CONTENT OF THE BOOK Human history does not proceed like a mechanical construct, the world is too complex for that. And yet, a certain direction and consistency in historical development become visible.

Certain decisions made in 1919 by the victorious powers of the First World War led to a new order in the world. We need to know the principles of the shaping of power and domination that underpinned the decisions of that time in order to be able to classify today's events, as well as the actions of political decision-makers.

This is the only way to succeed in recognizing a structure in the supposed chaos around us. We want to serve this learning from history with our book.

The insights gained then ask us to take a close look again and again when political decisions are made. The consequences must be borne not only by us, but even more so by the future inhabitants of this planet.

This book aims to use critical events to show how this process of European integration proceeded and what important results it has led to. The relationship between France and Germany after the Second World War and since the reunification of Germany and Europe after 1990 is the focus of our analysis.

We will show how the relationship between the two economically and politically most important states in Europe, with the EU as the decisive shaping framework, has developed. We are paying particular attention to the role of the United States as the actor that has decisively shaped the creation process and consequently the political structures, as well as the geopolitical role of the EU.

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