Europe in Crisis: Part 2- European Rebirth and Renewal: 1945-1989
The preceding catastrophic thirty year period makes what follows all the more remarkable. From the ruins of 1945, Western Europe achieved a transformation so complete it seemed almost miraculous. From the ashes, Western Europe would build the most successful experience in peace, prosperity and integration in human history. Ancient enemies were transformed into partners and achieved unprecedented economic growth by working together. This historic renewal was built on three interlocking pillars. Let’s examine the fundamentals.
First, and most critical, was a new security structure. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was created in 1949 and represented a revolutionary break from Europe’s history of shifting alliances and balance of power politics. For the first time, the United States committed to permanent peacetime engagement in European security. Article 5’s collective defence guarantee meant that an attack on one was an attack on all- effectively placing American nuclear protection over Western Europe against Soviet expansion. Hot wars were replaced by a Cold War between the United States and NATO against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. The basic concept behind NATO was “To Keep the United States In, The Russians Out and The Germans Down.” It worked! The American security umbrella and guarantees allowed European nations to direct resources toward economic reconstruction rather than military competition.
Second, economic integration created a common market and shared prosperity. It started with he 1951 European Coal and Steel Community which placed coal and steel production in France and Germany under shared authority. This made a future military conflict between them materially impossible. The 1957 Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community, establishing a common market that eliminated tariffs and enabled free movement of goods, capital and labor among member states. The results were extraordinary. Western Europe recovered rapidly, the “Trent Glorieuses” (thirty glorious years) in France, the “Wirtschaftswunder” (economic miracle) in Germany. Living standards soared. The welfare state expanded, providing healthcare, education and social safety nets. By the 1980’s, living standards in Europe rivaled or exceeded America in many measures. A devastated war zone had been transformed into a rich and stable region.
Third, the Transatlantic Partnership with the United States was a vital element to the rebirth of Western Europe. The Marshall Plan provided early crucial American capital for Europe- roughly 150 billion in today’s dollars. This was not American charity- it was a wise policy in furtherance of American interests. We nurtured economic partners and democratic allies in the Cold War struggle. The relationship was genuinely reciprocal: Europe provided forward bases, intelligence cooperation and shared democratic values in containing Soviet style communism. Western Europe became an attractive alternative to the drabness and repression of Soviet controlled Eastern Europe. The Transatlantic Partnership lifted millions out of poverty, provided hope to millions of others, created political stability and KEPT THE PEACE. It was a triumph of American diplomacy and European hard work.
By 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, Western Europe had enjoyed 44 years without a major war- unprecedented in modern history. Democracy had been consolidated, even in nations (Germany and Italy) where it had previously failed. Former colonial powers had decolonized and economic interdependence had made military conflict unthinkable. The European project stood as proof that ancient hatreds could be transcended through shared institutions, economic cooperation and collective security. The three pillars described above were mutually reinforcing, creating a virtuous cycle of peace and prosperity. They should not be tossed aside lightly.
