The New Europe

1. The New Europe

2. The Council of Europe • Council of Europe created in 1948 • European federalists hoped Council would quickly evolve into a true European parliament with sovereign rights, but this did not happen. • Britain, with its empire and its “special relationship” with U.S., opposed giving any real political power—sovereignty—to the council.

3. Cooperation on Coal and Steel • Schuman Plan, 1950 created the European Coal and Steel Community • Put forth by French statesman Jean Monnet and Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. • Special international organization to control & integrate European steel and coal production. • West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, & Luxembourg accepted in 1952. • Britain refused to enter, fearing separation from the Commonwealth • Immediate economic goal: a single competitive market w/o national tariffs or quotas.

4. "The Six" • By 1958 coal and steel moved freely among six nations of the European Coal and Steel Community • Far-reaching political goal: bind six member nations so closely together economically that war among them would become unthinkable and virtually impossible.

5. European Economic Community (EEC) • Treaty of Rome, 1957 • Created European Economic Community (EEC) or the Common Market • Signed by same six nations in the Schuman Plan – “the Six” • First goal of treaty: Gradual reduction of all tariffs among the Six in order to create a single market almost as large as the U.S. • Other goals: • Free movement of capital and labor. • Common economic policies and institutions. • Tariffs were rapidly reduced and regions specialized in what they did best.

6. The EEC in the 1960s • EEC encouraged hopes of political and economic union. • Union frustrated in 1960s by resurgence of more traditional nationalism. • Euratom (European Atomic Energy Agency) also created by agency. • Communist states responded by forming their own economic association--COMECON

7. De Gaulle and European Unity • France steps back from European unity • Bitter colonial war in Algeria resulted in the election in 1958 of Charles De Gaulle who established the Fifth French Republic and ruled as president until 1969. • Withdrew France from "US controlled" NATO and developed own nuclear weapons program. • De Gaulle twice vetoed application of pro-American British to European Union. • Britain did not enter until 1973.

8. Community Expansion • With De Gaulle gone and more openness in Britain had the UK join in 1973 (along with Ireland and Denmark) • Spain, Portugal and Greece joined in the 1980s • Sweden, Finland, and Austria joined in the 1990s.

10. The European Union • European Union (EU) went into effect in 1993 • European Community (EC) renamed to European Union in 1996 • Chancellor Kohl and President Mitterrand sought to extend the EU to include a single European currency and a common defense and foreign policy • British prime minister Margaret Thatcher led opposition until she resigned in November 1990, replaced by conservative successor John Major who urged a limited federalism.

11. Maastricht Treaty, 1991 • Promised most radical revision of the EC since its beginning. • Euro became the single currency of the EU in 1999 (went into circulation in 2002) integrating the currency of 11 western and central European nations. • Proposals to form common foreign and defense policies. • Increased use of majority voting. • Greater parliamentary consultation. • By 1995 EU had 15 members • By 2004 it had 25 members

13. USSR under Nikita Khrushchev • Power struggle emerged after Stalin died in 1953; Khrushchev emerged a few years later • Stalin’s heirs realized reforms were needed. • Widespread fear and hatred of Stalin’s political terror resulted in reduction of power of secret police and gradual closure of forced labor camps. • Agriculture in bad shape. • Shortages of consumer goods. • Hard work and initiative in decline due to poor living conditions.

14. De-Stalinization • XXth Party Congress, 1956: Khrushchev took startling initiative against hard-liners by denouncing Stalin’s crimes in a closed session. • Secret anti-Stalin speech probably most influential statement in Russia since Lenin addressed the crowd on arriving in April 1917. • Gosplan: Resources shifted from heavy industry and the military toward consumer goods and agriculture – Centralized Economic Planning

15. De-Stalinization • Great ferment in the arts (anti-Stalinist views tolerated) • Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) wrote Dr. Zhivago in 1956. • Story of prerevolutionary intellectual who rejects brutality of revolution of 1917 & Stalinism; even as he is destroyed, he triumphs from his humanity and Christian spirit. • Aleksandr Solzenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) • Portrays in grim detail life in Stalinist concentration camp (he had been a prisoner)

16. Effects of De-Stalinization • De-Stalinization resulted in communist reformers and the masses seeking greater liberty and national independence. • Poland: March 1956, riots resulted in release of more than 9000 political prisoners, including previously purged leader Wladyslaw Gomulka. • Gomulka skillfully managed to win greater autonomy for Poland while keeping anti-Soviet feeling at bay.

