Three Postwar Eras in Comparison Western Europe 191819451989 [Paperback]

A brief glance at twentieth century European history would suggest that wars and their aftermath produced the major turning points in its development. Three times - in 1918, 1945 and again in 1989 - Europe was confronted with major questions of restructuring and rebuilding. But can we really divide Europe's development into neat postwar eras? Why was the period 1945-1989 so much more stable and prosperous than 1918-1939? Has the end of the cold war changed the basis of the post-1945 settlement? This comparative collection offers some unique insights into these questions.Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors List of Tables List of Figures 1918-1945-1989: The Making and Unmaking of Stable Societies in Western Europe: Introduction; C.Levy PART I: THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT FOR NATIONAL STABLIZATION: 1918-1945-1989 Empires of Nations? 1918-1945-1989; C.Maier America as a European Power: Four Dimensions of the Transatlantic Relationship: 1945 to the Late 1990s; D.Ellwood The Nationalist Challenge to Stability in Eastern and Central Europe: 1918-1945-1989; C.Seton-Watson PART II: THE DOMESTIC PROCESSES OF STABILIZATION A: The Economics of Stabilization; 1918-1945-1989 Public Debt as a Postwar Problem: The German Experience after 1918 in Comparative Perspective; N.Ferguson Stabilizing Italy: 1945-1989; P.Furlong B: Creating the Consumer Society: 1920s-1950s Visions of Prosperity: Consumerism and Popular Culture in Italy from the 1920s to the 1950s; S.Gundle Rationalizing Family Life-Stabilizing German Society: The 'Golden Twenties' and the 'Economic Miracle' in Comparison; C.Sachse C: Between Post-Materialism and the End of the Cold War 1968-1989: Social Movements in Italy Reconsidered; R.Lumley The Youth Question: Generations, Stability and Social Change in France since 1945; C.Warne PART III: POLITICAL FRAMEWORKS ACROSS THE THREE POST-WAR ERAS France's German Question, 1918-1945-1989; D.Johnson Defeat and Stability: 1918, 1945 and 1989 in Germany; M.Roseman The RootslS²