Western Europe

Western Europe refers to the countries generally in the westernmost half of Europe, but the definition is complex and carries political connotations. As a result, geographically eastern countries (Finland, Greece) that steered clear of Soviet influence during the Cold War are usually included, while Western members of the former Eastern Bloc (Czech Republic, Slovenia) are excluded.

In addition, the term has geographic, economic and cultural aspects. Since the end of World War II, the term has been used to describe the high-income developed countries of western Europe, characterized by democratic political systems, mixed economies combining the free market with aspects of the welfare state, alliance with the United States, and membership in NATO.

Classical antiquity and medieval origins

As Roman domain expanded a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek-speaking eastern provinces which had formed the highly urbanized Hellenistic civilization. In contrast, the western territories largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire

The division between these two was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as Byzantine Empire, managed to survive and even to thrive for another 1000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe.

The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish Empire) led to a change of the importance of Roman Catholic/Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe.

Historical events like the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther and the Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church, the Age of Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution are considered to be common during the final stages of World War II the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference, between the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.

Post-war Europe would be divided into two major spheres: the West, influenced by the United States, and the Eastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain.

This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and later Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri:

Although some countries were officially neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political and economical systems. This division has largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe till this day.

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe, in the view accepted after the second World War, was mainly composed of all the European countries liberated and then occupied by the Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic, widely known as East Germany, formed by the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe had communist regimes imposed upon them. Most of these countries were officially independent from the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence was quite limited. In some matters many of them were little more than client-states of the Soviet Union.

Currently, the borders of Eastern Europe are a topic of debate, especially because of the countries and people of Western culture, identifying themselves with Central Europe.

• Most of these countries were members of the military Warsaw pact and its economic twin COMECON. First and foremost was the Soviet Union (which by itself included Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine). Other countries dominated by the Soviet Union were the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania.

• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (formed after World War II and before its later dismemberment) was not a member of the Warsaw Pact. It was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, an organization created in an attempt to avoid being assigned to any of the two blocs. It was demonstratively independent from the Soviet Union for most of the Cold War period, but because of its communist regime it was widely regarded part of the Eastern/communist bloc.

• Albania broke with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, aligning itself instead with China. Despite this, it had a communist regime and thus was considered part of the Eastern/communist bloc.

Western Europe

At the end of the World War II almost all countries of Western Europe received economical assistance from the United States through the Marshall Plan. Most joined NATO and/or the European Community or its rival, the European Free Trade Association.

Western Europe was composed of:

• The United Kingdom and France, one of the several victors of the war.
• The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg countries who had been occupied by Nazi Germany and subsequently liberated by the Western Allies.
• The Federal Republic of Germany, widely known as West Germany, which had been formed by the three occupation zones of Germany belonging to the Western Allies (USA, UK, and France). The whole of Germany is now regarded as Western Europe
• Italy, a former Axis Power who had surrendered and been occupied by the Western Allies.
• Ireland gained its independence in 1922 from the United Kingdom. It remained neutral during the war. It never joined NATO but it joined the European Union in 1973.
• The Nordic countries were a peculiar case. Denmark and Norway had been conquered by Nazi Germany but were not liberated by the allies. During the war Iceland, then still united with Denmark under a common king, had been invaded and occupied by the United Kingdom and the United States without any casualties by either side. In fact Iceland proclaimed its full independence during the war.
• Sweden had managed to remain neutral throughout the war.
• Finland had been invaded by the Soviet Union twice (Winter War, Continuation War) but the Soviets couldn't defeat them. After the Winter War in 12 March 1940 the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed and after the Continuation War an armistice between the Soviet Union and Finland was signed on 19 September. (see also: Moscow Peace Treaty, peace treaty, Moscow Armistice).

• Austria and Switzerland were also a peculiar case. Austria had been incorporated into Nazi Germany through the Anschluss before the war, while Switzerland had managed to remain neutral throughout WWII. After the war both of them remained neutral, in the case of Austria through the Austrian State Treaty. Austria later joined the European Union but not NATO. Switzerland declined membership of NATO and the European Union and joined EFTA instead.

Other countries also became increasingly part of Western Europe.

• Countries who were under the rule of authoritarian regimes, Portugal, Spain, and Greece became parliamentarian democracies in the mid-1970s. The first two are situated in the geographic south-west of Europe, while the last one is located in the south-east of it. They joined the European Union after the political changes at home. Spain and Greece joined NATO in the process, but Portugal was indeed a founding member of NATO (1949) and EFTA (1960), during the Estado Novo regime (1932-1974).
• The European microstates of Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Andorra and Liechtenstein are considered part of Western Europe but they are mainly overlooked. Many of these states have special agreements and treaties with the European Union.
• The legal status of many of the Overseas territories in Europe (Gibraltar, Channel Islands, Faroe Islands, etc) are peculiar and vary from case to case. Despite all that, they are also considered part of Western Europe.
• Malta is generally considered part of Western Europe.

Later political developments

The world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the Democratic Republic of Germany, leading to the German reunification. COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had been part of the Soviet Union regained their full independence.

Although the term Western Europe was largely defined of the Cold War, it still remains much in use. The term is commonly used in the media and in everyday use both in "western" and other regions of Europe.

Western Europe has increasingly less to do with the European Union. The 1995, 2004, and 2007 enlargements saw many post-communist countries joining the EU, and a view that Europe is divided strictly into the West and the East is sometimes considered patronising or pejorative by many in the countries of Central Europe.

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