3600 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Malta
Megalithic temples
Ġgantija and Ħaġar Qim are built a millennium before the Egyptian pyramids.
Der europäische Aufbau begann nicht 1950. Dieser Faden verbindet das antike Erbe, die jüdisch-christliche Matrix und die heutige Union.
326 Ereignisse
3600 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Malta
Ġgantija and Ħaġar Qim are built a millennium before the Egyptian pyramids.
509 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Italien
Kingship is abolished. Consuls, Senate and assemblies invent the balance of powers that modern constitutions will echo.
508 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Griechenland
Athens entrusts power to the citizens’ assembly: the first documented democracy in history.
387 v. Chr. Institution Antike Griechenland
The West’s first philosophical institution; Aristotle studies there for twenty years before founding the Lyceum.
336 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Nordmazedonien
The kingdom of Philip and Alexander carries Hellenism from Egypt to the Indus.
250 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Griechenland
The Hebrew Bible is translated into Greek in Alexandria: a decisive bridge between Judaism and the Hellenistic world.
146 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Albanien
Rome opens the road linking Dyrrachium to Constantinople: a major imperial axis for a thousand years.
52 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Frankreich
Vercingetorix surrenders to Caesar. Gaul enters the Roman orbit for five centuries and adopts Latin.
19 v. Chr. Ereignis Antike Spanien
Augustus completes the conquest. Mérida, Tarragona and Italica become leading Roman cities.
9 Ereignis Antike Deutschland
Arminius annihilates three of Varus's legions. Rome abandons the conquest of Germania and fixes its frontier on the Rhine and Danube.
14 Institution Antike Slowenien
The Roman colony, on the site of Ljubljana, guards the road from Italy to the Danube.
45 Ereignis Christianisierung Zypern
The first Christian mission outside Judaea recounted in Acts; the Roman proconsul converts.
60 Katastrophe Christianisierung Malta
The Acts of the Apostles recount the Maltese welcome: Christianity takes root at once.
64 Person Christianisierung Vatikanstadt
Tradition places the apostle’s death and tomb at the Vatican; the basilica follows from it.
106 Krieg Antike Rumänien
Trajan’s Column immortalises the campaign. Latinisation will give birth to the Romanian language.
122 Ereignis Antike Vereinigtes Königreich
The Empire fixes its northern frontier; the wall remains the island’s greatest Roman relic.
212 Text Antike Italien
Roman citizenship is extended to nearly all free men of the Empire: a legal, not ethnic, community.
301 Institution Christianisierung San Marino
Marinus, a Dalmatian stonecutter, establishes a Christian community on Mount Titano.
305 Ereignis Antike Kroatien
The emperor builds his retirement residence at Split: the modern city grew inside its walls.
313 Text Christianisierung Italien
Constantine grants freedom of worship to Christians. The Empire turns to Christianity and hands it its administrative frameworks.
325 Religion Christianisierung Türkei
The first ecumenical council formulates the creed common to all Christian churches.
330 Institution Christianisierung Griechenland
Constantine moves the imperial capital. A thousand years of Greek-speaking Christian empire begin.
431 Religion Christianisierung Zypern
The Council of Ephesus recognises the Cypriot Church’s independence, maintained for fifteen centuries.
432 Religion Christianisierung Irland
The island is Christianised without ever having been Roman: a unique case in Western Europe.
496 Religion Christianisierung Frankreich
At Reims the Frankish king converts to Nicene Christianity. The alliance of throne and altar shapes the medieval West.
529 Ereignis Christianisierung Italien
At Monte Cassino, Benedict writes the rule that will structure Western monasticism and preserve ancient texts.
537 Ereignis Christianisierung Türkei
Justinian completes a dome that European architecture will take a thousand years to equal.
589 Religion Christianisierung Spanien
The Visigothic king Reccared abjures Arianism. Spain joins Nicene Christendom and shapes its liturgy.
590 Ereignis Christianisierung Irland
The Irish monk founds Luxeuil then Bobbio and replants monastic life in Gaul and Italy.
597 Religion Christianisierung Vereinigtes Königreich
Sent by Gregory the Great, he founds the see of Canterbury and ties the island to Rome.
681 Ereignis Mittelalter Bulgarien
Byzantium recognises a Bulgarian state south of the Danube: Europe’s oldest still-named Slavic state.
711 Krieg Mittelalter Spanien
The Visigothic kingdom collapses. By the tenth century Córdoba is one of the largest cities in the world.
756 Ereignis Mittelalter Vatikanstadt
The Donation of Pepin founds a temporal power that will last eleven centuries.
