Abstract

The article discusses European and American historiography on the manifold crises of the 1970s and sheds light on the transformations of the Euro-American post-war order that occurred in that decade. The EC entered the decade with a renewed sense of purpose and direction. Against the background of sound economic growth, Western European countries agreed to translate their economic prowess into political protagonism, trying to promote collective action in international affairs. This rising European consciousness included opposition to the American hegemony and Western European countries' attempts to play a more significant role within the Atlantic Community. The article reveals a broad historiographical consensus on the interpretation of the crisis of the 1970s: as particular as the moment was, however, it did not witness the abrupt end of the American century in Europe but rather the erosion of its hegemonic form as well as the emergence of the EC political challenge to the Cold War Atlantic compromise.