Post WWII Europe 2:1

   

         After World War II, people, especially in Europe, were mortified. The expression that everyone rallied behind after the war was "Never Again". It symbolized the universal yearning to avoid another world war. Europe, which contained some of the most developed countries in the world, was ripped apart during this war. Also, many European countries were in debt to the United States and they could not afford to rebuild themselves. Thousands of people were homeless, and unemployment was very high. The weakness of the government actually led to a push for communism, as was the case with Greece. Along with that push for communism came a fear that the Soviet Union would take advantage of the weakness if the Western European states like Greece, and try to aid communist revolutionaries to overthrow democratic governments. Europe was in very bad shape, and it needed help.

        After the war, huge tracts of land in Europe were reduced to rubble, borders were being redrawn and there were many funerals to take place. Approximately four percent of the world's population were killed in this war, 80 million people died. Not only was Europe in ruins, but there were efforts made to significantly limit the war-making abilities of the axis powers. War crimes trials took place in Europe and Asia, leading to many executions and prison sentences. Europe as a whole was in shambles after the war, but in the countries that were included in the Axis Powers the death and destruction is worse. These countries, even after the war were completely dismantled and in some cases flattened. The point of these actions was to make it impossible for these countries to raise an army, and they were somewhat successful.

New buildings (right) rise out of the ruins of Hiroshima, Japan, on March 11, 1946. These single story homes built along a hard-surfaced highway are part of the program by the Japanese government to rebuild devastated sections of the country. At left background are damaged buildings whose masonry withstood the effects of the first atomic bomb ever detonated as a weapon.(AP Photo/Charles P. Gorry) # 

"World War II: After the War." The Atlantic. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. 
     <http://www.theatlantic.com/>. 

Carleton University Center for European Studies (CES). “EU Learning."
The Reconstruction of Europe Web.  28. Oct. 2013