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The Colonies Strike Back: The Impact of the Third World on Western Europe, 1968–1975

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2007

GIULIANO GARAVINI
GIULIANO GARAVINI*
Affiliation:
Via Torre Argentina 13, 00186 Roma, Italy; [email protected].
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Abstract

The history of western Europe and of European integration has been explained primarily with reference to internal political and economic factors, or to its relations with the United States. This article argues that decolonisation and the emergence of the Third World as a political and economic actor had a profound influence on western Europe, mainly contributing to a further weakening of the role of the nation-state. The impact of the Third World was particularly strong in the period from the global revolution of 1968 to the high point of détente in 1975.

La riposte des colonies: les effets de l'émergence du tiers monde sur l'europe occidentale, 1968–1975

L'histoire de l'Europe occidentale et de l'intégration européenne a toujours été expliquée en premier ressort par des facteurs politiques et économiques internes, ou au regard des liens avec les Etats-Unis. Cet article montre que la décolonisation et l'émergence du Tiers monde comme acteur politique et économique ont eu une profonde influence sur l'Europe occidentale, principalement en contribuant à un affaiblissement du rôle de l'Etat-nation. L'impact de l'émergence du Tiers monde a été particulièrement intense durant la période allant de la révolution globale de 1968 à 1975, au moment où la détente atteint son acmé.

Die kolonien schlagen zurück: die wirkung der ‘dritten welt’ auf die westeuropäische politik, 1968–1975

Die Geschichte Westeuropas und der europäischen Integration nach 1945 wurde bisher vor allem mit internen politischen und wirtschaftlichen Faktoren oder mit dem Hinweis auf die Bedeutung der europäisch-amerikanischen Beziehungen erklärt. Dieser Artikel argumentiert dagegen, daß Dekolonisierung und der Aufstieg der ‘Dritten Welt’ als politischer und wirtschaftlicher Akteur in den internationalen Beziehungen eine grundlegende Bedeutung für Westeuropa hatten, da diese Prozesse vor allem zur Schwächung der Rolle des Nationalstaates in Westeuropa beitrugen. Die Bedeutung der ‘Dritten Welt’ war besonders stark in der Zeit zwischen der weltweiten Revolution von 1968 und dem Höhepunkt der Entspannungspolitik im Jahre 1975.

Type
Research Article
Information
Contemporary European History , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , August 2007 , pp. 299 - 319
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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