Although Europe is the birthplace of the first and second industrial revolutions, revolutionary technological development has brought unprecedented development to Europe. However, after the baptism of two world wars, the European continent was beaten into ruins again, and it could only watch as the hegemony that dominated the world fell into the hands of the United States, which had only been founded for more than 200 years, but it was powerless to stop it.
It's just that Europe has recovered in a very short period of time, allowing its people to receive high-standard welfare benefits that are enough to envy the rest of the world.
This begs the question of why Europe was able to quickly regain its footing at the top of the world pyramid and, after entering a new era, weakened at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In fact, on the surface, it is because Europe has drawn countless wealth from the world by virtue of its colonial legacy and its dominant position in the high-tech field. But the more important and deep-seated reason is that in the past few decades, because of the existence of the Soviet Union, Europe has been stacked with bonus buffs.
So what exactly are the buffs?
That. 1. Strategic dividends. After World War II, the world quickly formed a bipolar confrontation in order to push Europe to the forefront of the confrontation with the Soviet Union-led red camp. The Americans worked out the famous "Marshall Plan". Driven by the huge money of the United States, Europe's industrialization has not declined, but has become stronger. Therefore, the current scientific and technological superiority of the West in many fields is inseparable from this matter.
That. Second, energy dividends. With the recovery and development of industry, European countries are in urgent need of oil to produce, gasoline, plastics, synthetic fibers, synthetic rubber and other chemical products. The Soviet Union just discovered the "Tyumen oil field", which made the Soviet Union the largest oil producer at that time, but unfortunately, the Soviet Union itself could not digest it, so it sold its surplus oil to Europe at a very low price. Since then, Europe's industrial development has been strengthened.
That. 3. Security dividends. Although the Soviet Union and Europe had close contacts, for historical reasons, Europeans were quite jealous of the Soviet Union, for fear that if the Soviet Union was unhappy, it would sweep the European continent with a "torrent of steel". For this reason, the Europeans put all their "treasures" on the United States, which can compete with the Soviet Union. As a result, one US military base after another has sprung up on the European continent. After the United States shouldered the burden of "defending Europe," Europe used its remaining military spending to develop its economy and distribute national welfare.
That. Fourth, market dividends. In order to allow bulk Europe, form a huge market with a unified currency and freedom**. Under the leadership of the European "three carriages", the European Union was born. This kind of European Community, which has no barriers, has allowed Germany, France and other traditional European powers to accumulate huge capital and massive investment of international capital.
That. Fifth, cost dividends. In the past, when Europe was in a period of low inflation, many developing countries, with their population advantages and cheap labor, quickly formed "world factories". At that time, developing countries not only reduced the cost of living for Europeans, but also greatly reduced the labor cost of European capital.
For this reason, over the past few decades, Europe has become one of the richest regions in the world with its buffs.
However, time has passed, but Europe, under the leadership of the United States, has started to reverse the wheel and began to take off its "coat" layer by layer. Under the manipulation of the United States, the hollowing out of industry has intensified; Under the arch fire of the United States, it has kept Russia out of cheap energy; At the instigation of the United States, a ** barrier was erected; Under the dominance of the United States, playing "decoupling" and so on.
Therefore, even if Europeans have money in their pockets, as long as they do not hold their own diplomatic, military, cultural and other dominance, then no matter how rich they are, they are just a fat sheep. This also just verifies our old saying, which is that the chicken has food and the soup pot is near, and the wild crane has no food and flies high.