17. Hungarian Uprising, 1956 • Students and workers in Budapest installed a liberal Communist reformer, Imre Nagy as new chief in October 1956. • Hungarian nationalists staged huge demonstrations demanding non-communist parties be legalized; turned into armed rebellion and spread throughout the country. • Hoped U.S. would come in and help achieve Hungarian independence • Soviet tanks and troops responded by invading Hungary and crushing the national democratic revolution. • János Kádár installed firm communist rule • After Hungarian invasion, most eastern Europeans hoped for small domestic gains while obediently following USSR in foreign affairs.

18. Cold War in the 1950s • Relations between USSR and U.S. improve with ascension to power of Nikita Khrushchev • Seeks “peaceful coexistence” with the West in order to focus on Soviet economy • Austrian Independence: USSR agreed in 1955 to real independence for a neutral Austria after 10 years of Allied occupation. • Resulted in significant reduction in cold war tensions between 1955 & 1957. • Krushchev sought to prove communism was superior to capitalism and the USSR would be the model communist state in the world; "we will bury you.” • Krushchev began wooing new nations of Asia and Africa with promises and aid, even if they were not communist.

19. The Berlin Wall • Berlin Wall built in 1961 • 2 million East Germans escaped to West Berlin between 1949-1961; Soviets frustrated • Khrushchev threatened President Kennedy: USSR would sign peace treaty with East Germany who would then control access to Berlin; Soviets would protect East Germany’s right to control flow into Berlin. • Berlin Wall built instead of enforcing ultimatum to U.S.; ended future crises over Berlin.

20. Fall of Khrushchev, 1964 • His cold war foreign policies erratic & ultimately unsuccessful (Berlin, Cuban Missile Crisis) • Expensive space and armaments programs postponed any significant shift to consumer goods. • Most important reason: agricultural projects backfired • Resurgence of conservative Stalinists led to quiet removal of Khrushchev in October, 1964

21. Return of the Cold War • Leonid Brezhnev became new General Secretary (1964-1982) • Beginning in 1964, USSR began a period of stagnation and limited re-Stalinization • Massive arms buildup started in response to humiliation of Cuban Missile Crisis. • USSR avoided direct confrontation with the U.S. and seemed more committed to peaceful coexistence than Khrushchev had been.

22. European Society After the Second World War

23. Science and Technology • For first time in history, “pure theoretical” science and “practical” technology (”applied science”) effectively joined together on massive scale during WWII. • British scientists developed radar to detect enemy aircraft. • Jet aircraft developed by Germany • Electronic computers further developed; had barely come into existence before 1939. • Manhattan Project: Atomic bomb most spectacular result of scientific research during the war; project overseen by J. Robert Oppenheimer

24. Big Science • “Big Science” became new model for science after WWII • Combined theoretical work with sophisticated engineering in a large, often huge organization. • U.S. emerged as leader in Big Science after WWII • Science not demobilized after WWII either in U.S. or USSR • Large portion of all postwar scientific research went for “defense” (25%!)

25. The Space Race • 1957, USSR launched Sputnik, an orbiting satellite using long-range rockets • US fearful Soviets could now launch a nuclear missile into space and then down to U.S. • U.S. countered with creation of NASA and vastly increased educational funding for science. • 1961, Soviets sent world’s first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, into orbit. • U.S. President John F. Kennedy responded by increasing funds for space. • 1969, Apollo Program put first man on the moon; 5 more moon landings followed by 1972.

26. The Brain Drain • “Brain Drain”: U.S. attracted many of Europe’s best scientists during 1950s and 1960s—seen as the American Challenge • Some Europeans feared Europe was falling behind U.S. in science, technology, and most dynamic industrial sectors of the late 20th century. • Yet, revitalized Europe pooling resources on Big Science projects: • Concordesupersonic passenger airliner and peaceful uses of atomic energy.

