Western Europe’s Postwar Challenge

In 1945 much of western Europe was devastated by the war, and prospects for a swift recovery looked bleak. Nonetheless, in the decades that followed, democratic governments took root throughout western Europe and thrived in an atmosphere of civil liberties and individual freedom. Progressive Catholics and their Christian Democratic political parties were particularly influential. In Italy and Germany Christian Democrats took power, rejecting fascism and putting their faith in democracy. Socialists and Communists active in the resistance against Hitler returned with renewed prestige, especially in France and Italy. In the immediate postwar years welfare measures such as family allowances, health insurance, and increased public housing were enacted throughout much of Europe.

The Cold War prevented the allies occupying Germany from finding a political settlement, resulting in a partition between a Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and a Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Under its first postwar chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, West Germany recovered from near total devastation in World War II and became the leading economic power in Europe. A fierce opponent of communism, Adenauer forged close ties with the United States and fully supported efforts at European unity. He also initiated dialogues with leaders of Europe’s Jewish community and with Israel to encourage a reconciliation of the Jewish and German peoples following the Holocaust.

European nations followed different paths to postwar recovery. West Germany balanced a free-market economy with an extensive social welfare network, while France resorted to central planning. But amid the destruction and uncertainty brought by two world wars caused by Europeans and fought in Europe, many Europeans believed that only unity could forestall future European conflicts.

The experience of close cooperation among European states for Marshall Plan aid led European leaders to pursue economic unity. France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg joined together in 1952 to control and integrate their steel and coal production. In 1957 the six nations of the Coal and Steel Community signed the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community, popularly known as the Common Market. The treaty’s primary goal was a gradual reduction of all tariffs among the six in order to create a single market.

The Common Market was a great success, encouraging hopes of rapid progress toward political as well as economic union. In the 1960s, however, a resurgence of more traditional nationalism in France led by Charles de Gaulle, French president from 1958 to 1969, frustrated these hopes. Viewing the United States as the main threat to genuine French independence, he withdrew all French military forces from NATO and developed France’s own nuclear weapons. De Gaulle also thwarted initial efforts of Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom to join the Common Market.

Migrant laborers, mainly from southern Italy, North Africa, Turkey, Greece, and Yugoslavia, also shaped western European societies and drove their economic recovery. Tens of millions of migrant workers made it possible for western European economies to continue to grow beyond their postwar labor capacity. Governments at first labeled the migrants as “guest workers” to signal their temporary status, though in practice many chose to remain in their new homes. As their communities became more settled, migrants faced a backlash from majority populations.