"Listen, Allemagne... we've had our struggles in the past."

There are some words that I'll never forget. They came at a time that I'd least expected them to- I had, albeit misguidedly, destroyed half of Europe. I, and I alone, was to blame this time, not like before, during the First World War. During the Second, I alone did the deeds. I alone wiped the blood of millions off of a gun, then picked it up and continued shooting. I alone almost tore the world apart.

And no, before you ask, I still haven't forgiven myself for it. Nowadays, the other nations all tell me, it wasn't my fault, it was because of him, and others also held the blame... No, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for what happened. There are some things that should never be repeated, nor forgotten.

It was in the wake of the War, that things started to look up for me. For the first couple of years, I was a wreck, that is true. Everything I did was scrutinized by the world's eyes, and to make things worse there were issues with Russia- then the Soviet Union- and my brother.

"I don't think it should ever happen again."

America, England, and France had all given me money, all helped me- especially America. Dummkopf or not, he did help. But they weren't friends, by any means of the word. Even Feliciano was distanced from me. I wasn't a poor nation- by European standards of the time, I was relatively well-off- but the War had left scars, many of which still show today.

"Thus, I propose to you, mon ami, a supranational coalition of coal and steel."

In retrospect, I think I should have been able to see this coming. After all, France's minister had been talking about it for... almost since the War ended, in fact. That we two, as the most powerful nations in Europe, should never be allowed the chance to fight again. If, as he said, coal and steel- two primary ingredients for war- were to be controlled by a separate force? And not only a force not controlled by a government, but a force that would combine the collective resources of several countries?

War would be impossible, if no country had his own supplies.

And so, obviously, I had to agree.

Soon, Feliciano, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg all came to join us. The Low Countries already had their own union, but they nonetheless joined ours. Two years later, in 1953, the European Coal and Steel Community was officially in action.

It worked smoothly. We all had our doubts, of course; particularly France and I. Some of our politicians were distrusting of one another, but our people as a whole supported this arrangement, and so it prospered.

It was then, as I signed my signature onto the Treaty between Nations, I felt the first glimmer of hope light. Maybe... I could fix some of what I had done wrong. It was an idea that possessed me, almost.

We added to the Community every couple of years; EURATOM, the EEC. Time flew as I tried to revive my economy and bring the rest of Europe up with me at the same time. Soon, it was 1989, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first time in decades I'd seen Gilbert.

Immediately, I took him in, sent him money, did everything I could. Work in that time period doubled for me; I had organizations to manage, a country to run, and East to help. My dream was slowly coming true, but at a price. For several months, I barely ever slept; later others have told me that I was a madman at the time, always working, completely focused. But I needed no sleep, because the Wall had fallen, the Cold War was over, and I had my capital back. (For those of you who don't know, not having a capital city, or not having a city with you, if the most painful thing we countries can experience. It's an emptiness inside, a deep Einsamkeit in your soul). Life was wonderful.

Then, the Maastricht Treaty. If before we Europeans had been rather close-knit a community, now we were closer than ever. Many of us were startled at the pace of things; we nations have lived through so many wars, that such a long period of peace was almost unprecedented. This is not to say there weren't problems. During the making of the Treaty of Nice, France and I had a few struggles; my population was far greater than his, but he wouldn't accept my right to have more votes in the council. However, we reached a compromise in the end, and the European Union, as it came to be called, was becoming more powerful by the day.

In 2002, the Euro was introduced. Many of us were sad to see our old currencies go, and many of our people were skeptical of this new, supra-national currency. However, it worked out for the best. The Euro was strong, and it could be used in many countries, eliminating the need for currency exchanges. Borders were soon opened, and shipping and goods throughout the EU as well. We also kept expanding; every few years, more countries would join.

Today, we still have the Euro, and the EU remains as strong an organization as ever. Out of six nations that began to unify in '53, there are now twenty-seven, and counting. Europe is by no means unified; we countries are too stubborn for our own good sometimes, and I don't ever think that we can ever truly work together.

But we can try. There are some things that the world will never forget; there are some things man can never forgive himself for. But, together with others, we have stopped war in Europe. We have united a continent, that for millennia was constantly at war; we have taken people, from the highlands of Spain to the plains of Hungary, and made them part of a single community.

This, I think, is my most important memory, thought, and dream.

Signed,

Ludwig Beilschmidt

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

O:O:O:O:O

Einsamkeit= loneliness

AHHHHH. INFORMATION OVERLOAD. but seriously- have you learned enough about the EU yet? to everyone who is not aware: i am currently living for a year in Germany. if there's any awkward wordings or expression, it's due to german influence on my english writing, and i think that's appropriate, considering the character. anyway, we are learning about the EU here in Gemeinschaftskunde (politics), and thus the idea was born...

just a disclaimer, all the germans i've met have no such feelings, of needing to repay the past. i just think that, were i a country who killed so many people, i would never be able to forgive myself for it ^^ the german people do, however, never want this event to be forgotten, because, and i quote, "once something is forgotten there is the chance for it to happen again". there's memorials everywhere for wars, WWII in particular.

i got most of this information from school and wikipedia... and seriously, this is a kind of bad overview. i suggest reading highly detailed books about the stuff if you're interested; it does start with the european coal and steel community though (in german; Europäischen Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl). and everything happened, trust me xD EUROATOM is the nuclear union, EEC is the European Economic Community (basically, large trading without tariffs- still in effect today; in the EU there's no tariffs) (outside the EU there's a sh*tload... shipping packages 'cross the atlantic is sooooo expensive...)

okay, super-long author's note it over!

I'm sorry this took so long! I'll try to be a bit faster for the next one, but I'm still trying to formulate my ideas...

R&R, comments make my day :)