Unity and Differentiation in the history of Europe

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The theme of this joint research project "Unity and Differentiation in the history of Europe" was approached as a comparative study consisting of 10 case studies. The areas of research cover a broad spectrum both geographically and temporally, beginning with the Ancient Orient all the way up to modern Europe, and covering as disperse areas as the Mesopotamian world through the Roman and Greek empires to Europe and as far as the United States.There is a tendency to interpret disruptive movements such as the Reformation, the rise of nationalism, and conflicts between nation states in modern times as working against European unity. However, we recognize that European unity and historical consciousness are based on the shared principles of the idea of humanism from classical Greece and Rome, rationalism from the Enlightenment, and the universality of the Christian faith. It is these underlying currents of thought and shared traditions that have not only helped to maintain European unity, but which also lead to further integration of Europe and its universal principle of unity. The various movements of conflict and antagonisms were confrontations for hegemony over a unified Europe. Through these conflicts the superiority of Europe was not weakened but rather strengthened.The shared belief in the superiority of European values faces a stiff challenge from other systems of belief and nation formation, such as the world of Islam or the immigrant nation represented by the United States. Historical changes and circumstances will undoubtedly bring changes to European traditions, culture and society, but the study of the mechanisms behind European unity revealed in our joint research should add a new dimension to understanding to both the past and the present.