A majority of Norwegians voted "No" in two separate referendums to join the EU. The referendums occurred in 1972 and 1994.

The war resulted in Austria, Great Britain and the Dutch Republic recognizing Philip, Duke of Anjou as Philip V of Spain. In return, Philip V had to renounce any claim to the throne of France and cede Spain's European territories.

Russia under Vladimir Putin has developed into an oligarchy in which a few extremely wealthy businessmen grow richer and richer and have almost complete control over the political direction of the country. Putin came into power promising political reform and peace with the West, but has consistently demonstrated an objection to liberty and a desire to impose Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Weimar Constitution of 1919 was intended to replace the German government as ruled by the Kaiser before the end of World War II, and as such featured universal suffrage, wide-ranging checks and balances, and a mix of parliamentary and presidential systems. The wide-ranging, democratic reforms in the Weimar Constitution created a flourishing republic in Germany in the 1920s and the early 1930s; however, the lack of thresholds for Parliamentary representation gave legitimacy to many different ideologies and political parties, while its checks and balances were placed so as to give individuals like the Chancellor and the President expansive powers. These parts of the Weimar Constitution enabled Adolph Hitler and the National Socialists to take power in Germany by 1933.

Yugoslavia was formed in the years between World War One and World War Two and functioned as a communist country outside of the Soviet Bloc for much of the rest of the twentieth century. However, following the demise of communism elsewhere in Europe the country began to break apart in the early 1990s. In 1991 Croatia and Slovenia were the first two countries to declare independence from Yugoslavia, sparking a brutal civil war that would rage in the Balkans for much of the next decade.

The Balkans was ruled by the Austrians and then the Ottomans for hundreds of years before the twentieth century. The constant forced migration of people from one area of the Balkans to another and back again, has created a situation in which numerous ethnic groups live amongst one another, each one thinking they have the sole right to claim the territory as their own. The Croats, the Slovenes, the Serbs, the Albanians, and other groups each feel that they have a claim to a territory larger than that which they currently possess. They also feel that the reason they do not have this territory is that it was taken from them by one of the other ethnic groups. As a result, there is longstanding ethnic hatred in some places almost thousands of years old.

Queen Elizabeth I of England died in 1603 without any children to succeed her. The issue of succession was one that worried many during Elizabeth’s lifetime, with some assuming that James VI of Scotland, the son of Elizabeth’s cousin, would become king. A lot of people also feared the possibility of war breaking out over the selection of the next monarch, which was extremely likely. Fortunately, many advisers and others within government had anticipated that possibility and contacted James to convey that he should come to England at once upon Elizabeth’s death. When Elizabeth died, James rode quickly to London where he was proclaimed king and became King James I of England, thus uniting the two monarchies. The countries would continue to be separate states until full unification in 1707, but that was only possible through the ascension of James.

All of these countries are members of the European Union except Turkey. Turkey has been making overtures to the European Union for several years in the hopes of gaining admittance, but as of 2015 remains excluded from the European Union and the Common Market.

Otto von Bismarck is credited with unifying the various Germanic states into one nation. He was appointed Minister of Prussia by Wilhelm I of Prussia in 1862, and he used that position to wield a great deal of power. One of his most famous tactics was engaging in wars with Austria, France, and Denmark in order to unify the various Germanic states behind a single cause and also to gain some territory. In 1871, von Bismarck's work culminated in the formation of the German Empire with Wilhelm the first as the Emperor and himself as chancellor. He held this post until 1890, when Wilhelm II became displeased with him. He initiated many reforms meant to create a strong unified state and is revered by German nationalists.

In the 1970s, the various Western European countries relied on oil imports from the Middle East for the vast majority of their oil. When the Arab-Israeli War broke out in 1973, many Arab nations began to stop selling oil to European nations who supported Israel, leading to the Oil Embargo of 1973. This greatly damaged the economies of most Western European nations and plunged the continent into a recession.