Europe's reconstruction and transition from communism after 1945

¶ … Europe Faced After World War II

The objective of this work in writing is to examine the challenges that Europe faced following World War II. This work will examine the fall of communism in 1991 and answer the question of how Europe has managed to transition away from communism.

World War II ending in Europe officially in May 1945 and although the war did come to an end the challenges faced by millions of individuals who were homeless "who had been displaced as a result of military action, deportation into labor or concentration camps, local racism and discriminiation or the relocation of national borders, were large ones indeed. (Gale Cengage Learning, nd, p.1) It is reported that the Allied governments and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relief groups were stretched to the limit in their "attempts to administer, feed and house a moving people searching for their lost families and a permanent home." (Gale Cengage Learning, nd, p.1)

Displaced Persons Rapid Repatriation Program

It is reported that a rapid repatriation program for Displaced Persons (DPs) was organized however many of these individuals either could not or alternatively would not return home. (Gale Cengage Learning, p.1) Another source states that following World War II that Europe had serious problems because "the populace was decimated, possible civil wars and rebellions were feared, economies were shattered, cities lay in ruins and famine loomed." (DeLong, 1997, p.1) In addition, the people of the European continent had been severely divided by the war and the outcome of the war was "a legacy of hatred and genocide." (DeLong, 1997, p.1) Another outcome of World War II for Europe was troubled economies and the United States is reported to have contributed approximately four billion dollars per year in the two years following World War II to Europe "for relief and construction through UNRRA and other programs." (DeLong, 1997, p.1)

It is reported that U.S. aid policy following World War II provided encouragement to European governments to seek investment-friendly policies. The result is that productivity is reported to have "…soared in the wake of financial stabilization and the advent of the Marshall Plan. The advantages of the cooperative equilibrium were suddenly clear. Within the group of reconstructing nations, those where the United States had most leverage had the fastest-growing economies." (DeLong, 1997, p.1)

Brown states that the post-Communist economies

"became increasingly intertwined with, and dependent on, the global economy, and the summer of 1998 produced spectacular examples of transnational economic contagion, although the effects of the East Asian economic turmoil on the former Communist countries were by no means entirely capricious." (Brown, 2000, p.6)

Summary and Conclusion

World War II left European countries in a critical state with many people displaced with no place to call home. People were out of work and were hungry, tired, and ready to put the events of World War II far behind them. The United States in assisting European countries with rebuilding their economies helped to set the base by which the European nations were able to make the break from Communism following the fall of Communism in 1991. Some European countries had already made the break and other countries were slower to do so.