This short (just over 200 pages) history of European warfare since the mid-19th century fascinated me. Sheehan points out the remarkably rapid evolution of states like Britain, France and Germany from militarized, mass conscript army nations to what he terms the civilian state, where the rational for statehood is the welfare of citizens and where armies are professional and small rather than large and conscripted. I don't agree with everything Sheehan says but this is the first popular book I have read that both highlights and explains what must surely be one of the twentieth century's most amazing developments, the turn away from total war as an extension of politics. ( )

A good overview of international history in Europe in the 20th century. Says that Europe will not be a superpower. Argues that European countries have become civilian states dedicated to promoting individual welfare. 'The EU is made up of 'consumers and producers, not citizens'. The EU comes with rights and privileges, not responsibilities and commitments.' ( )

European Pacifism Analyzed

In this relatively short book, James J. Sheehan, professor of History at Stanford, describes the constant dialectic between militarism and pacifism and how Europe came to choose pacifism. The book serves as a perfect companion text to your typical college-level exhaustive textbook on 20th Century European History.

Sheehan's major thesis is that: "first, the obsolescence of war is not a global phenomenon but a European one ... second, the disappearance of war after 1945 created both a dramatically new international system within Europe and a new kind of European state" (xvii).

To his first argument, you could make a small counter-argument that countries like Japan and Costa Rica are equally obsolescent of war and therefore Europe is not unique. To his second argument, the disappearance of war (if one actually sees it so) has been very much gradual which Sheehan himself admits and has had its violent setbacks along the way which Sheehan also admits.

Throughout the 20th century we have seen this dialectic between militarism and pacifism play out. After WWI, Sheehan writes: "Pacifism was no longer an eccentric opinion but an unavoidable response to the logic of history" (p105). Yet, Europe descended into an even more devastating world conflict in WWII, so much so that "Germans sometimes called 1945 'year zero', a time suspended between past and present when history had come to an end" (p144).

Post-war Europe, completely taken hostage by the superpower struggle of the Cold War on the one hand, and enjoying unprecedented economic prosperity on the other. Sheehan writes: "The emergence of a new Europe therefore, was not the cause of the long peace after 1945; peace was the new Europe's necessary precondition" (p162).

Though on the surface, the Balkan Wars of the 1990s represent a monumental failure of the European community to act for the sake of humanity. Yet, it is precisely because of their collective unwillingness to intervene and risk the spread of conflict that proves Sheehan's point that Europe had de-militarized and become in fact too civilian.

Sheehan begins and ends the book by contrasting the fundametally different post-9/11 perceptions between Europeans and Americans. Europeans viewed terrorism as a "persistent challenge to domestic order" and the correct solution was to "try them as criminals, not wage war against states" (p211). That much is obvious as the US has a war economy, but Sheehan does a great job by including the huge protests in cities throughout Europe leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

This is a terrific book, whether you believe that Europe is on the path towards "perpetual peace" or not. Sheehan's specialization in German history is evident but remains balanced with his inclusion of all major European states. A must read for anybody wanting to learn more about why Europe is the way it is and how it got there. ( )

4422. Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? The Transformation of Modern Europe, by James J. Sheehan (read 25 Mar 2008) This is a lucid and easy to read book, surveying the shift in Europe from a war-prone continent to the present, where the likelihood of war between European nations is blessedly remote. The author is a Stanford professor who in 2006 was president of the American Historical Association. There is an excellent 16-page bibliography and there are source notes (but no footnotes). This is a useful and solid book, well worth reading. ( )