27. Growth of Scientific Community • Four times as many scientists in Europe and North America in 1975 as in 1945. • Highly specialized modern scientists and technologists worked as members of a team, which completely changed work and lifestyle of modern scientists. • James Watson and Francis Crick win Nobel Prize in 1962 for discovering structure of DNA

28. Class Structure and Social Reform • Rise of the middle-class largely result of increased access to higher education • European society became more mobile and democratic. • New middle-class, based largely on specialized skills and high levels of education, more open, democratic, and insecure than old propertied middle class. • Changes in structure of middle class influential in trend toward less rigid class structure.

29. Rise of Middle Class • Rapid industrial and technological expansion created in large corporations and gov’t agencies became powerful demand for technologists and managers. • Old propertied middle class lost control of many family-owned businesses. • Top managers and ranking civil servants represented model for new middle class of salaried specialists; well paid and highly trained • Passed on opportunity for advanced education to their children.

30. Working Classes • Structure of lower classes also became more flexible and open. • Mass exodus from farms and countryside. • Resulted in drastic decline in one of Europe’s most traditional and least mobile groups. • Industrial working class ceased to expand while job opportunities for white-collar and service employees grew rapidly. • European governments reduced class tensions by further expanding social security reforms: health care, family allowances, maternity grants, public housing

31. Consumerism • Sparked by rising standard of living giving more people disposable income. • European automobile industry expanded phenomenally. • “Gadget revolution” • Like US, Europeans bought washing machines, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, dishwashers, radios, TVs, and stereos. • Purchasing greatly facilitated by installment purchasing.

32. Leisure and recreation • Increased social welfare resulted in more disposable income and less need to save for old age. • Leisure and recreation became big business as workers worked fewer hours. • Soccer matches, horse races, movies, TV, commercialized hobbies • Increased attendance in cultural events: concerts and exhibitions. • Travel industry mushroomed most dramatically • Before WWII travel for pleasure or relaxation largely aristocratic. • Paid vacations required by law in most countries

33. Philosophy • Existentialism is a philosophical movement which claims that individual human beings have full responsibility for creating the meanings of their own lives. It is a reaction against more traditional philosophies, such as rationalism and empiricism. • In the 1940s and 1950s, French philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus wrote scholarly and fictional works that helped to popularize themes associated with existentialism: "dread, boredom, alienation, the absurd, freedom, commitment, and nothingness". Jean-Paul Sartre

34. The Youth Movement and Counterculture • Counter-Culture: rebellion against parents, authority figures and status quo • “Baby boom” after WWII developed distinctive and international youth culture. • Many raised in economic prosperity and more democratic class structure. • New generation influenced by revival of leftist thought created a “counter-culture” • Youth in America took the lead. • Some youth rebelled against conformity and boredom of middle-class suburbs.

35. Causes of Youth Culure • Mass communication and youth travel linked countries and continents together. • Baby boom meant youth became unusually large part of population and exercised exceptional influence on society as a whole. • Postwar prosperity and greater equality gave youth more purchasing power than ever before. • Youth to set mass trends and fads in everything from music to chemical stimulants.

36. Causes of Youth Culture • Common patterns of consumption and behavior fostered generational loyalty. • Good jobs were readily available. • High demand for workers meant youth had little need to fear punishment from straight-laced employers for unconventional behavior. • Rock music helped tie counter-culture together • Beatles, British rock band, became one of biggest pop groups in music history

37. 1968 – Student Revolts • Opposition to U.S. war in Vietnam triggered revolutionary ferment among youths • Influenced by Marxist current in French universities after 1945 & new left thinking in US • Believed older generation & US fighting immoral & imperialistic war against Vietnam. • Students in western Europe shared US youth's rejection of materialism and belief that postwar society was repressive and flawed.

38. 1968 – Student Revolts • Problems in higher education: classes overcrowded; little contact with professors; competition for grades intense; demanded even more practical areas of study to qualify for high-paying jobs after college • Some students warned of dangers of narrowly trained experts ("technocrats") who would serve the establishment to the detriment of working class.