793 Krieg Mittelalter Norwegen
The sack of the English monastery conventionally opens the Viking age.
800 Person Christianisierung Deutschland Frankreich
In Rome, Pope Leo III restores the Western Empire for the King of the Franks — the shared political matrix of France and Germany.
800 Text Mittelalter Irland
A masterpiece of insular illumination, symbol of Ireland’s role in transmitting texts.
863 Religion Christianisierung Slowakei
The two brothers from Thessalonica create the Glagolitic alphabet and the first Slavic liturgy.
864 Religion Christianisierung Bulgarien
Bulgaria adopts Byzantine Christianity and welcomes the disciples of Cyril and Methodius.
870 Ereignis Mittelalter Malta
Two centuries of Aghlabid rule give Maltese its Semitic base.
886 Institution Christianisierung Nordmazedonien
Clement and Naum train thousands of clerics there and spread Slavic writing.
893 Ereignis Christianisierung Bulgarien
The school of Preslav devises the script that will serve Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian.
907 Ereignis Mittelalter Slowakei
The first West Slavic state collapses; the territory passes to Hungary for a thousand years.
925 Ereignis Mittelalter Kroatien
Tomislav is recognised as king; the country anchors itself in Latin Christendom.
930 Institution Mittelalter Island
At Þingvellir the world’s oldest still-functioning parliament is born.
962 Ereignis Mittelalter Deutschland
Otto I is crowned in Rome. The Empire claims direct descent from ancient Rome and acts as the secular arm of the Church.
963 Institution Mittelalter Luxemburg
Siegfried acquires a rock on the Alzette: the castle will give the country its name.
965 Ereignis Christianisierung Dänemark
Harald Bluetooth proclaims the Christianisation of the Danes: the kingdom’s birth certificate.
966 Religion Christianisierung Polen
Poland chooses Latin Christianity, a decision that durably fixes its cultural place in Europe.
988 Religion Christianisierung Ukraine
Vladimir chooses Byzantine Christianity; Eastern Europe swings into Constantinople’s orbit.
996 Ereignis Mittelalter Österreich
An imperial charter names for the first time the “eastern realm”, origin of the name Österreich.
1000 Person Christianisierung Ungarn
Pope Sylvester II sends a crown: Hungary enters Latin Christendom.
1000 Religion Christianisierung Island
The assembly collectively decides to adopt Christianity to preserve civil peace.
1000 Religion Christianisierung Schweden
The baptism of Olof Skötkonung anchors the kingdom to Latin Christendom and to writing.
1016 Ereignis Mittelalter Dänemark
The Danish king rules England, Norway and Denmark: a North Sea empire.
1030 Krieg Christianisierung Norwegen
The death of Olaf II makes him a saint: the kingdom’s Christianisation is completed.
1066 Krieg Mittelalter Vereinigtes Königreich
William imposes a French-speaking aristocracy; English absorbs thousands of Latin words.
1085 Institution Mittelalter Spanien
The reconquered city becomes the workshop where the West recovers Greek science via Arabic and Hebrew.
1088 Institution Mittelalter Italien
Europe’s oldest university is born around the study of the Digest: Roman law becomes a living science again.
1102 Ereignis Mittelalter Kroatien Ungarn
An eight-century personal union, Croatia keeping its diet and its ban.
1143 Ereignis Mittelalter Portugal
The Treaty of Zamora recognises Afonso Henriques as king. Today’s borders begin to take shape.
1163 Ereignis Mittelalter Frankreich
From Saint-Denis to Chartres, Gothic architecture turns light into theology and spreads across Europe.
1191 Ereignis Mittelalter Zypern
After the crusade, a Frankish dynasty rules the island for three centuries.
1201 Institution Christianisierung Lettland
Bishop Albert establishes a mission city that will become the metropolis of the eastern Baltic.
1215 Ereignis Mittelalter Vereinigtes Königreich
The barons impose written limits on King John: the first milestone of constitutionalism.
1219 Religion Christianisierung Serbien
Saint Sava obtains Serbian ecclesiastical independence from Nicaea, a bedrock of national identity.
1219 Institution Christianisierung Estland
The Danish crusade establishes a fortress; the town will join the Hanse.
1220 Ereignis Mittelalter Island
Snorri Sturluson and his contemporaries commit Norse mythology and settler history to writing.
1222 Ereignis Mittelalter Ungarn
Seven years after Magna Carta, the Hungarian nobility obtains written guarantees against royal arbitrariness.
1240 Krieg Mittelalter Ukraine
The Mongol invasion destroys the capital and disperses the political legacy of Rus’.
