Unity and Differentiation in the history of Europe

这一联合研究项目的主题是“欧洲历史上的统一和区别”，这是一个由10个案例研究组成的比较研究。研究领域涵盖了地理和时间上的广泛范围，从古代东方一直到现代欧洲，涵盖从美索不达米亚世界到罗马和希腊帝国再到欧洲和美国的分散地区。有一种趋势是将现代的颠覆性运动，如宗教改革、民族主义的兴起和民族国家之间的冲突解释为反对欧洲统一。然而，我们认识到，欧洲的团结和历史意识是基于共同的原则，即古典希腊和罗马的人文主义思想，启蒙时期的理性主义，以及基督教信仰的普遍性。正是这些基本的思想潮流和共同的传统不仅有助于维护欧洲的团结，而且还导致欧洲的进一步一体化及其普遍的团结原则。各种冲突和对抗运动是对统一的欧洲争夺霸权的对抗。通过这些冲突，欧洲的优越性不仅没有被削弱，反而得到了加强。对欧洲价值观优越性的共同信念面临着来自其他信仰体系和国家形成的严峻挑战，例如伊斯兰教世界或以美国为代表的移民国家。历史的变化和环境无疑将给欧洲的传统、文化和社会带来变化，但我们共同研究揭示的欧洲团结背后的机制应该为理解过去和现在增加一个新的层面。

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.