In the hot July of 1914, a diplomatic crisis was brewing between the great powers of Europe. In most countries, though, people weren’t that concerned by the assassination of some Austrian archduke in a far-off corner of the continent. In France, for example, the public was much more interested in the scandalous trial of Mme. Henriette Caillaux, who had shot and killed the editor of Le Figaro and was later acquitted because (or so it was believed at the time) women were more emotional than men.

Europe was enjoying La Belle Époque, characterised by an extended period of peace and prosperity. Only four years earlier, a popular book by the Englishman Norman Angell, The Great Illusion, had argued that economic integration in Europe had rendered war essentially self-destructive, making militarism obsolete. When war was in fact declared in August 1914, the author H.G. Wells predicted that this would be the “war that will end war.”

Seventeen million people died in the First World War, and yet the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, is reputed to have replied cynically: “This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.”

Obviously, we still have wars in the 21st Century (and approximately 5000 people are currently dying each month in Syria’s civil war). And yet, are we ever likely to see again the sort of conflicts that tore Europe apart in the 20th Century? Have we finally reached an era of peace in Europe, at least? Has the NATO alliance and the nuclear bomb rendered European wars unwinnable? Or is, just possibly, the EU’s Nobel peace prize justified?

One of our commenters, Uğur, argued that:

There are no threats to Europe for now, and the Earth is getting smaller because of globalisation. War is getting more expensive too… In fact, war has changed shape. In the 20th Century, the tools of war were weapons. But in the 21st Century, the tools of war are economic growth, export rates and so on.

For this reason, Uğur believes that Europe does not need a common defence force, and he was not worried that European defence spending was relatively low compared to, for example, the United States.

Earlier this year, we took Uğur’s comment to Barry Pavel, Vice President of the Atlantic Council and Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, for him to respond.



We also had a comment sent in from Robert, who argued that, even if the chances of another war in Europe are now slim, there are still other threats out there:

Whilst there is no obvious state-based aggressors likely to threaten the European Union, there are several political and fundamentalist groups that still pose security risks to the safety of Europeans… [And don’t forget that] war-fighting is only one small part of what Defence Forces do – much more of their activity is centred on responding to natural disasters and other emergencies… Defence Forces provide sea and mountain rescue services, distribute aid, and also ensure transportation, water and energy supplies are maintained in the face of disaster or strikes.

For this reason, Robert believed that a common European Defence Force would be a benefit to all Europeans. We took his comment to Artis Pabriks, the Latvian Defence Minister, to see what he thought. He was clear that a more federal approach to military thinking would be beneficial, but doubted the political will existed to undertake such a project:

[The EU should make] thinking in the military and defence sphere more federal, and find small amounts of seed money – I’m not speaking about a huge amount of money – for common projects… but you need political willingness to do this, and this is what we are lacking.



Finally, we spoke to Michael Gahler, a German MEP with the centre-right Centre-Right and a member of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on Security and Defence. Public budgets are under pressure because of the economic crisis at the moment, and many people argue that defence spending should not be spared from these cuts. Is it possible to maintain defence spending in times of austerity?



IMAGE CREDITS: CC / Flickr – John Powell