1243 Ereignis Mittelalter San Marino
Two heads of state elected for six months: the system still operates today.
1253 Person Mittelalter Litauen
Lithuania’s only king is crowned with papal approval; the state enters the European concert.
1262 Vertrag Mittelalter Island Norwegen
Iceland recognises the sovereignty of the king of Norway; the free state ends.
1278 Ereignis Mittelalter Andorra
The feudal act sharing sovereignty is still the country’s constitutional basis.
1278 Ereignis Mittelalter Österreich
Rudolf’s victory on the Marchfeld opens six centuries of dynastic rule.
1282 Ereignis Mittelalter Lettland
Trade in timber, flax and grain links Livonia to Lübeck, Bruges and Novgorod.
1290 Institution Mittelalter Portugal
Founded by King Dinis, it transmits canon and Roman law to the whole Lusophone world.
1291 Vertrag Mittelalter Schweiz
Three Alpine valleys swear mutual assistance: the founding act of the Confederation.
1297 Ereignis Mittelalter Monaco
Francesco Grimaldi seizes the fortress; the dynasty has reigned ever since.
1302 Krieg Mittelalter Belgien
Flemish communal militias crush the French chivalry: an assertion of urban power.
1346 Ereignis Mittelalter Kosovo
The seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church is established in Kosovo, spiritual heart of the kingdom.
1348 Institution Mittelalter Tschechien
Charles IV founds Central Europe’s first university and makes Prague the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
1349 Ereignis Mittelalter Serbien
The emperor promulgates a code inspired by Byzantine law, among Europe’s oldest.
1354 Ereignis Mittelalter Luxemburg
Charles IV raises his native county to a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire.
1358 Ereignis Mittelalter Kroatien
Dubrovnik becomes an independent merchant republic and a diplomatic model.
1359 Ereignis Mittelalter Rumänien
Two Orthodox, Romance-speaking states take shape between the Carpathians, Danube and Dniester.
1364 Institution Mittelalter Polen
Casimir the Great founds one of Central Europe’s oldest universities; Copernicus will study there.
1377 Ereignis Mittelalter Bosnien und Herzegowina
Tvrtko I is crowned king; the country reaches its medieval zenith.
1387 Religion Christianisierung Litauen
The last country in Europe to convert, Lithuania seals its union with Poland.
1389 Krieg Mittelalter Serbien
Defeat by the Ottomans becomes the founding narrative of Serbian memory.
1389 Krieg Mittelalter Kosovo
The clash becomes a contested site of memory between Serbian and Albanian narratives.
1396 Krieg Mittelalter Bulgarien
The fall of Vidin completes the conquest; five centuries of domination begin.
1397 Vertrag Mittelalter Dänemark
The three Scandinavian kingdoms are united under a single crown for more than a century.
1397 Vertrag Mittelalter Norwegen
Norway enters a Scandinavian union dominated by Denmark for four centuries.
1400 – 1550 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Italien
Brunelleschi, Alberti, Michelangelo: antiquity becomes again an aesthetic norm and an intellectual programme.
1410 Krieg Mittelalter Litauen
Poles and Lithuanians break the Teutonic Order and redraw the Baltic.
1415 Ereignis Mittelalter Tschechien
Condemned at Constance, the Czech reformer becomes a national martyr and a forerunner of Luther.
1432 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Belgien
In Ghent Van Eyck completes the altarpiece that inaugurates oil painting and the Northern Renaissance.
1443 Krieg Mittelalter Albanien
Twenty-five years of resistance to the Ottomans make him a hero of Christendom.
1453 Ereignis Mittelalter Griechenland
Byzantine scholars flee to Italy with their manuscripts, feeding the Renaissance directly.
1453 Ereignis Mittelalter Türkei
Mehmed II ends the Eastern Roman Empire; Europe’s commercial and intellectual horizon shifts.
1457 Person Mittelalter Moldau
Forty-seven years of resistance to the Ottomans and of monastic foundations.
1463 Krieg Mittelalter Bosnien und Herzegowina
Four centuries of rule begin; a large share of the population converts to Islam.
1492 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Spanien
The fall of Granada, the decree expelling the Jews, Columbus’s departure: three ruptures in a single year.
1498 Entdeckung Renaissance und Reformationen Portugal
The sea route to the spices opens; Europe’s economy shifts from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
1499 Krieg Renaissance und Reformationen Schweiz
The Confederation becomes de facto free of the Holy Roman Empire, formally recognised in 1648.
1506 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Vatikanstadt
Bramante, Michelangelo then Bernini build the largest Christian edifice in the world.
