Adolf Hitler failed in his attempt to make Europe an empire ruled by Germany at the end of World War II in 1945. The EU as a loose confederation of the “United States of Europe” is in danger of breaking up in 2011 with an end to the common currency, the euro.

Right now the German Constitutional Court will rule on September 7 on whether the original Greek bailout and the Portuguese and Irish bailouts were unconstitutional. Merkel’s own party, the CDU, is also not behind her in the deal that was brokered in July about the second Greek bailout. If that wasn’t enough trouble, Slovakia, Austria, the Netherlands, and Finland all want collateral for their loans to Greece, giving certain creditors preference over othes.

This is no way for the European Union to survive.