800-300 BC Hellenic Culture dominates the Mediterranean Basin
330 BC Hellenistic Culture begins. Roman Empire preserves it to 500 AD,
Byzantium until 1453, and the Ottomans into the 1600s
31 BC-180 AD Pax Romana
1000-1300 Medieval culture spreads throughout Europe.
Pope and Holy Roman Emperor each claim supremacy in Christian Europe
1300-1600 Renaissance Culture offers cultural unity to Western Europe
1519-1648 Hapsburgs attempt to dominate Europe
1650 William Penn proposes a European Parliament
1660-1715 Louis XIV
1700s The Enlightenment
1789-1799 French Revolution spreads into Europe
1799-1815 Napoleonic Europe
1815-1848 Congress System tries to preserve order
1817 Joseph de Maistre proposes a Europe united under the Pope
1848-1989 Rise and fall of European Communism
1889-1914 Second International. Socialism begins
1933-1945 Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich
1944 Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands sign Benelux agreement in London
1948 Benelux takes effect
1948 Organization for European Economic Development
1948 Brussels Treaty creates Western Union (Britain, France, and Benelux countries)
for military, economic, and cultural cooperation
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) starts.
Includes Canada and USA among 12 founders
1949 Council of Europe (COE) formed for political coordination
1949 Council of Mutual Assistance (COMECON) begins.
Later includes Cuba,
Mongolia, and Vietnam
1950 European Payments Union (financial cooperation)
1950 Robert Schuman proposes European economic cooperation
1952 Shuman Plan adopted. European Coal and Steel Community formed by Belgium,
France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and West Germany
1952 European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN)
1952 European Defense Community proposed. France sinks it in 1954
1952 Greece and Turkey join NATO
1953 European Political Community treaty drafted. Fails
1954 CERN becomes European Organization for Nuclear Research
1954 WU adds West Germany and Italy
1955 West Germany becomes NATO's 15th member
1955 Warsaw Pact starts as counterweight to NATO
1955 WU becomes Western European Union
1957 Rome Treaties establish Euratom and the European Economic
Community (Common Market)
1960 COE absorbs the WEU's economic and cultural projects
1960 Austria, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland form
European Free Trade Association to counter the Common Market
1960 Liechtenstein becomes EFTA associate member
1961 Finland joins EFTA as associate member
1961 OEED becomes Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
1962 Greece becomes an associate member of EEC
1963 Turkey joins EEC as associate member
1964 European Space Research Organization
1967 European Community (aka European Communities) begins. Combines ECSC,
Euratom, and EEC. Includes European Parliament in Strasbourg, European Court
of Justice in Luxembourg, and executive offices in Brussels
1970 Iceland joins EFTA as 8th member
1972 Norway rejects EC membership
1973 Britain, Denmark and Ireland join EC. Britain and Denmark leave EFTA
1973 EEC and EFTA sign free-trade agreement
1975 Helsinki Accords (Conference on Security and Co-operation in
Europe) signed
1975 Lome Convention facilitates EEC-3rd World trade
1979 & 1981 1st European Parliamentary elections
1980 ESRO becomes European Space Agency
1981 Greece joins EC as 10th member
1982 Spain joins NATO. Membership at 16
1984 & 1986 2nd European Parliamentary elections
1986 Finland becomes full member of EFTA
1986 Greenland votes to leave the EU
1986 Portugal and Spain join EC. Portugal leaves EFTA
1988 Portugal and Spain join WEU
1989 Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
1989 3rd European Parliamentary elections
1990 German reunification
1991 WEU fights in the Gulf War
1991 Liechtenstein becomes full member of EFTA
1991 EC and EFTA sign free-trade pact (European Economic Area)
1991 Soviet Union and Yugoslavia disintegrate
1991 Warsaw Pact dissolves
1991 COMECON becomes Organization for International Economic Cooperation
1991 NATO forms North Atlantic Cooperation Council
1990s East Europeans join Council of Europe. Membership grows to 40
1990s Proposals floated for turning the WEU into the EU's military arm
1992 Greece joins WEU as 10th country
1992 WEU creates Associate Member (6 countries) and Observer (5 nations) statuses
1993 Czechoslovakia divides
1993 Maastricht Treaty. EC becomes European Union
1993 NATO intervenes in Bosnia
1994 Norway rejects EU again
1994 WEU creates Associate Partner status (7 countries)
1994 EEA takes effect
1994 NATO starts Partnership for Peace program with Eastern European countries
1994 & 1995 4th European Parliamentary elections
1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden join EU and leave EFTA. EU at 15 members.
EFTA down to 4
1995 CSCE becomes Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
1995 WEU creates Eurofor
1997 Amsterdam treaty creates Economic and Monetary Union. Plans for the Euro begin
1997 NACC becomes the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council for former Soviet
republics, Cold War neutrals, and former Yugoslavian states
1998 European Central Bank formed
1999 Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland join NATO (19 members)
1999 NATO intervenes in Kosovo. WEU assists
1999 5th European Parliamentary elections
1999 European Security and Defense Policy (EU's military arm)
begins plans for EU Defense Force of 60,000
2000 Denmark rejects the Euro. Britain and Sweden still out.
2000 WEU begins transferring military functions to EU
2001 Swiss voters reject exploring EU membership
2001 NATO mission to Macedonia
2002 NATO votes to admit Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. They join in 2004
2002 EU offers membership to Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and.
Slovenia. They join in 2004
2003 EU replaces NATO forces in Macedonia and absorbs Eurofor
2003 NATO begins involvement in Afghanistan
2003 EU begins military missions in the Congo
2004 EU assumes NATO's role in Bosnia
2004 & 2007 6th European Parliamentary elections held
2005 EU begins operations in Moldova
2007 Bulgaria and Romania join EU
Useful web sites include Elections Around the World, and Parties and Elections in Europe. See also the European Parliament's site.
European Parliamentary Election Results