1516 Text Renaissance und Reformationen Niederlande
The return to biblical sources opens the way to the Reformation and to modern textual criticism.
1516 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Montenegro
Power passes to the metropolitans of Cetinje: an Orthodox theocracy unique in Europe.
1517 Text Renaissance und Reformationen Deutschland
At Wittenberg, Luther challenges indulgences. His German Bible founds the modern language and fractures Western Christendom.
1517 Text Renaissance und Reformationen Belarus
The first book printed in Ruthenian appears in Prague, a year after Erasmus.
1523 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Schweden
Break with Denmark and with Rome: the birth of the modern Lutheran Swedish state.
1526 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Ungarn
The Hungarian army is annihilated by Suleiman. The kingdom is partitioned for 150 years.
1534 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Vereinigtes Königreich
Henry VIII breaks with Rome and declares himself head of the Church of England.
1536 Religion Renaissance und Reformationen Dänemark
The Church becomes a state Church; universal religious instruction prepares national literacy.
1536 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Schweiz
The Institutes of the Christian Religion make Geneva a centre of the European Reformation.
1536 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Slowakei
After Mohács, Bratislava becomes capital and coronation city of the Hungarian kingdom.
1539 Institution Renaissance und Reformationen Spanien
Francisco de Vitoria founds modern international law by questioning the legitimacy of conquest.
1539 Text Renaissance und Reformationen Frankreich
Francis I imposes French in public acts: the vernacular supplants Latin in administration.
1548 Text Renaissance und Reformationen Finnland
Mikael Agricola creates written Finnish so that Scripture is accessible to all.
1550 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Slowenien
Primož Trubar publishes a catechism and a primer: the birth of the written language.
1565 Krieg Renaissance und Reformationen Malta
The Order of Saint John repels the Ottoman army; all Europe follows the siege.
1566 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Bosnien und Herzegowina
The architect Mimar Hayruddin completes a work that became the symbol of Bosnian intermixing.
1569 Vertrag Renaissance und Reformationen Polen Litauen
Poland and Lithuania form a joint Commonwealth: elective monarchy and a powerful parliament.
1571 Krieg Renaissance und Reformationen Zypern
The fall of Famagusta shortly precedes Lepanto; a Turkish-speaking community settles.
1573 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Polen
The nobility guarantees religious peace while Europe sinks into wars of religion.
1579 Institution Renaissance und Reformationen Litauen
A Jesuit foundation, it becomes the intellectual hearth of the grand duchy.
1581 Ereignis Renaissance und Reformationen Niederlande
The United Provinces depose their sovereign: one of the first texts asserting that power serves the people.
1588 Vertrag Renaissance und Reformationen Belarus
A code in the Ruthenian language, among the most advanced in Europe of its time.
1600 Vertrag Renaissance und Reformationen Rumänien
A brief union of the three principalities, later the founding symbol of Romanian unity.
1602 Institution Frühe Neuzeit Niederlande
The East India Company and the Amsterdam Exchange invent financial capitalism.
1607 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Andorra Frankreich
Henry IV rules that the king of France, later the head of state, will be co-prince.
1620 Krieg Frühe Neuzeit Tschechien
Protestant defeat opens three centuries of Habsburg domination over Bohemia.
1631 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit San Marino
The Holy See formally recognises the republic’s independence.
1632 Institution Frühe Neuzeit Estland
Gustavus Adolphus founds the university that will train the Baltic’s scholarly elite.
1632 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Schweden
Death of the “Lion of the North”, who had made Sweden the dominant Baltic power.
1648 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Deutschland
The end of the Thirty Years’ War enshrines state sovereignty and invents modern European diplomacy.
1648 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Niederlande
The Peace of Münster confirms the United Provinces as a fully fledged European power.
1670 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Niederlande
The Theological-Political Treatise founds historical criticism of the Bible and argues for freedom of thought.
1683 Krieg Frühe Neuzeit Österreich
The Christian coalition breaks the Ottoman offensive: the ebb begins in Central Europe.
1685 Text Frühe Neuzeit Lettland
Ernst Glück’s translation fixes the written language and spreads reading through the parishes.
1688 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Vereinigtes Königreich
The Bill of Rights subjects the crown to Parliament: the matrix of parliamentary government.
1710 Text Frühe Neuzeit Ukraine
The Cossack text separates powers and limits the hetman: one of Europe’s oldest.
1719 Institution Frühe Neuzeit Liechtenstein
Emperor Charles VI raises the two lordships into an imperial principality.
1739 Text Frühe Neuzeit Estland
The complete translation fixes the literary language and accelerates rural literacy.
