Talk:Europe

Europe is not a continent

I dont think this article should be on wikipedia. Europe is not a continent and is part of Asia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.74.90.229 (talk) 09:22, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, it's part of Eurasia, I don't think anyone sees it as a part of Asia. And even so, there should be an article on it because it's a distinct, recognized geographic and cultural area even if it's not a continent. Zazaban (talk) 22:13, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I see it as part of Asia; it's Asia's largest peninsula. However, despite that, it does deserve its own article, for the reasons stated by Zazaban. 98.82.180.48 (talk) 22:59, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for your opinion. However, what matters is that the vast majority of the world population that understands both the geography of Europe and the concept of continents considers Europe to be a continent. Thus, it is reasonable for this Wikipedia article to declare Europe to be a continent.68.3.203.92 (talk) 21:57, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 218.186.9.232, 22 November 2010

{{edit semi-protected}} Regarding WWI and II, the article is written in a very one-sided view, from a western perspective, as the majority of english language pages are. Just to see if this will work:

- Russia did not suffer a defeat in the WWI - due to internal discontent, the country decided to withdraw from the conflict and negotiate a piece agreement with Germany. Compare that with the true defeat of Germany in WWI/II or Japan in II - very different stories;

- Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed after numerous months of failed negotiations between USSR and UK/France - this is not mentioned as per usual;

- To complete a full picture, next to 27 million perished Soviets, I would mention 0.9 million UK and US victims combined.

218.186.9.232 (talk) 18:12, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Also, which sources are provably wrong? Thanks!   — Jeff G.  ツ 02:02, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

- Regarding the Pact:

Negotiations between USSR and France/UK started on 10/04/39, and by August 39 no workable solution had been reached. As a few examples, England objected to a list of guaranteed protected countries, inclusion of the Baltic states and Finland in the list, non-possibility of a separate peace agreement. They ultimately agreed to all points, but valuable time had often been wasted.

In July UK sent Admiral Drax to Moscow - a person who did not have any powers to decide upon important issues nor commanded any respect from the Soviets. Furthermore, UK took the longest route possible, by sea, to deliberately delay and sabotage a possible positive outcome. (Source - Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GSE) "Second World War" and ru.wikipedia.org on Molotov-Ribbentrop pact).

Importantly, it was known that whilst talking to the Soviets, London (Chamberlain through Wilson) was also secretly talking to the Nazis about possible non-objection to the latter's "interests" in the Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in exchange for non-aggression. Brits were also prepared to allow Germans to exploit their colonial African possessions. (Source - GSE)

This clearly showed Stalin West was playing a double game and could not be trusted.

Following the despicable appeasement of Hitler in the case with Sudetenland, even in March Stalin was furious at 18th VKP(b) summit: "some countries, fore-mostly Britain and France, refused to collectively provide a defence against the aggressor" and was disinclined to get involved with countries that used others only for their own benefit. Hence USSR was between the rock and hard place - they chose Germany.

In summary, the statement "the Germans turned to the Soviets, and signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact..." should be complimented "...after difficult negotiations efforts between the three powers of USSR, France and Britain could not proceed due to the political unwillingness and contrasting priorities of all parties." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.186.9.232 (talk • contribs) 18:30, 23 November 2010 (UTC) 218.186.9.253 (talk) 05:42, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Dear Moderator/s, Re: the above Pact, I note neither my suggestion has been implemented, nor at least any acknowledgement issued in the last 2 weeks. Does this mean you only allow information that represents a biased Western view? So much for freedom of speech and any sense of honest discussion... 218.186.9.253 (talk) 14:12, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Could you simply propose here the sentence you want to write and indicate which sentence it ought to substitute? Tomeasy _{T C} 20:16, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

Isn't it what I did two weeks ago - please see above. To reiterate, the statement "...the Germans turned to the Soviets, and signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact..." should be complimented "...after difficult negotiations efforts between the three powers of USSR, France and Britain could not proceed (collapsed) due to the political unwillingness and contrasting priorities of all parties." This is to provide a fuller picture and dispel an underlying misrepresentation that the Soviets colluded with Hitler out of their own will - it was simply a political inevitability after UK and France showed their cynicism and indecisiveness.

