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::All the historical changes of borders should be better discussed in such articles as [[History of Lithuania]], [[History of Latvia]] etc. Keeping a separate article of [[Disputed territories of Baltic States]] means that someone really wants to change existing borders (which is quite unrealistic). — [[User:Monedula|Monedula]] 08:45, 25 May 2005 (UTC)
::Of course the point is not to get rid of history, but to change how we think about it. The First World War is a good example, actually. In the past it used to be thought of in old fashioned terms, with all the attention focusing of what one's nation did in it and whether it won or lost. But in modern thinking that war is almost universally thought of as a colossal mistake and a European tragedy. And that tragedy was caused directly by the 19th century idea of Europe as a continent divided into nations with rigid borders and totally homegeneous cultures engaged in a Darwinian [[zero sum]] struggle with each other. It's hard to believe now, but there were actually many people who liked that idea of Europe and thought this was exactly the way things should be!
::The whole drive for European integration after [[1945]] comes from the final realization that it is fundamentally wrong to have a Europe divided into states competing with each other, mainly by fighting for territory in the name of securing one's "lebensraum", "natural homeland", "ethnic territory" , "economic space", "historical lands" or whatever.
::So, my main wish would be that this article reflect some of this change in thinking about Europe and its member countries, which I hope the editors here do share. The article as it is now is all about complaining where the borders were. Instead, it should express some sadness that there were borders in the first place, and happiness that they are finally going away. [[User:Balcer|Balcer]] 08:51, 25 May 2005 (UTC)
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