European Ideological Background And Its Impact On European Integration

The European Union has won the attention of the world through its success in the extension and depth of the European integration movement. One distinctive yet crucial reason is the common ideological background shared by all the member states of the EU. This thesis aims to explore this background from the perspectives of "European identity", nationalism and the idea of European unity with their specific impact on the current European Integration movement. The consciousness of "European identity" is a basic part of European ideological background while nationalism is its necessary enemy. If "European identity" supplies cohesive force among Europeans, nationalism in their minds is like a splitting obstacle. At the same time it serves as the precondition for the birth of "European identity". These two issues are like the two indispensable sides of a coin. It is also necessary to investigate the idea of the "United States of Europe" in history and its impact on European integration movement. All these three issues are closely interrelated.Following the division of the three issues that are to be covered, this thesisaccordingly consists of three chapters apart from the introduction and conclusion.The introduction supplies a tentative definition of "ideology" as a kind of restriction and illustration of the thesis argumentation in addition to a brief account of its theme and basic structure.Chapter One concentrates on the formation process of "European identity" and...