1. Adolf Hitler2. Josef Stalin3. Winston Chruchill4. Kasier Wilhelm II5. Charles de Gaulle6. Margaret Thatcher7. Willy Brandt8. Mikhael Gorbachev9. Francisco Franco10. Helmut KohlI chose to list them by who I thought had the most significant impact on the course of European history in the 20th century.

That assumes you think the EC is a good thing.  I know plenty of Germans and some others that do not think it is.  Personally, I am of two minds on it.  It has good points and bad points.

Interesting concept and responses so far ? especially since we get to define ?top?  ;D.Here are some thoughts:How about David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau as the primary architects of the Treaty of Versailles?  How would the future of Europe in the 20th Century have been different if the Treaty of Versailles had been a little more tempered instead of punitive?I would argue that there is a case that Leopold von Bethmann Hollweg should replace Kaiser Wilhelm II on Scout?s list.  How much of the political and diplomatic maneuvering from 1911 to the start of the First World War was active/proactive on the part of the Kaiser and how much was led by the policies, personality, and gambling nature of Bethmann Hollweg (and Foreign Minister Jagow)?Is there a case to be made for Nikita Khrushchev?  Would Glasnost have a foundation without Khrushchev?s de-Stalinization programs?I have to echo Hitler, Stalin, and Churchill? as well as Konrad Adenauer and Jean MonnetOkay, the final slot in my top ten may be a little controversial?Two choices ? Otto von Bismarck - Although Bismarck acted in the 19th Century, his influence on the early 20th Century (and thus the remainder of the 20th Century) was significant.  Obviously the argument can be (and has been) made that there is a definite continuity between the foreign policies and ambitions of Bismarckian-Wilhelmine Germany and Hiter?s Third Reich.  Without Bismarck, would there have even been a Hitler?  Of course, we could carry this to the extreme and include many other influential figures from European history.George C. Marshall ? I know, I know, Marshall was an American? but without the Marshall Plan, what would the Europe of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s have looked like?  Maybe he doesn?t qualify as a ?European Political Figure? but I thought I?d throw him into the mix for discussion?s sake.

Michael CollinsI guess no one thinks the Irish Civil War and War of Independence was a big deal.  ::)

From my perspective there are many more bad points than good.  Economic integration was and is a smart idea.  The current move to create some kind of United States of Europe is ahorrible idea and seems set up to let the bigger countries i.e. France, Germany, Britain lord it over the smaller ones.  The question to ask is who benefits from greater political integration.  My answer is not countries like Poland, Czech, Slovakia, or Romania  they look set to be exploited except for maybe Poland whose people have a long memory of what foreign domination really means.  I would expect Poland to be chafing the most at limits and encroachments on the perogatives and privelges being made on national sovereignty but instead it is the tiny Czech Republic that is calling a spade a spade and being pilloried for it.