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.
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.
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
1940
1969
1999
55 events
1925 1949
World wars 2 events1949 Institution European construction
Council of Europe
Ten states found in London the first European political organisation, matrix of the Convention on Human Rights.
1950 1974
European integration 24 events1950 Text European construction
Schuman Declaration
On 9 May France proposes placing coal and steel under a common authority. Community Europe is born of a material pooling.
1951 Treaty European construction
Treaty of Paris — ECSC
Six states create the European Coal and Steel Community, the continent’s first supranational institution.
1952 War European construction Luxembourg
Seat of the High Authority
Europe’s first supranational institution settles in Luxembourg.
1955 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.
1957 Event European construction
Treaties of Rome
The EEC and Euratom are established; the common market and the four freedoms are laid down.
1957 Text European construction Belgium
The Spaak Report
Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak drafts the preparatory text of the Treaties of Rome.
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.
1963 Treaty European construction France
Élysée Treaty
De Gaulle and Adenauer seal Franco-German reconciliation, the institutional engine of integration.
1963 Treaty European construction Türkiye
Ankara Agreement
Association with the EEC explicitly envisages an accession perspective.
1963 Text European construction
Van Gend en Loos judgment
The Court of Justice asserts direct effect: Community law creates rights for citizens themselves.
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.
1968 Event European construction
Customs union
Internal tariffs disappear eighteen months ahead of schedule.
1969 Discovery Contemporary period Norway
Discovery of Ekofisk
North Sea oil transforms the economy and founds the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.
1973 Event European construction Denmark
Accession of Denmark to the Communities
The first Nordic member, Denmark enters alongside the United Kingdom and Ireland.
1973 Event European construction Ireland
Accession of Ireland to the Communities
Ireland joins with the United Kingdom and begins its economic transformation.
1973 Event European construction United Kingdom
Accession of the United Kingdom to the Communities
After two French vetoes, the United Kingdom enters the EEC with Denmark and Ireland.
1973 Event European construction
First enlargement
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the Communities, which grow from six to nine.
1974 Event Contemporary period Portugal
Carnation Revolution
On 25 April an almost bloodless military coup restores democracy.
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 Kosovo
Constitutional autonomy
The Yugoslav constitution grants Kosovo near-republican attributes.
1975 1999
European integration 29 events1975 Treaty European construction Finland
Helsinki Final Act
Thirty-five states sign a text placing human rights at the heart of détente.
1978 Text Contemporary period Spain
Democratic constitution of Spain
Three years after Franco, Spain adopts a parliamentary monarchy and a state of autonomies.
1979 Event European construction
First European elections
For the first time citizens directly elect their MEPs; Simone Veil chairs the assembly.
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.
1981 Event European construction Greece
Accession of Greece to the Communities
As the tenth member, Greece anchors its restored democracy in Community Europe.
1984 Event Contemporary period Liechtenstein
Women’s suffrage
The last country in Europe to grant it, by a male-only referendum.
1985 Treaty European construction
Schengen Agreement
Five states sign on the Moselle an agreement progressively abolishing internal border controls.
1986 Event European construction Spain
Accession of Spain to the Communities
With Portugal, Spain joins the EEC: southern enlargement consecrates democratisation.
1986 Event European construction Portugal
Accession of Portugal to the Communities
Portugal joins the EEC on the same day as Spain and begins rapid economic catch-up.
1986 Disaster Contemporary period Belarus
Chernobyl fallout
Nearly 70 % of the radioactive fallout lands on Belarusian territory.
1986 Treaty European construction
Single European Act
The internal market is scheduled for 1993 and qualified majority voting extended.
1988 Event Contemporary period Estonia
Singing Revolution
Three hundred thousand Estonians sing banned anthems together: dissent becomes massive.
1989 Event European construction Hungary
Pan-European Picnic
On 19 August Hungary opens its border with Austria: the first breach in the Iron Curtain.
1989 Event European construction
Fall of the Berlin Wall
9 November opens German reunification and, in time, that of the continent.
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.
1989 Event Contemporary period Romania
December revolution
The only violent fall of a European communist regime; Ceaușescu is executed on 25 December.
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 Croatia
Independence of Croatia
The declaration of 25 June opens four years of war on Croatian territory.
1991 War Contemporary period Slovenia
Ten-Day War
Slovenia leaves Yugoslavia after the shortest of the decade’s conflicts.
1991 Event Contemporary period Latvia
Independence of Latvia restored
After the Singing Revolution, Latvia regains its sovereignty.
1991 Event Contemporary period Estonia
Independence of Estonia restored
On 20 August Estonia again proclaims its sovereignty.
1991 Event Contemporary period Ukraine
Independence of Ukraine
More than 90 % of voters approve leaving the USSR on 1 December.
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.
1991 Event Contemporary period Belarus
Independence of Belarus
The Belavezha Accords, signed in Belarus, formalise the dissolution of the USSR.