EUROPEANS DEVELOPMENT TO WELFARE AND WELL-BEING: AN OVERVIEW OF 3000 YEARS OF PROGRESS AND REGRESSION

According to the recommendation of famous literates to regard the own history in a time span of 3000 years these articles give a compact overview of Europeans development of welfare and well-being. When the name of Europe was introduced in Greek history it was an unknown area in the northern hemisphere that was developing to a European state ensemble when the European Union was founded after the Second World War. This process is analysed systematically in the chapters of the article. They are related to the ancient peoples of the Greeks, Romans Celts and Germanics, who left their heritage for the following generations up to day. Of tragic impact were the enemial relations between European peoples which caused millions of fatalities in wars and conflicts. But in a long process of state- and nation-building emerged a supranational unified Europe which was prepared from great Charlemagne often called the “Father of Europe”. The rise of modern Europe began with economic growth in the later 18th century. The implementation of democracy was a historical step mainly in the 19th century. The emergence and differentiation of welfare states was a following step beginning in the western areas of Europe. Europeans perception of life is despite severe potentials of dissatisfaction at the top of the world. But an era-turn in the second decade of the 21th century leads into a new societal scenario with global wars and terrorism. Climate threats and societal problems, Wellbeing for all remained a severe future task for Europeans and above.