1755 Katastrophe Frühe Neuzeit Portugal
The disaster inspires Voltaire and Kant: the problem of evil becomes central to the Enlightenment.
1766 Text Frühe Neuzeit Schweden
Sweden adopts the world’s first law guaranteeing public access to official documents.
1789 Text Frühe Neuzeit Frankreich
The Assembly proclaims universal rights. The political vocabulary of contemporary Europe flows directly from it.
1791 Text Frühe Neuzeit Polen
Europe’s first written constitution, adopted shortly before the country’s third partition.
1804 Text Frühe Neuzeit Frankreich
Napoleon commissions a synthesis of Roman and customary law, exported from Spain to Poland.
1806 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Liechtenstein
The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire leaves Liechtenstein fully sovereign.
1809 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Finnland
Attached to Russia, Finland keeps its Swedish laws and develops its institutions.
1812 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Moldau
Russia takes the eastern half of the principality at the Treaty of Bucharest.
1814 Text Frühe Neuzeit Norwegen
On 17 May Norway adopts one of the most liberal constitutions of its time.
1814 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Schweden
Sweden’s last war. Two centuries of non-alignment begin.
1815 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Österreich
Metternich reorganises post-Napoleonic Europe: the continent’s first collective security system.
1815 Institution Frühe Neuzeit Luxemburg Niederlande
The Congress of Vienna makes Luxembourg a sovereign state in personal union with the Netherlands.
1830 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Belgien
The Brussels revolution creates a constitutional kingdom, neutral and guaranteed by the powers.
1830 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Griechenland
Backed by European philhellenism, Greece becomes a state again after four Ottoman centuries.
1835 Text Frühe Neuzeit Finnland
Lönnrot compiles the national epic, the foundation of the Finnish cultural awakening.
1843 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Slowakei
Ľudovít Štúr fixes the literary standard, a precondition of modern nationhood.
1845 Katastrophe Frühe Neuzeit Irland
A million dead, two million exiled: the island’s population has never recovered.
1848 Text Frühe Neuzeit Schweiz
After a brief civil war, Switzerland becomes a federal state with direct democracy.
1848 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Slowenien
The springtime of peoples sees the first national political claim formulated.
1849 Text Frühe Neuzeit Dänemark
Absolutism ends; Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy.
1859 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Rumänien
Cuza is elected in both Iași and Bucharest: modern Romania appears on the map.
1861 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Italien
The Risorgimento produces the Kingdom of Italy; Rome joins in 1870, ending the Papal States.
1861 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Monaco
Monaco cedes Menton and Roquebrune and sees its independence recognised.
1863 Institution Frühe Neuzeit Schweiz
Henry Dunant creates in Geneva the institution that will give birth to humanitarian law.
1863 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Monaco
The Société des bains de mer turns a poor rock into a European destination.
1864 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Litauen
Forty years of book smuggling keep the language alive.
1867 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Ungarn
Budapest becomes the second capital of an empire of fifty million people.
1867 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Luxemburg
The fortress is dismantled and the country’s neutrality guaranteed by the powers.
1871 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Deutschland
At Versailles, Bismarck completes unification. A first-rank industrial power arises at the centre of the continent.
1873 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Lettland
Dozens of choirs gather in Riga: song becomes the nation’s political expression.
1878 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Bulgarien
An autonomous Bulgarian principality is reborn after the Russo-Turkish war.
1878 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Serbien
The Congress of Berlin confirms Serbian sovereignty after four Ottoman centuries.
1878 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Montenegro
The Congress of Berlin confirms a state the Ottomans had never fully subdued.
1878 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Bosnien und Herzegowina
The Congress of Berlin entrusts Bosnia to Vienna, which annexes it in 1908.
1900 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Österreich
Freud, Klimt, Mahler, Wittgenstein: the capital becomes the laboratory of European modernity.
1903 Krieg Frühe Neuzeit Nordmazedonien
The revolt against the Ottomans becomes the founding reference of the Macedonian state.
1905 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Norwegen Schweden
The union with Sweden is peacefully dissolved after a massive referendum.
1906 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Finnland
Finland is the first country in Europe to grant women both the vote and eligibility for office.
1910 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Portugal
The monarchy falls; the instability that follows will open the way to the Estado Novo.
1912 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Albanien
Proclaimed at Vlora on 28 November, at the end of the Balkan wars.
1914 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Serbien
The killing of the archduke sets off the chain reaction of the First World War.
1914 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Belgien
The German invasion brings the United Kingdom into the war and freezes the Yser front.
