Mr. Meester
AP European History
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Displacement from the war (Pre-1950)
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Central & Eastern Europe = 46 million people
 Nazi forced movement, POWs, others chose to flee
either Hitler or Stalin
 New boundaries saw governments force ethnicities out
of there homes
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Immigration & Emigration (1945-1960)
½ million people left Europe each year
 Decolonization caused many to immigrate to Europe
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 European Colonials returned
 Non-Europeans immigrated in large numbers
 Proved to be a long term source of social tensions
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Historically there had been little interaction
between Europeans & Muslims in Europe
Starting in the 1950s & 60s they began
immigrating in large numbers to Western
Europe
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Labor shortage after WW2 provided jobs
Many were supposed to be temporary workers
 Little thought given to assimilation
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Later in the century the # of unskilled jobs shrank
 Competition for jobs & the radicalization of Islam has
made them targets for discrimination & violence
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Over the last 25 years Europe’s population
has been in decline
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Women are having fewer children (1.9 on average)
No one is sure why, but many blame that couples
are waiting till later to start having kids
Governments have also been limiting immigration
A shrinking population could result in major
economic difficulties
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Europe’s power in the 19th & early 20th century was
largely based on them having more people
At the present rate the US market will pass Europe
for the 1st time in history by 2025
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Following World War I many nations in
Europe became autocratic
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This was a result of democracy’s failure to provide
economic & social basics for its people
During the Cold War western Europe
prospered greatly economically
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The governments tended to be liberal democracies,
but provided economic and social security
In most places these democracies were lead by
Christian Democratic Parties

Outside of Scandinavia & the British Labour
Party, most Socialist parties failed

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Communists & Conservatives alike opposed them
Instead Christian Democratic Parties (in charge
of coalition governments) brought change

Membership was largely Roman Catholic pre-war
 Had been conservative looking out for Church interests

Post-war opened membership to non-Catholics
 Emphasized democracy, social reform, economic
growth, and anti-communism
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This would give rise to the Welfare States
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The Depression, failed totalitarians, and
World War II changed how Europeans
thought about the role of government

Governments began to spend more on social
programs than the military
 Made possible by the NATO defense umbrella

After the war, beginning in the UK,
governments around Europe would begin
providing health care & unemployment

The conservatives in the west did so for fear that
people would turn to communism if they did not
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1945-1950: Rise of the Welfare State
1950-1975: Growth of the Welfare State
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1975-Present: Retraction of the Welfare State
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Saw steady economic growth & prosperity
Based on Keynesian economics
70s inflation, 80s low growth, 90s unemployment
Governments step back. More free market economy
Example: Margret Thatcher’s Great Britain
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Prime Minister 1979-1990 rolled back
socialist/welfare policies, privatized industries
Welfare States only work with increasing
populations and low unemployment
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Simone de Beauvior’s The Second Sex, 1949

Argued that women across Europe suffer from distinct
social & economic disadvantages
 Divorce & Family Law, Spousal Abuse, etc.

Post-War feminism was less political than
previous forms
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Wasn’t about specific rights, but instead emphasized
controlling their own lives
Following the war, more married women entered
the workforce
With improved health care & consumer connivances
child care more women could work
 Also with children now required to attend school they
could not be a source of family income
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Women entered the workforce after schooling,
worked till marriage & children.
Often stopped to raise small children, but
returned to work when children started school
Factors that caused the new pattern
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Women lived longer, spent less time (by percentage)
raising children
 Wanted a more satisfying life after children
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Couples began to limit the number of child
 Women waited till later to have children
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Oral contraception allowed greater independence
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It was the intellectual movement that best
captures the mid-20th century mind state.
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Represented a continued revolt against 19th century
thinking & rationalism
Based on the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche
Existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sarte &
Albert Camus often disagreed with each other
but questioned reason & science as the best
way to understand human existence

Believed humans needed to formulate their own
ethical values not depend on traditional religion,
philosophy, or customs
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The 20th century saw a huge increase in the
number of students attending university
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1900 only a few 1000 enrolled per nation by 2000 that
number was in the 100,000s
One unexpected result of increased education
was the student revolts of the 1960s
Radical political critique of the US in western Europe &
resentment of the USSR in the East
 Students questioned traditional middle-class morals,
sexuality, and family life
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Student protests nearly lead to the fall of Charles
de Gaulle and students in Czechoslovakia tried a
new type of liberal socialism
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Shortages of consumer goods during the war
lead to more of a consumer society
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Industrial expansion lead to increase pollution
Natural resources were limited & sometimes
controlled by enemies (Arab Oil Embargo)
By the 1970s & 80s environmentalists began
to have more political influence

German Greens, were formed in 1979
 Started as a radical student group but avoid the
violence of earlier groups
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1986, the Chernobyl meltdown proved
environmental concerns transcended borders
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Christianity was hard-pressed during the 20th
century and battled to stay relevant
Neo-Orthodoxy tried to return to the reformation
theology of Luther
 Liberal Theology of the 20th century saw religion as a
human rather than divine phenomenon
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The Catholics made the most significant post
war changes: Vatican II called by John XXIII
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Finished in 1965 it allowed mass in the vernacular,
allowed freer relations with other Christians & Jews,
appointed additional cardinals outside Europe
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Vatican II wasn’t all about liberal change

It upheld conservative views on celibacy of priests,
prohibition of contraception and abortion, and
kept women out of the priesthood
 Caused many men and women to leave the
priesthood and other religious orders
 The laity widely ignored the prohibition of
contraception
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Pope John Paul II pursued a 3-pronged policy
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Traditionalist dogma & Papal authority
Anti-communist
Growing the church in the non-western world