Confronting Europe

Two great antagonistic blocs are

consolidated in Europe in the late

nineteenth century. For one, the Triple

Entente, including France, UK and

Russia. Furthermore, the Triple Alliance

with Germany, Austria-Hungary and

Italy.

The desire of the imperialist

countries, nationalist and patriotic

exaltation and promoting the desire to

maintain and extend political and

economic weight itself represents these

alliances look askance and prepare for

war.

It is the time of armed peace.

Europe spends on armaments and

numerous resources, however, there is

a war, but you begin to see as

imminent.

European Unión

Nowadays, the European Union has

28 Member States and one of its main

objectives is to promote human rights

inside and around the world.

Human dignity, freedom, democracy,

equality, rule of law and respect for

human rights are fundamental values.

The EU institutions are legally

bound to defend, like national

governments when they implement EU

law.

The European Union has made

possible half a century of peace,

stability and prosperity.

A fateful day

28th June, 1914. Archduke Franz

Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-

Hungary, and his wife Sophie are

assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnian

Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

A diplomatic crisis and Austria-

Hungary gives an ultimatum to the

Kingdom of Serbia breaks. Begin

demonstrations and various

international partnerships forged over

the decades are invoked. Within weeks,

all the major European powers at war

and conflict spreads throughout the

world

A date for hope

On 9th May, 1950, French Foreign

Minister, Robert Schuman, proposed in

Paris a new form of political

cooperation in Europe to do unthinkable

a new war between European nations.

The creation of a European Coal and

Steel whose members would share the

production of coal and steel is

proposed.

The "Declaration of Shuman" is

considered the beginning of what is

now the European Union. Each 9th

May, Europe Day, peace and unity of

the continent is celebrated.

Europe of enemies

A process that inevitably leads to

war is triggered. The advertisement of

the moment calls to the defense of the

homeland front of an enemy that

threats the same civlisation.

From the government is requested

to all sectors to aside differences and

unite behind the higher national

interests.

The press also plays an important

role in this process exaggerating the

qualities of the nation and ridiculing or

decreasing foreign people. of the British

Secretary at the time for the war,

United in diversity"

" United in diversity" is the

motto of the European Union.

It signifies how Europeans

have come together, in the form of the

EU, to work for peace and prosperity,

while at the same time being enriched

by the continent's many different

cultures, traditions and languages.

Europe calls to the war

The warlike cartels of the I World

War present the conflict as a crusade.

There were cartels of recruitment,

cartels that were requesting economic

support (bonds of war), and cartels that

were spreading the atrocities of the war,

in which each side presented the other

as a villain.

Example of a cartel of recruitment

was “Lord Kitchener Wants You” by

Alfred Leete (1914). It is a succinct and

direct cartel, in which there are

perceived the eyes and the gesture of

the British Secretary at the time for the

war,

Europe calls for the polls

"

Around 400 million people will be

called to the polls across Europe,

among themselves 36 million Spanish,

to choose the members of the

European Parliament.

The European elections, from 22nd

to 25th May 2014, will enable the

citizens of Europe to decide the political

direction of the EU for the next five

years.

The resulting European Parliament

will determine, for the first time in the

history of the EU, who will be the next

president of the Commission, the

executive councile of the Union.

Enthusiasm for war

Youth received with enthusiasm that

„liberating war‟ that would put an end to

all the wars. Many lived worried thinking

about that the war would put an end

before they even could participate in it;

the thoughts were that it was going to

be short/brief (usa el que quieras).

After the declaration of war, a lot of

different and massive demonstrations

of patriotic exaltation were seen in

Berlin, Wien, Paris, and the „British-

Youth‟ turned to join the army.

The demonstrations were on the street,

flaming the flags, cheering the recruits

that marched with the face illuminated

and triumphant.

.

Young Solidary Europe

One of every 5 young people and

more than a hundred million European,

develop any kind of voluntary work.

There are very many different ways of

being a volunteer. Every voluntary gets

moved because of any type of

motivation, every aim they are looking

forward to is equally necessary.

In general lines, being a volunteer

makes you committed (in a non

interested way), to help someone else

and, normally, in an organized way

helped by an institution or any kind of

project.

Youth in Action, is a program of the

„European Commission‟ to promote the

volunteering and the exchanges

between the youth.

.

A terrible war

What was to be a short and glorious

war, which surely would end before

Christmas became a nightmare.

Never before in history so many

countries had fought to each other and

such a lot of weapons had been used

as deadly as in World War I. This

confrontation spread destruction and

misery all around Europe.

