It's very true, Larry.
Shortly after WW2, De Gaulle and Adenauer shook hands and decided to build something positive from the chaos of centuries of wars. And now, we share the same currency.
It has a lot to do with the ability of heads of states to recognize past mistakes or even war crimes and to ask for forgiveness. Germany did that to Israel, for instance.
However, Turkey has never recognized the Armenian genocide or the Serbs and Croats seem to have the hatred towards each other ingrained in their culture and traditions.
They are indeed prisoners of their history. I wonder...If they ever wanted to join the EU, they would definitely need to reassess this.

Raoul