The "European Wars" were a series of military conflicts that took place on the European continent in the mid-21st century. Beginning in 2035 with the European market crash and ensuing depression, coupled with the draining of resources and subsequent withdrawal of soldiers from the various disastrous EU police actions in the Middle East, the European Union broke down into quarrelling nation-states entangled in a mess of alliances much like the First World War (1914 - 1918).