218.186.9.253 (talk) 19:06, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

Your proposed change would convey a lot of judgment. This is not what an encyclopedia is about, and personally I reject your proposal on the basis of WP:POV. E.g., "difficult negotiation efforts" or "political unwillingness" or "priorities of all parties". These are all your opinions, and rather difficult to be proven as facts. Tomeasy _{T C} 19:13, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

It's true, "political unwillingness" is but an expression, perhaps just my opinion. Factually, it would have been truer to write of the collapse in negotiations due to secret negotiations of Western powers behind Stalin's back whilst smiling to his face...didn't want to ruffle feathers too much. Of course, "...Germany annexed the Sudetenland. This move was HIGHLY contested by the other powers" sounds very factual and accurate. Don't publish the truth...No wonder some choose to re-write the history and/or exclusively present it in a self-suited way...They have good educators... 218.186.9.253 (talk) 20:14, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

This comes down to one question. Can you verify your opinion to be true. No sources no change. We can't risk any original research. Defianetly on something like this. − Jhenderson ⁷⁷⁷ 20:35, 7 December 2010 (UTC) As per Wikipedia rules, pure facts, indisputable and verifiable: Please add to the statement "...the Germans turned to the Soviets, and signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact..." the following: "...after 4 months of discussions between the three powers of USSR, France and Britain on dealing with Nazi Germany in Europe, had not proven to be successful." (Sources - Great Soviet Encyclopedia and ru.wikipedia.org). This would remove any implied half-truths and at least make two versions of wiki (ru and en) comparable. 218.186.9.253 (talk) 06:13, 12 December 2010 (UTC) Well, this is why in Nov last year I started by saying "just to see if this will work"...as the selectiveness of resources by Western researchers and skewed mis/presentation of debatable events is evident at every step. Even at this "local" level, you, so-called moderators, have tried every trick in the book - referred to 'no sources' when the presented evidence was abundantly clear, didn't introduce a comment that states an indisputable fact, simply ignored my messages for weeks and now resorted to blocking my IP without any reason...Commendable, "unbiased truth" distributors! Keep contributing to the cynicism in the world... Victorzim (talk) 15:59, 31 January 2011 (UTC)

Well, duh. It's widely known that Wikipedia is a power trip for moderators, administrators and so called "veteran users". When they disagree with something, they just reject it. Classic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.121.37.146 (talk) 22:33, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Transcontinental countries

These have been discussed extensively in the talk archives and a consensus has long been achieved. Very occasionally and periodically this can lead to disputes on the status of Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, etc. Transcontinental country has a natural ambiguity associated with it which cannot be resolved on wikipedia, where a completely neutral position is taken. The main map, its colouring, caption and footnotes reflect that neutral position. Mathsci (talk) 00:33, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

I have nothing against the present wording now that you have maintained the sources. Regards.--Polgraf (talk) 02:17, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Economy of Europe

I think this would be in the economy section: Europe has a long history as the world's richest and most productive part of the world. At the time of Christ's birth is estimated western European output per capita was approximately 30% higher than the world average. Year 1500 had this advantage increased to 40%. After the development of science and the Industrial Revolution in Europe grew its lead quickly, in 1700 produced an average European almost 70% more than world's average population, and in 1850 was taken over the entire 150%. Around the year 1900 was Western Europe's leading role as the world's most productive area has been taken over by the former European colony of the United States, but Europe has continued to belong to the world's richest, most productive and knowledge-producing regions.

Pronunciation change proposal

I suggest chaging the first pronunciation to: /jʊ^ərəp/

This way both the primary British pronunciation jʊərəp and the secondary American pronunciation jʊrəp (which can be used instead of jurəp) are represented, instead of just the former.

--TheAmericanizator (talk) 15:31, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

The proper venue to discuss Wikipedia's conventions for representation of English in IPA is WT:IPA for English.—Emil J. 15:36, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

But I'm referring to the pronunciation for this specific article.--TheAmericanizator (talk) 19:50, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Protected for three years?

Ridiculous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.244.194.164 (talk) 14:28, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from 41.160.19.147, 10 February 2011

{{edit semi-protected}} Europe is not a Continent

41.160.19.147 (talk) 11:29, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Please provide a reliable source that supports this assertion. Plenty of sources describe Europe as a continent. See also the thread at the top of this page. Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 12:49, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

During the Cold War

The sentences 'During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east' (lead) and 'After World War II the map of Europe was redrawn at the Yalta Conference and divided into two blocs, the Western countries and the communist Eastern bloc, separated by what was later called by Winston Churchill an "iron curtain"' imply a complete partition. They do not account for the neutral countries. 212.183.140.19 (talk) 15:42, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

edit request

I was thinking of adding information on Warsaw Confederation from January 28, 1573, as it was in fact the first document providing the citizens total religious freedom. The document was included by UNESCO in Memory of the World Programme (also called World Documentary Heritage). I believe that such important event should be mentioned in the article about Europe.