1916 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Irland
The Dublin revolt, at first isolated, sets the independence process in motion.
1917 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Finnland
On 6 December Finland separates from revolutionary Russia.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Rumänien
Union with Transylvania and Bessarabia doubles the territory and population.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Tschechien
Masaryk founds a parliamentary democracy that will remain unique in Central Europe.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Lettland
On 18 November the Republic of Latvia is proclaimed in Riga.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Estland
Proclaimed on 24 February, it is successfully defended in the war of liberation.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Slowenien
The fall of Austria-Hungary brings Slovenia into the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Montenegro
Montenegro is absorbed into the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
1918 Ereignis Frühe Neuzeit Moldau Rumänien
The Sfatul Țării votes for union, annulled by the USSR in 1940.
1920 Vertrag Frühe Neuzeit Ungarn
Hungary loses two-thirds of its territory; three million Magyars become minorities.
1923 Institution Zeitgeschichte Türkei
Mustafa Kemal launches rapid Westernisation: Latin alphabet, Swiss civil code, secularism.
1923 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Liechtenstein Schweiz
The Swiss franc becomes official currency; Bern represents the principality abroad.
1929 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Vatikanstadt
Vatican City State is created; the Roman question is closed.
1932 Katastrophe Zeitgeschichte Ukraine
The famine engineered by Stalin kills millions; several states recognise it as genocide.
1939 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Polen
Invaded by Germany then the USSR, Poland loses nearly a fifth of its population.
1939 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Finnland
Facing Soviet invasion, Finnish resistance saves independence at the cost of Karelia.
1941 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Belarus
A quarter of the population perishes; hundreds of villages are razed.
1942 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Malta
King George VI decorates the entire island for its endurance under bombardment.
1943 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Bulgarien
Under pressure from the Orthodox Church and parliamentarians, deportation is cancelled.
1943 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Dänemark
In a few nights, more than 7,000 Jews are evacuated to neutral Sweden.
1944 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Island
On 17 June, at Þingvellir, Iceland breaks the link with the Danish crown.
1944 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte San Marino
The neutral republic houses more than 100,000 people, ten times its population.
1944 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Niederlande
Signed in London by the governments in exile, it prefigures the common market.
1944 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Slowakei
One of the largest armed revolts against the Axis in occupied Europe.
1949 Text Zeitgeschichte Deutschland
“Human dignity shall be inviolable”: Article 1 places the person — a Christian and humanist legacy — at the summit of the legal order.
1949 Institution Europäischer Aufbau
Ten states found in London the first European political organisation, matrix of the Convention on Human Rights.
1950 Text Europäischer Aufbau
On 9 May France proposes placing coal and steel under a common authority. Community Europe is born of a material pooling.
1951 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau
Six states create the European Coal and Steel Community, the continent’s first supranational institution.
1952 Krieg Europäischer Aufbau Luxemburg
Europe’s first supranational institution settles in Luxembourg.
1955 Vertrag Zeitgeschichte Österreich
The four powers withdraw; Austria proclaims perpetual neutrality.
1956 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Ungarn
The revolt is crushed by the Red Army; 200,000 Hungarians go into exile.
1957 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
The EEC and Euratom are established; the common market and the four freedoms are laid down.
1957 Text Europäischer Aufbau Belgien
Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak drafts the preparatory text of the Treaties of Rome.
1960 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Zypern
The Republic of Cyprus is born of a compromise between Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
1962 Religion Zeitgeschichte Vatikanstadt
The Church reforms its liturgy and redefines its relations with the modern world and Judaism.
1963 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Frankreich
De Gaulle and Adenauer seal Franco-German reconciliation, the institutional engine of integration.
1963 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Türkei
Association with the EEC explicitly envisages an accession perspective.
1963 Text Europäischer Aufbau
The Court of Justice asserts direct effect: Community law creates rights for citizens themselves.
1964 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Malta
Malta leaves the British Empire and becomes a republic ten years later.
1967 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Albanien
Albania proclaims itself the world’s first atheist state; churches and mosques are closed.
1968 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Tschechien
“Socialism with a human face” is crushed by Warsaw Pact tanks in August.
1968 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Internal tariffs disappear eighteen months ahead of schedule.
1969 Entdeckung Zeitgeschichte Norwegen
North Sea oil transforms the economy and founds the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.
1973 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Dänemark
The first Nordic member, Denmark enters alongside the United Kingdom and Ireland.
1973 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Irland
Ireland joins with the United Kingdom and begins its economic transformation.
1973 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Vereinigtes Königreich
After two French vetoes, the United Kingdom enters the EEC with Denmark and Ireland.
