I'd say as a general rule, Europeans don't prefer hard, dense breads. Bread like that is usually dry and cloying (lovely word, that). A lot of the bread eaten in the US (and the UK and other countries in Europe are guilty of this, too), is really, by anyone's definition, not bread. read more
The reasons Americans like soft breads go beyond “Americans wanted to make more profit by mass-producing bread, but Europeans are above such sordid considerations.” And, stating that hard breads are “real breads” and the European taste for hard bread is superior, is rather ignorant. read more