1914 War Contemporary period Serbia
Sarajevo assassination
The killing of the archduke sets off the chain reaction of the First World War.
A shared history
European construction did not begin in 1950. This thread links the ancient inheritance, the Judeo-Christian matrix and the contemporary Union.
326
events
3600 BC
earliest marker
46
countries covered
0
already discussed
Event density
One century per bar before 1500, one decade after: archives are not evenly spread.
1910 :
4 events
1920 :
3 events
1930 :
3 events
1940 :
9 events
1950 :
2 events
1960 :
6 events
1970 :
4 events
1980 :
8 events
1990 :
20 events
2000 :
5 events
2010 :
2 events
2020 :
4 events
Ancient Greece
Early Middle Ages
Renaissance
Enlightenment
Concert of Europe
European integration
Rome
High and Late Middle Ages
Reformation and wars of religion
Age of revolutions
World wars
Cold War
1910
1969
2029
70 events
1900 1924
Concert of Europe 6 events1914 Event Contemporary period Belgium
Violation of neutrality
The German invasion brings the United Kingdom into the war and freezes the Yser front.
1916 War Contemporary period Ireland
Easter Rising
The Dublin revolt, at first isolated, sets the independence process in motion.
1917 Event Contemporary period Finland
Independence of Finland
On 6 December Finland separates from revolutionary Russia.
1923 Institution Contemporary period Türkiye
Founding of the Republic
Mustafa Kemal launches rapid Westernisation: Latin alphabet, Swiss civil code, secularism.
1923 Event Contemporary period Liechtenstein Switzerland
Customs union with Switzerland
The Swiss franc becomes official currency; Bern represents the principality abroad.
1925 1949
World wars 13 events1929 Event Contemporary period Vatican City
Lateran Accords
Vatican City State is created; the Roman question is closed.
1932 Disaster Contemporary period Ukraine
Holodomor
The famine engineered by Stalin kills millions; several states recognise it as genocide.
1939 War Contemporary period Poland
Invasion and occupation
Invaded by Germany then the USSR, Poland loses nearly a fifth of its population.
1939 War Contemporary period Finland
Winter War
Facing Soviet invasion, Finnish resistance saves independence at the cost of Karelia.
1941 War Contemporary period Belarus
Occupation and destruction
A quarter of the population perishes; hundreds of villages are razed.
1942 Event Contemporary period Malta
George Cross
King George VI decorates the entire island for its endurance under bombardment.
1943 Event Contemporary period Bulgaria
Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews
Under pressure from the Orthodox Church and parliamentarians, deportation is cancelled.
1943 Event Contemporary period Denmark
Rescue of the Danish Jews
In a few nights, more than 7,000 Jews are evacuated to neutral Sweden.
1944 Event Contemporary period Iceland
Proclamation of the Republic in Iceland
On 17 June, at Þingvellir, Iceland breaks the link with the Danish crown.
1944 Event Contemporary period San Marino
Sheltering refugees
The neutral republic houses more than 100,000 people, ten times its population.
1944 Event Contemporary period Netherlands
Benelux customs union
Signed in London by the governments in exile, it prefigures the common market.
1944 War Contemporary period Slovakia
Slovak National Uprising
One of the largest armed revolts against the Axis in occupied Europe.
1949 Text Contemporary period Germany
Bonn Basic Law
“Human dignity shall be inviolable”: Article 1 places the person — a Christian and humanist legacy — at the summit of the legal order.
1950 1974
European integration 11 events1955 Treaty Contemporary period Austria
Austrian State Treaty
The four powers withdraw; Austria proclaims perpetual neutrality.
1956 War Contemporary period Hungary
Budapest uprising
The revolt is crushed by the Red Army; 200,000 Hungarians go into exile.
1960 Event Contemporary period Cyprus
Independence of Cyprus
The Republic of Cyprus is born of a compromise between Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
1962 Religion Contemporary period Vatican City
Second Vatican Council
The Church reforms its liturgy and redefines its relations with the modern world and Judaism.
1964 Event Contemporary period Malta
Independence of Malta
Malta leaves the British Empire and becomes a republic ten years later.
1967 Event Contemporary period Albania
Religion banned
Albania proclaims itself the world’s first atheist state; churches and mosques are closed.
1968 Event Contemporary period Czechia
Prague Spring
“Socialism with a human face” is crushed by Warsaw Pact tanks in August.
1969 Discovery Contemporary period Norway
Discovery of Ekofisk
North Sea oil transforms the economy and founds the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.
1974 Event Contemporary period Cyprus
Division of the island
The coup and Turkish intervention cut Cyprus in two; the Green Line crosses Nicosia.
1974 Event Contemporary period Portugal
Carnation Revolution
On 25 April an almost bloodless military coup restores democracy.
1974 Event Contemporary period Kosovo
Constitutional autonomy
The Yugoslav constitution grants Kosovo near-republican attributes.
1975 1999
European integration 29 events1978 Text Contemporary period Spain
Democratic constitution of Spain
Three years after Franco, Spain adopts a parliamentary monarchy and a state of autonomies.
