E.Macron warned about the death of Europe: was it the same before the Second World War?

Missed more progress

E. Macron’s speech at the Sorbonne University on April 26 attracted a lot of attention not only from the French, but also from the international media. Many journalists quoted his words that Europe is mortalthat of defense progress since 2017 is minimal.

Then the president, elected to the position a few months earlier, as well spoke in this higher education. He saidthat too often Europe no longer has ambitions, no longer pushes forward either out of fatigue or out of reconciliation.

The politician suggested creating a more united Europe to withstand other forces and the changes of this century. More sovereign, so that others do not dictate their fate, values ​​and lifestyle. More democratic, because liberal democracy was born in Europe and people make their own decisions.

This time, E. Macron regretted that not everything that was planned had been accomplished, especially in terms of European democracy: “We have to admit that progress here was limited, sometimes due to the reluctance to change contracts, change rules, our collective organization. And even if there has been some innovation in this area – an important agreement and many discussions – we have not gone far enough.”

He acknowledged that there have been successes, especially in the areas of unity and sovereignty: withstanding Brexit, the pandemic. The war in Ukraine is said to have returned tragedy to everyday life.

Also read: E. Macron warns in an important speech: Europe is dying

According to the president, several steps show progress. Financial unity helped overcome the pandemic. Strategic unity has emerged in areas that used to belong to individual states, such as health. The foundations for greater technological and industrial sovereignty have begun to be laid. Europe confirmed the existence of its borders, while at the same time it began to rethink its geography within the boundaries of the neighborhood.

We must clearly understand that today our Europe is dying. She might die. And it all depends on our choices.

“But is that enough? – asked E. Macron rhetorically. – Can I come with a congratulatory speech and say: “Well, we did everything well, it’s great, Europe is strong. Let’s get on with it.”

Awareness and honesty forces us to admit that the battle is not yet won, far from it. Looking ahead to the next decade, there is a huge risk that we will be weakened or even left behind. This is because we are living in a time of unprecedented global upheaval, accelerating major transformations.

My message today is simple. At the end of the First World War, Mr. Valery stated that we now know that our civilizations are mortal. We must clearly understand that today our Europe is dying. She might die. And it all depends on our choices. These choices must be made now.”

Also read: Ch. Michel agrees with E. Macron’s opinion that the European bloc is dying

According to E. Macron, the issue of peace and war, our ability or inability to ensure our own security is currently being resolved. Fundamental changes are taking place – digitization, artificial intelligence, environment and carbon dioxide reduction, redistribution of production factors. The question now is whether Europe will be a powerhouse for innovation, research and manufacturing.

“We are at a tipping point and our Europe is dying. Simply put, it’s up to us,” concluded the French leader.

He spoke in different circumstances

Charles Michel, President of the European Council, agreed with him. However, he noted that this is not a pessimistic view – that “we have the strength and means” to deal with the challenges.

Commenting on Europe’s pro-Ukraine push for defense independence and industrial competition with the US and China, Macron warned that Europe is not immune to the risks it faces in a world where the rules of the game have changed.

They both spoke not only just before the 20th anniversary of the largest expansion of the European Union in 2004, when 10 countries joined it, but also just over a month before the European Parliament elections. This vote will help set Community policy for the coming year.

Looking ahead to the next decade, there is a huge risk that we will be weakened or even left behind.

A number of social network users also drew attention to E. Macron’s speech. Some gave indirectly https://twitter.com/PhilosophyFails/status/1783891795509960756 with the president, others bite https://twitter.com/lonanglo/status/1783874298567913791 P.Valery’s idea.

Some connected both quotes with geopolitical current affairs – wars both at one time and another. “Nothing new under the sun, it’s important not to forget history, – reacted one Facebook user. – Mr. Valery said exactly the same thing some 80 years ago, before World War II: “Civilization is mortal, and it can die”…

I hope that the famous philosopher E. Macron (the French leader really studied philosophy – ed. post), and also when speaking at the Sorbonne, cites his sources…”

From this comment, one can get the impression that the words of both famous men sounded in similar circumstances – the poet spoke before the Second World War, the president – during the war in Ukraine. So, now we should expect a similar scenario – a huge war.

But this parallel would not be accurate – Mr. Valery’s insights were only related to the First World War and were expressed after it had already ended, so not as a prediction, but as a generalization of the results.

Election language?

The idea of ​​the death of civilizations poet, essayist, philosopher P.Valery (1871-1945) expressed shortly after the First World War, reflecting the disillusionment that had engulfed many intellectuals.

in 1919 he wrote: “We modern civilizations have learned to accept that we are mortal like everyone else.

We have heard tales of vanished worlds, of empires fallen with all their men and engines, sunk into the unfathomable depths of the ages with their gods and laws, of their academies and pure and applied sciences, their grammars, dictionaries, classics, romantics, symbolists, their critics. and critics of their criticism.

We modern civilizations have learned to accept that we are mortal like everyone else.

We knew that all visible earth was made of ashes and that ashes had meaning. Through the mists of history, we have glimpsed the ghosts of vast ships once laden with wealth and learning. We couldn’t count them. But we didn’t really care about these wrecks.

Elam, Nineveh, Babylon were vague names; the total destruction of these worlds meant as little to us as their existence. But France, England, Russia… these names are also great… And now we see that the abyss of history is deep enough to bury the whole world.

We believe that civilization is as fragile as life. Circumstances that would send the works of John Keats (English poet – ed.) and Charles Baudelaire (French poet) to Menander (ancient Greek poet – ed.) are not entirely unimaginable; they can be found in the newspapers.”

P. Valery wrote so in the book “Crisis of the Spirit”. Yuko Hui, professor of philosophy at the University of Rotterdam from Hong Kong in wordsbefore this spiritual crisis there was nihilism, the nothingness that haunted Europe until the war.

Although this state of society was probably related to the war and the prevailing mood at the time, the poet clearly did not associate the deaths of civilizations with hostilities.

E. Macron paid a lot of attention not to the war, but to other things: democracy, EU structure, modern technologies, health care, finance and economy, competition with the USA and China, security in a very broad sense. He spoke about Community policy, decisions and development, not about European civilization in general.

By the way, some commentators assessed the insights of the president – first of all the leader of France, not a European politician – as the soon-to-be European Parliament election campaign speechdesigned to help his Renaissance party’s faltering campaign.

15 minutes verdict: missing context. French leader E. Macron and the country’s poet P. Valery talked about death, only the latter – about the disappearance of civilizations in the depths of the ages, and the president – more about the development of the EU without taking certain actions. P.Valery did not share his insights before the Second World War, but after the end of the First.

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