39. 1968 - France • Students took over the university, leading to violent clashes with police. • Most students demanded changes in curriculum and real voice in running the university • Appealed to industrial workers for help; spontaneous general strike spread across France • To many it seemed the French Fifth Republic might collapse

40. 1968 - France • De Gaulle called in troops and called for new elections (which he won decisively) • The mini-Revolution collapsed. • For much of the older generation in western Europe, the student revolution of 1968 signaled the end of illusions and end of an era.

41. 1968 - Czechoslovakia • Due to Khrushchev’s reforms in USSR, 1960s brought modest liberalization and more consumer goods to eastern Europe • 1968, reform elements in Czechoslovak Communist party gained a majority and voted out long-time Stalinist leader. • Alexander Dubcek elected leader: ushered new period of thaw and rebirth in famous “Prague Spring” of 1968.

42. 1968 - Czechoslovakia • Czech reformers building “socialism with a human face” frightened hard-line communists. • Soviet troops brutally invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968. • Czechoslovakia became one of most hard-line communist regimes well into 1980s. • Brezhnev Doctrine: Soviet Union and its allies had right to intervene in any socialist country whenever they saw the need

43. Economic Crisis • Economic crises of the 1970s • Nixon takes U.S. off gold standard: effectively ended the “Bretton Woods” system of international currency stabilization. • Fixed rates of exchange abandoned. • Great uncertainty replaced postwar predictability in international trade and finance.

44. Energy Crisis • Postwar economic boom fueled by cheap oil, especially in western Europe. • 1973, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) dramatically increased oil prices in Europe and U.S. in retaliation for their support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria. • Second price increase in 1979 during Iranian Revolution hurt modest progress since 1976.

45. Economic Decline • Price revolution in energy, coupled with upheaval in international monetary system, plunged world into worst economic decline since 1930s. • "Stagflation" hit in the mid 1970s: increased prices and increased unemployment; rare • Debts and deficits piled up quickly in the 1970s and 1980s • Social consequences of the 1970s economic crisis • Created condition for collapse of communism in late 1980s. • Pessimism replaced optimism in society in general • Welfare system created in postwar era prevented mass suffering and degradation. • Total government spending in most countries rose during 1970s and 1980s

46. Conservative Resurgence • Conservative resurgence in late 1970s and early 1980s: Thatcher, Reagan, Mitterand • By late 1970s, powerful reaction against increased governments’ role resulted in austerity measures to slow growth of public spending and the welfare state. • Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain • Ronald Reagan in U.S.

47. Conservative Resurgence • France in early 1980s attempted to increase gov’t role but failed • Francois Mitterand led his Socialist party and Communist allies in launching a vast program of nationalization and public investment designed to spend France out of economic stagnation. (Keynesian) • By 1983, this policy failed and Mitterand was forced to impose wide variety of austerity measures for the remainder of the decade. • Reduction in spending for “Big Science” (except cold war related spending) • Europeans and North Americans developed a leaner, tougher lifestyle

48. Women • Second wave of women’s movement first assumed real significance in the late 1960s, gathered strength in the 1970s, and won major victories in the 1970s and 1980s. • Marriage and Motherhood • In the postwar era, women continued to marry earlier. • Typical woman in Europe, U.S. and Canada had children quickly after marrying. • Average of only 2 children per family • Motherhood occupied a much smaller portion of a women’s life than at the turn of the century. • Birth control use increased with oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices.

49. Women in the Workplace • In 20th century, especially after WWII, opportunities for women of modest means to earn cash income at home practically disappeared. • Thus, sharp increase across Europe and North America in number of married women who became full-time and part-time wage earners outside the home. • Rising employment of married women became a powerful force in drive for women’s equality and emancipation. • Rising employment for married women became a factor in decline of the birthrate.

50. Women’s Rights Movement • Goals of women's rights movements • New statutes in the workplace: laws against discrimination, “equal pay for equal work,” and maternal leave and affordable day care. • Gender and family questions: right to divorce (in some Catholic countries), legalized abortion, needs of single parents I (usually women) and protection from rape and physical violence. • In almost every country, effort to legalize abortion became catalyst for mobilizing an effective women’s movement.