ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the different geographical and cultural shapes that Europe has taken throughout centuries, starting from the mythological origins of the word ‘Europe’ and tracing its evolution through Antiquity, Roman times, the onset and expansion of Christianity, the Age of Empire, the French Revolution, the wars of the nineteenth century, the overall process of industrialisation, and nation-formation in the different parts of Europe to conclude with how the two world wars have shaped our contemporary understanding of Europe and shaped the origins, or rather the wish, for a united Europe. This is not a chapter on European history, though, or on the history of Europe: it is a chapter on the changing locations and shapes that Europe has taken over history with a view to highlighting the relationship of the term ‘Europe’ with other influential notions in each historical period such as Classical Greece, the Roman Empire, Christianity, the mission civilisatrice, modernity, and so on.
