Monday 30 May 2016

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


2 comments:

  1. Almost a quarter of Ireland remains occupied by the British. One of the last corners of Empire

    ReplyDelete
  2. KilburnKorbynista3 June 2016 at 01:10

    Micheal, you may not have heard, there's been a deal. Signed by the British & Irish governments and all the parties in the North, and ratified by referendums in both the North and the Republic. It's great news - the war is over, nobody has to die anymore.

    ReplyDelete