Introduction

During the last couple of decades, new social relations have emerged and strong ties have been established among people from different societies in Europe. Although economy has clearly been the most advanced part of the integration, very little of national social life has remained unaffected by intensive and often new forms of interaction across the continent. People travel not only for business purposes but also for vacation; they work and study abroad; they purchase food and other products and consume news, music and television programmes coming from abroad, which inform them about what is happening in other countries. It is without doubt that the growing contacts and cooperation do not equally influence all social groups and countries in Europe, and people from different countries largely maintain their own languages and cultures. Still, as a result of these comprehensive and intensive links and the high level of interdependence among European countries, Europe has become a major element of people's lives on the continent, and many citizens consider themselves as Europeans. ¹ It falls upon historians to respond in their own ways to these changes and synergies by considering not only the past of national societies, but also by examining Europe as a whole, even if this endeavour clearly implies several pitfalls. This volume attempts to do this by covering most of the regions and major aspects of social life of twentieth-century Europe, as much as possible and plausible in a single-volume historical work.