Impact of the Second World War on Western Europe
The war had a devastating impact on the social, economic, and political life of Western Europe. Psychologically, the people of Western Europe were tired of the war. It is perhaps the most significant difference between the aftermaths of WWI and WWII. Consequently, calls for retaliation and nationalistic sentiment were not as high. The severity of the psychological anguish is illustrated by the millions of people that the war left dead. Many more were displaced from their homes (White, 1953). Sickness and injury were the norm rather than the exception. Many, especially the Jews and those that survived the Nazi concentration camps, were living in camps for displaced persons where the conditions were hardly ideal. As a result, their only priority was reconstruction rather than retributive justice.
Infrastructure and housing had been decimated by the war, especially in Germany. Roads leading in and out of towns and villages had completely been destroyed by the heavy bombing. In the event that one managed to find their way through the bad roads, they only came across empty towns and villages. The few that were inhibited had a myriad of challenges as there were no sewerage facilities and water. That contributed to poor health to poor health, especially among the Germans, which was made worse by low food rations. Those that were lucky enough to be in camps for displaced persons received better rations though the food was hardly fulfilling due to its monotony. The situation was made worse by the high levels of unemployment. Most of the industries that had supported a majority of the jobs in Germany had been destroyed and those that had remained faced strict restrictions that prevented any meaningful production (Fao, 2006).
Other European nations such as France also had their critical infrastructure destroyed; as a result, resumption of economic activities was painstakingly slow. Furthermore, the reconstruction costs were massive in light of the virtually run down European economies. Apart from the millions that had died during the war, a significant number of young men had been held bondage by the Nazis, which had a negative impact on their populations back home. Consequently, Western Europe had an imminent labor crisis not just immediately after the war but also in the subsequent reconstruction period.
Ironically, it was the devastation that the people of Europe had faced that acted as the galvanizing force towards reconstruction. The first task that European leaders faced was rebuilding the confidence of the people in their economies to encourage the resumption of agricultural and industrial production. That was especially the case given that at the time, Western Europe had to import most of its supplies from the U.S. The war had attacked the very basis of western ideals, freedom, human dignity and reason. The myth of the state that Hitler had relied on as a tool to whip people’s emotions to support the war had been proven to be an illusion. It advertently had the effect of pushing Western European nations more towards economic co-operation, which formed the foundations for the formation of the European Economic Union.
The realization of the deception of the idea of a state was more profound on Germans than the rest of the Western Europeans as they considered themselves as bearing the extra responsibility of regaining the trust of the other Europeans and the international community at large (Marshall, 1956). As a result, it pushed West Germany and the rest of the western European nations more towards democratic ideals. Western Europe also realized the importance played by the international community in restoring their consciousness and human relations and for that reason moved towards closer co-operation with foreign nations particularly the U.S. The co-operation resulted in the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) in 1949. The United States also became the largest contributor of the aid that Western Europe needed in its reconstruction efforts.
Eastern Europe after the Second World War
Compared to Western Europe, Eastern Europe bore the greatest toll from the Second World War as it was more invested in the ideology of the war. Furthermore, over and above the ravages of the war, the eastern bloc was under the authoritarian control of the Soviet Union, which saw itself as the sole protector of the ideals of communism.
The “people’s democracy” were nothing more than a pretext of the extension of the powers of the Soviet Union in Eastern European countries. While countries from the Eastern Bloc became increasingly aligned with the Soviet Union, the pace of entry was by no means uniform. Some countries such as Poland were quick to join the bloc while others like Czechoslovak maintained a somewhat special status owing to non-allegiance despite being surrounded by a huge communist state (Czechoslovak Communist Party, 1968). Czechoslovak posed a challenge to the Soviet Union due to its democratic ideals. Consequently, the Soviet Union conducted an all-out coup in the country using its communist loyalists in Czechoslovak. The rise of communist ideals in Eastern Europe rather than being a people driven process was actually effected through communist loyalists who had formed National Communist Committees as was the case with Czechoslovak.
The formation of the Eastern Bloc was founded on the philosophy of Stalinization. The philosophy advocated for absolute power being concentrated in the hands of a single party, which was the custodian of the “people’s democracy”. These communist parties would then be under the control of Moscow, which saw itself as the ultimate protector of communism. The philosophy also mandated a centrally planned economy (Heller, 1957).
Overtime, there was a wave of discontent from Hungary to Poland after the realization that the “people’s democracy” was nothing more than a euphemism for control over the masses by the communist parties subservient to Moscow (Milosz, 1953).
Dissent from within the party was as a result of strict communist control of government. Even senior government officials were not given a free hand in handling sensitive issues that give credibility to a communist run government such as the police and the army. Top posts in these institutions were dished to communist party adherents instead of following meritocracy, which led to the creation of a privileged clique of party bureaucrats. Secondly, while communist parties insist that they grant human freedoms at least on paper, the same was not being felt by the masses that were more like prisoners of their conscience. It is for these reasons that revolts broke out in eastern bloc countries such as Hungary.
References
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European History: Since 1900 Perry, M., Berg, M & Krukones, J (Massachusetts,
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