
Hungary 2004	1936 to 1989 = 53 years	1936 - 1939 Hungarian dictatorship 1940 to 1949 war and occupation 1949 to 1989 Communist dictatorship
Ireland 1973		Democracy for whole period Neutral in WW2
Italy 1958	1936 to 1945  = 9 years	1922 to 1945 Mussolini dictatorship
Latvia 2004	1936 to 1991 = 55 years	1934 to 1940 Latvian dictatorship 1940 to 1944 both Soviet and Nazi Germany occupation 1944 to 1991 Communist dictatorship as part of USSR
Lithuania 2004	1936 to 1991 = 55 years	1926 to 1940 Lithuanian dictatorship 1940 to 1944 both Soviet and Nazi Germany occupation 1944 to 1991 Communist dictatorship as part of USSR
Luxembourg 1958	1939 to 1945 = 6 years	1939 to 1945 War, occupation and annexation to Nazi Germany
Malta 2004	1936 to 1964 = 28 years	Malta was a British colony until gained independence in 1964
Netherlands 1958	1939 to 1945 = 6 years	1939 to 1945 WW2 including period of occupation by Nazi Germany
Poland 2004	1936 to 1989 = 53 years	1926 to 1939 Polish dictatorship 1939 to 1945 occupation by Nazi Germany and USSR 1945 to 1989 Communist dictatorship
Portugal 1986	1936 to 1974 = 38 years	1926 to 1974 Portugese dictatorship Portugal was neutral in WW2
Romania 2007	1938 to 1989 = 51 years	1938 to 1944 Romanian dictatorship 1944 to 1947 Soviet occupation 1947 to 1989 Communist dictatorship
Slovakia 2004	1938 to 1989 = 51 years	1938 to 1945 Nazi diktats and then war 1945 - 1948 Soviet domination 1948 to 1989 Communist dictatorship 1993 country split into Czech Republic and Slovakia
Slovenia 2004	1938 to 1990 = 52 years	1929 to 1941 dictatorial monarchy as part of Yugoslavia. 1941 to 1945 occupation and a puppet state. 1945 to 1990 Communist dictatorship.
Spain 1986	1936 to 1975 = 39 years	1936 -1939 Civil War 1939 - 1975 Franco dictatorship
Sweden 1995		Democracy for whole period Neutral in WW2
United Kingdom 1973		Democracy for whole period