1973 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the Communities, which grow from six to nine.
1974 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Portugal
On 25 April an almost bloodless military coup restores democracy.
1974 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Zypern
The coup and Turkish intervention cut Cyprus in two; the Green Line crosses Nicosia.
1974 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Kosovo
The Yugoslav constitution grants Kosovo near-republican attributes.
1975 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Finnland
Thirty-five states sign a text placing human rights at the heart of détente.
1978 Text Zeitgeschichte Spanien
Three years after Franco, Spain adopts a parliamentary monarchy and a state of autonomies.
1979 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
For the first time citizens directly elect their MEPs; Simone Veil chairs the assembly.
1980 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Polen
At the Gdańsk shipyards the Soviet bloc’s first free trade union is born. Communism loses its workers’ legitimacy.
1980 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Island
Iceland elects the world’s first woman head of state by direct universal suffrage.
1981 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Griechenland
As the tenth member, Greece anchors its restored democracy in Community Europe.
1984 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Liechtenstein
The last country in Europe to grant it, by a male-only referendum.
1985 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau
Five states sign on the Moselle an agreement progressively abolishing internal border controls.
1986 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Spanien
With Portugal, Spain joins the EEC: southern enlargement consecrates democratisation.
1986 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Portugal
Portugal joins the EEC on the same day as Spain and begins rapid economic catch-up.
1986 Katastrophe Zeitgeschichte Belarus
Nearly 70 % of the radioactive fallout lands on Belarusian territory.
1986 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau
The internal market is scheduled for 1993 and qualified majority voting extended.
1988 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Estland
Three hundred thousand Estonians sing banned anthems together: dissent becomes massive.
1989 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Rumänien
The only violent fall of a European communist regime; Ceaușescu is executed on 25 December.
1989 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Tschechien
In a few weeks and without violence the regime falls; Václav Havel becomes president.
1989 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Ungarn
On 19 August Hungary opens its border with Austria: the first breach in the Iron Curtain.
1989 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Litauen
Two million people form a human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius.
1989 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
9 November opens German reunification and, in time, that of the continent.
1990 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Deutschland
A year after the Wall fell, the five eastern Länder join the Federal Republic and the European Community.
1990 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Litauen
On 11 March Lithuania is the first republic to leave the USSR.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Kroatien
The declaration of 25 June opens four years of war on Croatian territory.
1991 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Slowenien
Slovenia leaves Yugoslavia after the shortest of the decade’s conflicts.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Lettland
After the Singing Revolution, Latvia regains its sovereignty.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Estland
On 20 August Estonia again proclaims its sovereignty.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Ukraine
More than 90 % of voters approve leaving the USSR on 1 December.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Albanien
After forty-seven years of isolation, pluralism is restored.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Nordmazedonien
The only Yugoslav republic to separate without war.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Moldau
The republic proclaims sovereignty on 27 August, days after the Moscow putsch.
1991 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Belarus
The Belavezha Accords, signed in Belarus, formalise the dissolution of the USSR.
1992 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Bosnien und Herzegowina
The siege of Sarajevo lasts 1,425 days; Srebrenica is recognised as genocide.
1992 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau
The European Union is created, with European citizenship and the timetable for the single currency.
1992 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Schweiz
The people reject the European Economic Area; the bilateral path prevails.
1992 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Moldau
A ceasefire freezes a de facto secession that has lasted more than thirty years.
1993 Text Zeitgeschichte Andorra
Andorra becomes a sovereign state under the rule of law and joins the UN the same year.
1993 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Slowakei
On 1 January the Slovak Republic is born of a negotiated, peaceful separation.
1993 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Belgien
The fourth state reform enshrines in the Constitution a federal state of communities and regions.
1993 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Tschechien Slowakei
Czechia and Slovakia separate peacefully on 1 January, a rare case in Europe.
1994 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Norwegen
52.2 % of Norwegians reject Union entry; the EEA takes over.
1995 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Bosnien und Herzegowina
Peace establishes a two-entity state whose architecture still governs the country.
1995 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Schweden
With Austria and Finland, Sweden joins the EU; it will reject the euro by referendum in 2003.
1995 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Liechtenstein
The principality joins the European internal market without entering the Union.
1995 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Österreich
Austria joins the EU by referendum and becomes a pivot towards Central Europe.
1995 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Austria, Finland and Sweden bring the Union to fifteen members.
1998 Vertrag Zeitgeschichte Irland
Thirty years of conflict end; the Irish border becomes invisible.
1999 Krieg Zeitgeschichte Kosovo
After months of conflict, the territory passes under United Nations administration.
