Unit 9

• The End of WWII:
  • Total war and political instability in the 1st half of 20th century gave way to a polarized state order during the Cold War and eventually to efforts at transnational union
  • Conflicting conceptions of the relationship between the individual and the state, as demonstrated in the ideological battle between and among democracy, communism, and fascism
    • US and Soviet Union flourished into global superpowers due to the war
      • Conflicting ideologies led to cold war
        • Capitalist democracy vs communist ideology
    • WWII decimated the economy and political institutions of most of the world. 
      • Axis and Allied powers were in ruins due to WWII: their populations were decimated and billions of $ spent on war 
    • The economic effects of war became a source of tension between the two global superpowers. 
  • Societal Responses:
    • During the 20th century, diverse intellectual and cultural movements questioned the existence of objective knowledge, the ability of reason to arrive at truth, and the role of religion in determining moral standards
      • Existentialism - objective meaning does not exist; each person constructs their own meaning for life and events in it
      • The experience of war intensified a sense of anxiety that permeated many facets of thought and culture, giving way by the century’s end to a plurality of intellectual frameworks
      • Decline in religion 
  • Demographic changes, economic growth, total war, disruptions of traditional social patterns, and competing definitions of freedom and justice altered the experiences of everyday life
    • New voices gained prominence in political, intellectual, and social discourse.
      • Joseph Stalin - He was the leader of the Soviet Union in the early years of the cold war. Stalin adopted policies that contributed to assiver industrialization and technological advancements in the country. But, he was also responsible for implementing policies that led to the rise of famine and poverty in the Soviet Union.
      • Harry S. Truman - President Truman was actively engaged in the fight against communism. The Truman Doctrine furthered tensions between the East and the West by providing military and economic assistance to nations swept by communism.
      • Nikita Khrushchev - Leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 - 1964. Although he somewhat improved the Soviet Union's relation with the West, he also brought forward devise policies, such as the construction of the Berlin wall. 
  • Development of the Cold War
    • Even before WWII had ended, the 2 major Allied powers—the United States and the SovietUnion—had begun to disagree on the nature of the postwar European world.
    • Unity had been maintained during the war b/c of the urgent need to defeat the Axis powers, but once they were defeated, the differences b/w the Americans and Soviets surged to the front.
    • Eastern Europe was the 1st area of disagreement
      • The US and Britain had championed self-determination and democratic freedom for the liberated nations of Eastern Europe. Stalin, however, feared that the Eastern European nations would return to traditional anti-Soviet attitudes if they were permitted free elections, and thus, opposed the West’s plans.
  • The Truman doctrine
    • Developed when a civil war in Greece provided another arena for the confrontation b/w the superpowers
  • Globalization of the Cold War
    • The victory of the Chinese Communists in 1949 in the Chinese civil war brought a new Communist regime and intensified American fears about the spread of communism.

• Marshall Plan funds from the United States financed an extensive reconstruction of industry and infrastructure and stimulated an extended period of growth in Western and Central Europe, often referred to as an “economic miracle,” which increased the economic and cultural importance of consumerism.
  • Rise of consumerism lead to increased wages in the middle class
• Since the European Countries struggled to recover, the US proposed the Marshall Plan. Approved by Congress, America offered $13 billion in aid to all of Europe on the sole condition that they work together for mutual benefit. 
  • (US was willing to spend this money b/c there was a fear that if communism began to spread throughout Western europe, then communism would take over the whole world)
  • This was a win-win for both sides, since they got the trade they desired from Europe AND Central and Western Europe got the funds they needed to rebuild themselves 
    • By 1955 just the western half of Germany had increased its economic output so much that it was larger than all of Germany’s output before the war
  • However, most of Eastern Europe, under the influence and control of the USSR (satellite nations), refused the aid of the United States.
    • As an alternative, the Soviet Union came up with the Molotov Plan in 1947. All nations under the influence of the USSR or allied with them were offered financial aid. It resembled the Marshall Plan but only for Eastern Europe.

