Abstract

Defining the period 1914-1945, the notion of a «Thirty-Year European civil war» relies on two main assumptions: that it was a clash of nations that were part of a common culture; or that it was a civil war, waged in each country by fascists and antifascists. Challenging both views, the essay questions the hermeneutical legitimacy of this notion and suggests instead to subsume the Thirty-Year European civil war within a wider category of what might be termed «modern civil war», that is a civil war defined by major divisions over broad and comprehensive political issues.