
Electrifying Europe
The power of Europe in the construction of electricity networks
Vincent Lagendijk(Author)
Aksant Academic Publishers
Published on 3. March 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
246 pages
978-90-5260-309-4 (ISBN)
Description
Nowadays most consumers are aware of the European dimensions of their electricity supply. But what ideas lie behind this European network? In constructing electricity networks, "Europe" performed a Janus-faced function. On the one hand, a European network would bolster economic growth and peace. On the other, economic growth through electrification would increase military potential.By combining a wide array of rarely used sources, this book unravels how engineers, industrialists, and policymakers used ideas of Europe to gain support for building a European system. By focusing on transnational and European actors, this book is a valuable addition to existing national histories of electrification. It is an original contribution to the history of technology, while also making the role of technology visible in more mainstream European history.,The empirical chapters show how ideas of European cooperation in general became intertwined with network planning during the Interwar period, although the Depression and WWII prevented a European electricity network from being constructed. The subsequent chapters describe the influence of the Marshall Plan on European network-building, focusing on both its economic and military aspects. The last chapter portrays how the Iron Curtain was contested. The troubled expansion of networks and capacity in Western Europe provided an underpinning for political rapprochement with the East in the 1970s and 1980s. Political and economic turmoil after 1989 accelerated this process, leading to an interconnected European system by 1995.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Publishing group
Amsterdam University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Illustrations
Illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 170 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
435 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-5260-309-4 (9789052603094)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Vincent Lagendijk
Electrifying Europe
The power of Europe in the construction of electricity networks
E-Book
10/2025
Routledge
€63.49
Available for download

Vincent Lagendijk
Electrifying Europe
The power of Europe in the construction of electricity networks
E-Book
10/2025
Routledge
€63.49
Available for download
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction In search of European roots Chapter 2"Opening the doors to a revolution" Chapter 3 Planning a European network, 1927-34 Chapter 4 (Re)Constructing regions, 1934-51 Chapter 5 Securing European cooperation, 1951-2001 Chapter 6 Conclusion From cooperation to competition, Sources and bibliography, Summary.