European History For Dummies
by Sean Lang
European History For Dummies
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Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex, England
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-10: 0-7645-7060-9 (PB)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-7060-5 (PB)
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Sean Lang studied history at Oxford and has been teaching it to school, college, and university students for the past 20 years. He is the author of British History For Dummies and has written textbooks on nineteenth and twentieth century history. He is Honorary Secretary of the Historical Association and co-editor of Twentieth Century History Review. He writes regularly for the Times Educational Supplement and for BBC History Magazine and has written on history teaching for the Council of Europe. Sean is currently based in Cambridge where he is Research Fellow in History at Anglia Ruskin University.
Authors Acknowledgements
I must thank my editors at John Wiley, Samantha Clapp and Rachael Chilvers, who have shown a lot more patience with my hectic schedule than I am sure I deserve. Alan Palmer was invaluable on the history of the Baltic region and Nicolas Kinloch and Marc Polonsky both gave me good ideas for the Part of Tens. To my in-laws, Phyllis and Monica Graham of Cockermouth, and my friends Laure and Alain Renouf of Aix-en-Provence, all of whom put me up (and put up with me) over the summer while I was writing this, I owe special thanks. Finally, my thanks go to John Hooper writer, journalist, European, and very forbearing Kraftwerk fan.
Publishers Acknowledgements
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Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
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Project Editor: Rachael Chilvers
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Commissioning Editor: Samantha Clapp
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Special Help: Jan Withers and Jennifer Bingham
Cover Photo: CORBIS: Sandro Vannini, Bettmann, David Lees, Archivo Iconografico, S.A., Austrian Archives; Getty Images: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, French School, BAVARIA
Cartoons: Rich Tennant, www.the5thwave.com
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Introduction
O ne afternoon in 1983, when I was living and working in Paris, I was heading into the Place de la Concorde when I noticed some people running across it, something you dont usually do unless youve got an advanced death wish. Some sort of student demonstration was going on. The students chanted