ABSTRACT
The history of Europe in the twentieth century is inseparable from the history of warfare. The twentieth century was by far the world’s most destructive and Europe felt the brunt of its impact. Two major global wars characterized the first half of the century and the threat of nuclear annihilation haunted the second half. Under the surface of these great power conflagrations raged several smaller wars, many of them fought by Europeans at a great distance from the continent. Even those societies that tried to remain neutral during these wars, such as Holland, were radically transformed by the wars fought around them. To be European in the twentieth century was, by definition, to be impacted and shaped by war.