1980 Event Contemporary period Poland
Solidarity
At the Gdańsk shipyards the Soviet bloc’s first free trade union is born. Communism loses its workers’ legitimacy.
1980 Event Contemporary period Iceland
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Iceland elects the world’s first woman head of state by direct universal suffrage.
1984 Event Contemporary period Liechtenstein
Women’s suffrage
The last country in Europe to grant it, by a male-only referendum.
1986 Disaster Contemporary period Belarus
Chernobyl fallout
Nearly 70 % of the radioactive fallout lands on Belarusian territory.
1988 Event Contemporary period Estonia
Singing Revolution
Three hundred thousand Estonians sing banned anthems together: dissent becomes massive.
1989 Event Contemporary period Romania
December revolution
The only violent fall of a European communist regime; Ceaușescu is executed on 25 December.
1989 Event Contemporary period Lithuania
Baltic Way
Two million people form a human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius.
1989 Event Contemporary period Czechia
Velvet Revolution
In a few weeks and without violence the regime falls; Václav Havel becomes president.
1990 Event Contemporary period Germany
German reunification
A year after the Wall fell, the five eastern Länder join the Federal Republic and the European Community.
1990 Event Contemporary period Lithuania
Independence restored
On 11 March Lithuania is the first republic to leave the USSR.
1991 Event Contemporary period Estonia
Independence of Estonia restored
On 20 August Estonia again proclaims its sovereignty.
1991 Event Contemporary period Latvia
Independence of Latvia restored
After the Singing Revolution, Latvia regains its sovereignty.
1991 War Contemporary period Slovenia
Ten-Day War
Slovenia leaves Yugoslavia after the shortest of the decade’s conflicts.
1991 Event Contemporary period Croatia
Independence of Croatia
The declaration of 25 June opens four years of war on Croatian territory.
1991 Event Contemporary period Ukraine
Independence of Ukraine
More than 90 % of voters approve leaving the USSR on 1 December.
1991 Event Contemporary period Belarus
Independence of Belarus
The Belavezha Accords, signed in Belarus, formalise the dissolution of the USSR.
1991 Event Contemporary period Albania
End of the communist regime
After forty-seven years of isolation, pluralism is restored.
1991 Event Contemporary period North Macedonia
Peaceful independence
The only Yugoslav republic to separate without war.
1991 Event Contemporary period Moldova
Independence of Moldova
The republic proclaims sovereignty on 27 August, days after the Moscow putsch.
1992 War Contemporary period Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian War
The siege of Sarajevo lasts 1,425 days; Srebrenica is recognised as genocide.
1992 Event Contemporary period Moldova
Transnistria conflict
A ceasefire freezes a de facto secession that has lasted more than thirty years.
1993 Text Contemporary period Andorra
Democratic constitution of Andorra
Andorra becomes a sovereign state under the rule of law and joins the UN the same year.
1993 Event Contemporary period Slovakia
Independence of Slovakia
On 1 January the Slovak Republic is born of a negotiated, peaceful separation.
1993 Event Contemporary period Belgium
Federal Belgium
The fourth state reform enshrines in the Constitution a federal state of communities and regions.
1993 Event Contemporary period Czechia Slovakia
Velvet Divorce
Czechia and Slovakia separate peacefully on 1 January, a rare case in Europe.
1995 Event Contemporary period Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dayton Accords
Peace establishes a two-entity state whose architecture still governs the country.
1998 Treaty Contemporary period Ireland
Good Friday Agreement
Thirty years of conflict end; the Irish border becomes invisible.
1999 War Contemporary period Kosovo
NATO intervention
After months of conflict, the territory passes under United Nations administration.
2000 2024
European integration 11 events2002 Treaty Contemporary period Monaco France
Friendship treaty with France
The text modernises the bilateral relationship and secures dynastic succession.
2005 Discovery Contemporary period Estonia
First national online vote
Estonia becomes the first country in the world to hold elections over the internet.
2006 Event Contemporary period Montenegro
Independence referendum
55.5 % of voters choose separation from Serbia.
2008 Text Contemporary period Kosovo
Declaration of independence
On 17 February Pristina proclaims independence; recognition remains partial.
2008 Disaster Contemporary period Iceland
Banking collapse
The three big banks fail; the crisis leads to an EU application, withdrawn in 2015.
2013 Event Contemporary period Ukraine
Euromaidan
The refusal to sign the EU association agreement triggers months of protest.
2017 Event Contemporary period Montenegro
NATO accession of Montenegro
The country joins the Alliance despite strong internal opposition.
2020 Event Contemporary period Belarus
2020 protests
Contestation of the presidential election is repressed; the EU does not recognise the result.
2020 Event Contemporary period North Macedonia
NATO accession of North Macedonia
The country becomes the 30th member of the Atlantic Alliance.
2023 Event Contemporary period Finland
NATO accession of Finland
On 4 April Finland doubles the Alliance’s land border with Russia.
2024 Event Contemporary period Sweden
NATO accession of Sweden
On 7 March Sweden becomes the 32nd ally, ending two centuries of neutrality.