The huge equipment and resources

that some industrialized countries had,

made from it the more damaging war

and the one with most deaths ever in

history , the "Great War."

The Schuman Declaration

In a speech given in Paris in 1950,

French Foreign Minister Robert

Schuman proposed the creation of the

European Community of Coal and Steel

(ECSC) whose members would work

together in the production of coal and

steel. This is considered the beginning

of what is now the European Union

"The pooling of the production of

coal and steel (...) will change the

destinies of those regions which in long

time have dedicated themselves to the

manufacture of weapons, which they

themselves have been the first victims."

(Text of the Schumann Declaration)

Cruelty

The "Great War" breaks with

everything seen so far and advances in

cruelty, death and destruction.

Four years, three months and

fourteen days, in which fields were

destroyed by a continuous artillery fire

and became a hell of mud, barbed wire

and mines.

The enormous losses on both

sides of the conflict, in part, resulted

from the introduction of new weapons

like the machine gun and gas, as well

as the fact that the military leaders did

not adapt their tactics to the

increasingly mechanized nature of war.

The European Dignity

"The Union is founded on the

indivisible and universal values of

human dignity, freedom, equality and

solidarity, and is based on the principles

of democracy and the rule of law.

Instituting the Union of citizenship and

creating an area of freedom, security

and justice, the individual were located

at the heart of its activities“

Preamble to the Charter of

fundamental Rights of the

European Union

Europe in the trenches

In the first winter the war had already

become a war of trenches that was

extended over 764 km from the North

Sea to the Swiss border.

In the trenches the soldiers were

crowded , nearly always wet and

muddy in a cold and damp land such as

Northern France and Southern

Belgium. The conditions were appalling;

there were floods , mud, rats and

corpses.

The trenches of the front line were

the target of heavy fire ; the men got

out of the trenches to advance and

attack enemy troops that were

defended by guns.

The Schengen Area

Based on the Schengen Treaty of 1985

, it represents a territory where the free

movement of persons is guaranteed.

The states that have signed it have

abolished all internal borders and

instead they‟ve established a single

external border .

Anyone that has lawfully entered by an

external border or lives in one of the

countries applying the Convention cantravel freely from one member state to

another.

There are 24 countries taking part in

the Schengen system , thanks to it you

don‟t need a passport or you can go to

work or study in another European

country, for example.

The Christmas Truce

In the picture above, some kids

deposit soccer balls on the cross that

remember the 1914 Christmas truce in

Ypres (Belgium) , where there was an

unofficial cease fire and soldiers from

enemy trenches fraternized

spontaneously.

In addition to sharing carols

yearning their homes and exchanged

things, the time was used to bury the

dead from the battlefield. Among the

stories told about that brief time of

respite, there is one about a football

match between England and Germany.

Democratic passion

Today European citizens have

common values, that are shared and

innate in which we can t understanding

a society that is not democratic, free,

peaceful or protected by the law. The

European Union law requires that

candidate countries fulfill these

principles to be admitted.

In this context, passion and feelings

of belonging to a country or a football

team, are expressed today in a different

manner from they were expressed in

the beginning of the war. The European

Union has already made more than six

decades of “Christmas truce ".

Inventions for death

The fatal consequences of the war

were due largely to technological

developments that were used during

their development.

The plane as an instrument of war,

submarine, powerful canyons and good

range, flamethrower, the chemical and

biological war…

The scientific and technical

advances of European civilization of the

nineteenth century and the use of

industrial mass production made their

effects lethal for millions of people.

European technology

The CERN is an international lab

with 20 member states which is one of

the largest and most highly regarded

centers for scientific research. It has

got the biggest particle accelerator in

the world, which in 2012 was finally

identified the Higgs Boson. An

emblematic example of how Europe

has led a collective effort to solve one

of the deepest mysteries of physics.

Airbus S.A.S., European Aeronautic

Defense and Space company, is since

2011, the largest manufacturer of

planes and aeroscape equipment in the

world.

Places of horror

Battle of Verdun. Northeast of France.

From 21 February to 19 December

2016. A quarter of a million deaths and

half a million injured from both sides.

Battle of the Somme. North of France.

More than a million casualties. On his

first day, 1 July 1916, the British

suffered 57,740 casualties, of which

19,240 were deathly, and is the

bloodiest battle in their history.

These wars will be the bloodiest battles.

Others, such as Ypres, South Belgium,

will be remembered like the first wars,

where poison gas was used.

Places of the Union

Treaty of Rome. Signed in 1957, it

constitutes the European Economic

Community.

Maastricht Treaty. Signed in 1992 in

the Dutch city. The Treaty establishes a

European citizenship, strengthened the

powers of the European Parliament and

initiates economic and monetary union.

