The Flexibility of European Identities

Europe suffers from an existential identity crisis, which may seem unmatched in its history. However, this essay argues that hesitance and discussion about the European identity and borders, internal as well as external, have always existed. The first part elaborates on Europe’s most classic internal division, between East and West, and demonstrates that this juxtaposition was invented in the 18th century without any historical foundations. The second part discusses the European identity of a number of peripheral regions in the West: Portugal, Sicily, Ireland, and Scandinavia. It shows that all of these regions have traditionally turned their back to Europe and did only recently acknowledge a European identity. The third part looks for some explanations for these evolutions and also reflects on the consequences for today. It highlights that Greece, the most troublesome country in the current Eurozone crisis, has only in the nineteenth century been acknowledged as the cradle of Europe and that this recognition has favoured Greek expansion under a European banner, up to (the southern part of) Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus, however, have significantly diverged from European developments: being orthodox and Ottoman for centuries, they were excluded from Renaissance and industrialization. This discrepancy reveals that European identities are utmost flexible and will undoubtedly develop further in the future.