Europe Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Economic history=== ;Industrial growth (1760–1945) Capitalism has been dominant in the Western world since the end of feudalism.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com-archive-online.eu/EBchecked/topic/93927/capitalism Capitalism] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517172857/https://www.britannica.com-archive-online.eu/EBchecked/topic/93927/capitalism |date=17 May 2014 }}. ''Encyclopædia Britannica.''</ref> From Britain, it gradually spread throughout Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Industrialism: A Dictionary of Sociology|author=Scott, John|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005}}</ref> The [[Industrial Revolution]] started in Europe, specifically the United Kingdom in the late 18th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture17a.html|title=The Origins of the Industrial Revolution in England|publisher=The History Guide|first=Steven|last=Kreis|date=11 October 2006|access-date=1 January 2007|archive-date=2 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102090701/http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture17a.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the 19th century saw Western Europe industrialise. Economies were disrupted by the First World War, but by the beginning of the Second World War, they had recovered and were having to compete with the growing economic strength of the United States. The Second World War, again, damaged much of Europe's industries. ;Cold War (1945–1991) [[File:Thefalloftheberlinwall1989.JPG|thumb|right|Fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] in 1989]] [[File:Carte zone euro.svg|thumb| [[Eurozone]] (blue colour)]] After the Second World War the economy of the UK was in a state of ruin,<ref>Dornbusch, Rudiger; Nölling, Wilhelm P.; Layard, Richard G. ''Postwar Economic Reconstruction and Lessons for the East Today'', p. 117</ref> and continued to suffer relative economic decline in the following decades.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rethinking International Organisation: Deregulation and Global Governance|last=Emadi-Coffin|first=Barbara|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-19540-9|page=64}}</ref> Italy was also in a poor economic condition but regained a high level of growth by the 1950s. West Germany [[Wirtschaftswunder|recovered quickly]] and had doubled production from pre-war levels by the 1950s.<ref>Dornbusch, Rudiger; Nölling, Wilhelm P.; Layard, Richard G. ''Postwar Economic Reconstruction and Lessons for the East Today'', p. 29</ref> France also staged a remarkable comeback enjoying rapid growth and modernisation; later on Spain, under the leadership of [[Francisco Franco|Franco]], also recovered and the nation recorded huge unprecedented economic growth beginning in the 1960s in what is called the [[Spanish miracle]].<ref>Harrop, Martin. ''Power and Policy in Liberal Democracies'', p. 23</ref> The majority of [[Central and Eastern Europe]]an states came under the control of the [[Soviet Union]] and thus were members of the [[Council for Mutual Economic Assistance]] (COMECON).<ref name="loc-cs">"Germany (East)", Library of Congress Country Study, [http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/germany_east/gx_appnb.html Appendix B: The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501075842/http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/germany_east/gx_appnb.html |date=1 May 2009 }}</ref> The states which retained a [[free-market]] system were given a large amount of aid by the United States under the [[Marshall Plan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/marshall-plan|title=Marshall Plan|publisher=US Department of State Office of the historian|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=14 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414153651/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/marshall-plan|url-status=live}}</ref> The western states moved to link their economies together, providing the basis for the EU and increasing cross border trade. This helped them to enjoy rapidly improving economies, while those states in COMECON were struggling in a large part due to the cost of the [[Cold War]]. Until 1990, the [[European Community]] was expanded from 6 founding members to 12. The emphasis placed on resurrecting the West German economy led to it overtaking the UK as Europe's largest economy. ;Reunification (1991–present) [[File:Trepca Miners (24876825).jpeg|thumb|left|One of [[Kosovo]]'s main economical sources is [[mining]], because it has large reserves of lead, [[zinc]], silver, [[nickel]], [[cobalt]], copper, iron and [[bauxite]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Kosovo: Natural resources key to the future, say experts|url=http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Business/?id=1.0.1683003038|website=adnkronos.com|access-date=17 March 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707084602/http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Business/?id=1.0.1683003038|archive-date=7 July 2011}}</ref> Miners at the [[Trepča Mines]] in [[Mitrovica, Kosovo|Mitrovica]], Kosovo in 2011.]] With the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1991, the post-socialist states underwent [[Shock therapy (economics)|shock therapy]] measures to liberalise their economies and implement free market reforms. After [[East Germany|East]] and West Germany were reunited in 1990, the economy of West Germany struggled as it had to support and largely rebuild the infrastructure of East Germany, while the latter [[Economic history of the German reunification|experienced sudden mass unemployment and plummeting of industrial production]]. By the millennium change, the EU dominated the economy of Europe, comprising the five largest European economies of the time: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain. In 1999, 12 of the 15 members of the EU joined the [[Eurozone]], replacing their national currencies by the [[euro]]. Figures released by [[Eurostat]] in 2009 confirmed that the Eurozone had gone into [[Late 2000s recession in Europe|recession]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1231409822.27/ |title=EU data confirms eurozone's first recession|publisher= EUbusiness.com|date= 8 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230075057/http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1231409822.27/|archive-date=30 December 2010}}</ref> It impacted much of the region.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4958395/Thanks-to-the-Bank-its-a-crisis-in-the-eurozone-its-a-total-catastrophe.html Thanks to the Bank it's a crisis; in the eurozone it's a total catastrophe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531022342/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/4958395/Thanks-to-the-Bank-its-a-crisis-in-the-eurozone-its-a-total-catastrophe.html |date=31 May 2022 }}. Telegraph. 8 March 2009.</ref> In 2010, fears of a [[European sovereign-debt crisis|sovereign debt crisis]]<ref>{{cite news |title= Five Threats to the Common Currency |url= http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,677214,00.html |first= Stefan |last= Schultz |work= [[Spiegel Online]] |date= 11 February 2010 |access-date= 28 April 2010 |archive-date= 14 April 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100414110833/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,677214,00.html |url-status= live }}</ref> developed concerning some countries in Europe, especially Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Brian |last1=Blackstone |first2=Tom |last2=Lauricella |first3=Neil |last3=Shah |title=Global Markets Shudder: Doubts About U.S. Economy and a Debt Crunch in Europe Jolt Hopes for a Recovery |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=5 February 2010 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704041504575045743430262982 |access-date=10 May 2010 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924135011/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704041504575045743430262982 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result, measures were taken, especially for Greece, by the leading countries of the Eurozone.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lauren Frayer |url=http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/european-leaders-try-to-calm-fears-over-greek-debt-crisis-and-protect-euro/19469674 |title=European Leaders Try to Calm Fears Over Greek Debt Crisis and Protect Euro |publisher=AOL News |access-date=2 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509111531/http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/european-leaders-try-to-calm-fears-over-greek-debt-crisis-and-protect-euro/19469674 |archive-date=9 May 2010 }}</ref> The [[European Union|EU-27]] unemployment rate was 10.3% in 2012. For those aged 15–24 it was 22.4%.<ref name="unemployment">[http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics Unemployment statistics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614152511/http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics |date=14 June 2012 }}. [[Eurostat]]. April 2012.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page