Lisbon Treaty. Was signed in 2007 and

amended two previous treaties to

improve the function of the European

Union. The Charter of Fundamental

Rights of the European Union, it

becomes binding on states.

Woman in War

The role of women has changed

dramatically with war, it went from

housewife to worker, nurse ...

The need to maintain the supplies

for the war and the mobilization of huge

armies caused the rear to become

orphan of manpower and had to resort

to the women to maintain the

production. This fact lead to a

revolution for their situation, because it

not only affected the industrial sector

jobs that were traditionally occupied by

males that were filled then by women,

and was soon common to see

waitresses, secretaries and tram

conductors.

The woman in the EU

The equality between men and

women is one of the main principles of

Community law.

The objectives of the European

Union on equality between men and

women are to ensure the same

opportunities and treatment between

men and women and combat

discrimination based on sex.

The European Parliament is actively

involved in driving to this equality and

promote a decent treatment. This year,

the campaign of the international

Women's Day has focused on raising

awareness and alert the Europeans on

the problem of abuse.

A Shattered Europe

A Europe lost about 10 million young

men who had participated in the war as

soldiers. Germany, two million, France,

1,400,000; Britain, 770,000; Italy,

530,000; Serbia, 400,000; Russia

1,700,000.

Also you should add to the 20

million disabled and the large number

of orphans who were left.

The brutality of this war still being

present in the landscape deformed

parts of the contention.

Una Europa galardonada

La Unión Europea fue galardonada

en el año 2012 con el premio Nobel de

la Paz.

“El premio es el mayor

reconocimiento posible a las

motivaciones políticas profundas que

sustentan nuestra Unión: el esfuerzo

sin precedentes, por parte de un

número cada vez mayor de Estados de

Europa, para superar la guerra y las

divisiones, y conformar entre todos un

continente en paz y prosperidad”

(Declaración conjunta de los

presidentes de la Comisión Europea y

el Consejo Europeo, Herman Van

Rompuy y Jose Manuel Durão

Barroso)

A Europe awarded

The European Union was awarded

in 2012 the Nobel Peace Prize.

"The award is the highest possible

recognition of the deep political

motivations underpinning our Union:

unprecedented effort by a growing

number of European states to

overcome war and divisions, and

prosperity "

(Joint Statement of the Presidents

of the European Commission and the

European Council, Herman Van

Rompuy and Jose Manuel Durão

Barroso)

In Flanders Fields

"In Flanders Fields" is a war poem

written during World War II by

Canadian doctor John McCrae, a

Lieutenant Colonel.

He wrote it on May 3, 1915, after the

funeral of his friend and classmate,

Alexis Helmer, a soldier who died in

the Second Battle of Ypres.

It refers to the poppies that covered

the graves of soldiers, that’s the

reason why this flower has become

one of the symbols of the First World

War.

Poppy day

El día del recuerdo, también

conocido como Poppy Day (Día de la

amapola) se celebra cada 11 de

Noviembre, día que acabó la Primera

Guerra mundial, en los páises de la

Commonwealth. Ese día se recuerda

a los caídos de aquella guerra y por

extensión de todos los conflictos.

En Europa, con la conmemoración

del primer centenario de la Primera

Guerra Mundial, se celebrarán

numerosos actos que recuerdan este

conflicto y nos invitan a no dejarlo caer

en el olvido.

Hour 11 Day 11 Month 11

Exhausted by war and with

serious internal riots, Germany gives

up. In a railway carriage in the forest of

Compiègne, the armistice is signed.

The end of the war is officially at 11 am,

on 11 November 1918.

However, the harsh

conditions and sanctions that are

imposed on Germany by the Treaty of

Versailles, will leave a wound without

closing.

Just two decades later, in

June 1940, Hitler specifically will order

to sign the surrender of France in the

same wagon of Compiegne. The Great

War will be finally only the first part of

the tragedy

Learning from mistakes

Again shattered by the Second

World War, the reconstruction of

Europe will try to carry out together and

promoting new relations between the

countries which leave behind rivalry

and revenge.

The Covenant spirit that underlies in

the different plans and treaties that will

be signed in Europe thereafter, are the

essential core of what will be the

European Union and have meant the

historical period of peace and

prosperity that we enjoy today.

Realization

http://clarinscola.blogspot.com.es/

http://www.euro-scola.com/

Image obtained from official publications

and educational materials of the European Union

http://europa.eu

and various web pages published the commemoration of the first world war

http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en

http://www.firstworldwar.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww1

http://www.iwm.org.uk/centenary