The 77th civil war in Europe

Political: Ukraine, the 77th civil war in Europe

The Article’s Persian version was published on Feb 27, 2022.

Between the 30-year wars (1618- 1648) and the war in Ukraine last week, Europe has experienced 76 wars between them, I.e., in these 373 years, there has been an average war in Europe every five years.

Fars news; Note- Saadullah Zarei: Ukraine crisis and its current war are considered full-view mirrors of the Western order. It is a European war, a fight between the Allies, the ones who won the World Wars in Europe.

During the last 70 years, some people in Iranian universities and some other universities outside Europe pretended and propagated that the outbreak of war was related to uncivilized nations – non-Europeans! – And it has fallen behind the coordinates of societies! In a seemingly theoretical and scientific statement, these professors introduced the Middle East – West Asia – as the center of endless and bloody conflicts and said that the war in the Middle East does not end, but like a cloud, it only moves from one place in the Middle East to another.

Meanwhile, there was no mention that the bloody wars in the Middle East do not occur in an internal process only but are the product of global policies.

We may have poor historical memory, but history does not lack memory. The fact is that, in terms of numbers, casualties, and destruction, Europe and, better say, the West has been involved in civil wars more than other regions. Between the 30-year wars (1816- 1846) and the war in Ukraine last week, Europe has experienced 76 wars among them; That is, in these 373 years,

there has been an average war in Europe every five years. That is the Europe of the industrial and modern era, not Europe of the Middle Ages! When we compare the continents with others, Europe has the smallest area, population, and number of countries. Interestingly, the terms like Order, International Order, and Honorable International Agreements are attributed to Europe, thus in the popular world Literature and some universities remind them, without hesitation, as noble human achievements.

Unfortunately, those noble achievements! are acquired through the bloody wars between the European powers, and the bloodshed of hundreds of thousands and sometimes the death of about 80 million military and civilian people.

In our universities, the Westphalian contract or treaty, sometimes called the Westphalian system, is one of the sources of peaceful conflicts and competition settlement, documented under Europe’s name after 30 years of war between the governments of Central Europe. In that war Austria and Spain were against France, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. It was concluded in the year 1648 AD.

The purpose of this agreement was to stabilize the power of European governments and to respect the territorial integrity of Central European countries from each other. So, this new order was all about Europe, trying to curb the war among themselves, and had nothing to do with the rest of the world, so that it could be called a “human achievement”!!

Of course, later, when those six Central European countries laid the foundation for the development of their colonies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, this rule was also implemented in the colonial countries, preventing the intervention of Europe in the affairs of Asian, African, and South America countries. It meant respecting Spain’s colonies and not interfering with Austria’s colonies in this country and in other Central European countries. Moreover, since the conclusion of the Treaty of Westphalia, the territorial integrity of other countries has never been respected by the European powers.

Interestingly the Treaty of Westphalia could not even prevent new wars between the powers of Central Europe!

As mentioned earlier, between the conclusion of Westphalia and the war in Ukraine last week, 76 large, medium, and small bloody wars have occurred between Central European countries. Moreover, the current war in Ukraine is among the Second World War victorious countries of Europe, a war that broke out in the geography of Europe and spread to other parts of the world.

The multipolar system known as the Concert of Europe, a combination of the four countries Russia, Prussia, Austria, and England, was concluded in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, which led to the deaths of millions of Europeans. This system is considered an effective international initiative in our universities!

The system ruled the world until the beginning of the First World War in 1914. The system was born through the Europeans’ wars, established to stop the fight among them. But this system, which had no benefits for non-European countries, could not even prevent the outbreak of war in Central Europe.

The World War II happened soon. In this war, about 85 million Europeans were killed, and twice as many were injured or disabled. The victorious powers of the First World War signed the Treaty of Versailles to stop the war between them. The treaty lasted less than two decades!

The European powers violated the territorial integrity of their internal rivals, and the Second World War happened and ended after six years. About 85 million people were killed, 20 million of which were from the Russian Army, although Russia was initially neutral in this war and did not want to get involved in Germany’s war with France and England. World War II also led to a new system formation – the so-called bipolar system – between Russia and the West.

The bipolar system formation base was on the laws of Versailles and Vienna. It was considered a continuation of the previous initiative of the Europeans. A bipolar system was established with the slogan of stopping war and resolving issues through law and order. United Nations Security Council was formed by the victorious countries in World War II. Its mission was to prevent war between countries with veto rights.

However, two years after the end of the Second World War, America as the most significant founder of the new world order started the war between the victorious countries of the Second World War in 1947. The name of this war was Cold War, against the Soviet Union and its European partners.

It was aimed at political, economic, propaganda, espionage, and proxy wars. Americans were in charge of that war, but it ultimately was between Eastern Europe (including Russia, Poland, East Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Albania) against Western Europe (including the rest of Europe).

The effects of it were not less than a hot war. By the way, within two years, it also acquired a military aspect. The creation of two collective military agreements between Europeans, namely the NATO Treaty (in 1949) and the Warsaw Pact (in 1955), led to effects that can still be observed. Moreover, the war in Ukraine should be considered the result of the Cold War and the consequence of the NATO and Warsaw Pacts.

Contrary to someone’s expectations, war makes sense in Europe and is not orderly. War and its use to settle disputes is the only element of European order.

Europeans have played a significant role alongside the US or under the command of the US in all trans-European wars. For example, at the same time, America, France, England, Germany, and some other European governments are in the Yemen war. If you doubt, look at the deadly weapons used against Yemeni civilians. None of the weapons and ammunition have the sign of “made in Saudi Arabia.” Look at these countries’ relentless legal, political, military, intelligence, and weapon support against the innocent Yemenis.

Europe undoubtedly plays a role in the wars that have taken place between countries outside of it. Sometimes this role has been a proxy war to eliminate Europe’s opponents on other continents. Those wars have been against the same countries that recognized their territorial integrity and independence in the Westphalia Agreement, the Versailles and Vienna Agreement, and the United Nations Security Council Charter!

The war in Ukraine is the war in Europe. It is a war whose two sides are the inheritors of Westphalia, Versailles, Vienna, and New York. These wars do not end because they have never stopped. The world must be governed by noble humane rules, and it will only happen if countries play equal roles in significant global affairs.