Ruin and Renewal: Civilizing Europe After World War II

In 1945, Europe lay in ruins. Some fifty million people were dead, and millions more languished in physical and moral disarray. The devastation of World War II was unprecedented in character as well as in scale. A continent that had previously considered itself the very measure of civilization for the world had turned into its barbaric opposite. Reconstruction, then, was a matter of turning Europe's "civilizing mission" inward. Historian Paul Betts describes how this effort found expression in humanitarian relief work, the prosecution of war crimes against humanity, a resurgent Catholic Church, peace campaigns, expanded welfare policies, renewed global engagement and numerous efforts to salvage damaged cultural traditions.