1999 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Türkei
The Helsinki European Council recognises Türkiye as a candidate country.
1999 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Eleven currencies are irrevocably fixed; the European Central Bank takes up its functions.
2002 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Three hundred million Europeans change currency on 1 January.
2002 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Montenegro
Without being in the euro area, the country makes the euro its official currency.
2002 Vertrag Zeitgeschichte Monaco Frankreich
The text modernises the bilateral relationship and secures dynastic succession.
2004 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Ten states, eight of them formerly communist, join the Union: the continent’s division ends.
2004 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Polen
With nine other states, Poland joins the EU: the political reunification of the continent.
2004 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Slowenien
The only former Yugoslav republic in the great enlargement of 2004.
2004 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Zypern
Cyprus joins the EU; the acquis remains suspended in the northern part of the island.
2004 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Malta
The smallest member state joins the EU and adopts the euro four years later.
2005 Entdeckung Zeitgeschichte Estland
Estonia becomes the first country in the world to hold elections over the internet.
2006 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Montenegro
55.5 % of voters choose separation from Serbia.
2007 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Rumänien
With Bulgaria, Romania joins the EU and becomes its eastern frontier on the Black Sea.
2007 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Slowenien
The first of the 2004 new member states to join the single currency.
2008 Text Zeitgeschichte Kosovo
On 17 February Pristina proclaims independence; recognition remains partial.
2008 Katastrophe Zeitgeschichte Island
The three big banks fail; the crisis leads to an EU application, withdrawn in 2015.
2008 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Schweiz
Without Union membership, Switzerland abolishes its border controls.
2009 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau
The Charter of Fundamental Rights becomes binding; Parliament becomes a full co-legislator.
2009 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Slowakei
The first Visegrád economy to join the euro area.
2010 Katastrophe Europäischer Aufbau
The euro area urgently creates unprecedented financial solidarity mechanisms.
2011 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Andorra
The principality is authorised to mint its own euro coins.
2012 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Serbien
Serbia becomes a Union candidate; negotiations open in 2014.
2013 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Ukraine
The refusal to sign the EU association agreement triggers months of protest.
2013 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Kroatien
As the twenty-eighth member state, Croatia is the first Western Balkan country to enter.
2014 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Lettland
The lats gives way to the euro five years after one of Europe’s severest financial crises.
2015 Katastrophe Europäischer Aufbau
More than a million asylum seekers arrive in a single year; Schengen is put to the test.
2016 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
51.9 % of voters choose to leave the Union: a first in the history of European construction.
2017 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Montenegro
The country joins the Alliance despite strong internal opposition.
2018 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Nordmazedonien Griechenland
The compromise with Greece over the name unlocks thirty years of diplomatic deadlock.
2020 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Vereinigtes Königreich
On 31 January the United Kingdom becomes the first state to leave the European Union.
2020 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Belarus
Contestation of the presidential election is repressed; the EU does not recognise the result.
2020 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Facing the pandemic, the Union borrows 750 billion jointly: a major break in its budgetary workings.
2020 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Nordmazedonien
The country becomes the 30th member of the Atlantic Alliance.
2022 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Ukraine
Four months after the Russian invasion began, the European Council grants candidate status.
2022 Krieg Europäischer Aufbau
The Russian invasion brings sanctions, the reception of millions of refugees and candidacies from Ukraine and Moldova.
2022 Vertrag Europäischer Aufbau Moldau
On 23 June Moldova becomes a Union candidate at the same time as Ukraine.
2022 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Albanien
Union accession talks open, jointly with North Macedonia.
2023 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Finnland
On 4 April Finland doubles the Alliance’s land border with Russia.
2023 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Kroatien
On 1 January Croatia joins the single currency and the free movement area on the same day.
2024 Ereignis Zeitgeschichte Schweden
On 7 March Sweden becomes the 32nd ally, ending two centuries of neutrality.
2024 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
720 members are elected in 27 states; the right and sovereignist groups gain ground.
2025 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Rumänien
Land border controls are lifted on 1 January, thirteen years after the first application.
2025 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
The area has twenty-nine members: twenty-five Union states and four EFTA neighbours. Two member states remain outside — Ireland, by choice, and Cyprus, which has yet to join.
2026 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau Bulgarien
On 1 January the lev gives way to the euro: Bulgaria becomes the area’s 21st member.
2026 Ereignis Europäischer Aufbau
Twenty-one of the twenty-seven member states now share the currency. Of the six outside, only Denmark holds an opt-out: the other five are legally bound to join, with no deadline.