• The Big Three met in a series of three conferences to negotiate what a post war Europe would look like after their victory
  • One key agreement was that eastern nations would be allowed to choose their leaders and governments through democratic elections
  • Created the UN in place of the League of Nations 
• Despite efforts to maintain international cooperation through the newly created United Nations, deep-seated ideological/political tensions between the USSR and the West led to the division of Europe, which was referred to in the West as the Iron Curtain.
  • Soviet Bloc - eastern European satellite nations under the soviet union that became communists and their economy was made to serve the soviet union instead of themselves 
    • Contradiction of agreement made by the Big Three to have eastern nations hold democratic elections
    • Beginnings of suspicion and distrust between US and USSR
  • Handling of post-war Germany increased tensions
    • Post war Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones: the Soviets, French, British, and US each claimed one quad)
    • East Germany became a communist state under the soviets, as soviets wanted to keep Germany weak. However, US wanted a strong Germany to stabilize europe  
• The Containment Policy
  • Truman Doctrine -  Any country whole felt itself under the threat of communism could expect financial and military assistance from the United States. 
    • Developed when a civil war in Greece provided another arena for the confrontation b/w the superpowers
• The Cold War played out on a global stage and involved propaganda campaigns; covert actions; limited “hot wars” in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean; and an arms race, with the threat of a nuclear war.
• Propaganda
  • Radio Free Europe broadcast signals into soviet territories extolling virtues of freedom and democracy. To combat this, Soviet propaganda emphasized the capitalistic greed of the west as well as the racial tension in the US
• Covert Actions 
  • US created Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the USSR created the KGB
  • All of these agencies were responsible for sending spies into enemy territory to gather information on weapons build ups and to discover what their next steps were in the Cold War
• Arms Race
  • US had the 1st nuclear bombs @ end of WWII, which devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  • 1949 Soviets successfully tested their 1st atomic bomb
  • Then, Truman ordered the hydrogen bomb to be developed (1000x more destructive than atomic bomb) to 1 up them
  • So, the Soviets went on to develop a hydrogen bomb too
  • Very unlikely that either superpower would ever deploy these bombs against one another because to do so would virtually guarantee mutual assured destruction
• Proxy Wars - a war in which major powers support opposing sides in a smaller war 
  • Korean War
    • After Japan was defeated in WWII, its former colony Korea was divided into a soviet occupied N and US occupied S
    • 1949 both armies withdrew and North Korea became communist while South Korea became more democratic
    • 1950 the N invaded the S and the Soviets and Americans got involved 
    • War ended with the country still divided
  • Vietnam War
    • Divided into N and S after WWII w/ US friendly gov in S and commie gov in N (China/Soviets)
    • Ended in stalemate, like Korea
  • Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
    • 1979 anti commie guerillas were attempting to overthrow the commie gov there, so the Soviets invaded to support the commies 
    • US sent weapons to support the anti communists
    • Soviets withdrew in 1989

• Western Economics and Politics
  • Much of what was happening in Western Europe during the Cold War was intimately tied to the policies of the United States
    • NATO - a military defense pact that many western European nations signed with the United States b/c the Soviets were always threatening to expand into the west
    • Establishment of the world bank in 1944 that provided loans to countries that needed to rebuild, to make sure that a global economic catastrophe like the Great Depression didn’t happen again
    • International Monetary Fund (IMF) - 1944, facilitated international currency exchange and encouraged global trade
    • World Trade Organization - 1995, responsible for generating and enforcing a set of rules that governed international trade, aimed to reduced tariffs between member nations so trade could flow freely
• Soviet/Eastern Economics and Politics
  • The soviet bloc came under the military political and economic domination of the Soviet Union
    • Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) - goal to bind Soviet States into a mutually reinforcing economic system which would make them all dependent on the Soviet Union
    • Warsaw Pact - military alliance w/ satellite states of the Soviet Union, which again would require dependence on the soviet union
  • Soviet Bloc Nations did NOT flourish economically like the western europe did, due to:
    • planned economies:
      • The output of these satellite states were planned by a committee within the Soviet Union 
        • Each that was told what to produce, how much of it to produce, and where they could sell it
      • So, states in the Soviet Bloc did not produce for their own benefit but rather for the overall benefit of the Soviet Union, often to their own hurt
    • Five Year Plans - implemented by Stalin to rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union
      • Collectivization of agriculture
        • In Ukraine, many farmers rebelled against the collectivization and as a result they got blacklisted for soviet food distribution  
    • Social welfare
      • Estate provided for many of the needs of the people including housing and healthcare but the state-run services were often poorly implemented  
    • Universal education to children, but it was basically communist indoctrination 
  • In order to achieve this level of centralization, the Soviet Union systematically removed the civil liberties and individual rights of the population
  • Stalin created huge networks of secret police, which were responsible for rooting out those who dissented from the Communist Party’s agenda, and in order to make those threats stick, they were authorized to use violence and subversion to keep the populations in check
  • Emigration from the soviet union was severely restrictive
    • Berlin Wall
• Khrushchev and De-Stalinization
  •  1956 Nikita Khrushchev came to power and began a process of de-Stalinization to ease the heavy Soviet influence on the Soviet Bloc states
    • More freedom granted to artists who were previously forced by stalin to only create art glorifying the Soviet Union
    • Released many of Stalin’s political prisoners and scaled back the secret police
    • 40 hr work week
    • More freedom of career choice
  • Khrushchev said more civil liberties would be tolerated in these satellite states and that some limited free trade would be implemented too, but his promised economic reforms didn’t rly happen due to a recession in 1953-1964   
• Revolts Against Soviet policies
  • Hungarian Revolution
    • Imre Nagy demanded hungarian independence  
      • free/open elections unhindered by soviet influence 
    • Hungary announced it would leave the Warsaw Pact and seek the protection of the UN → Soviets sent troops to Budapest, crushing the revolution 
    • Soviets ended w/ tighter and more oppressive grip on Hungary
  • Invasion of Czechoslovakia 1968
    • Reform-minded commie was elected and enacted liberal reforms → Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, stopped the reforms, and strengthened the more oppressive wing of the commie party 
  • Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbechev announced that Soviet union would no longer intervene militarily in the Soviet Bloc to support the Communist governments 
    • Hungary was able to institute Western Economic reforms,which went unopposed by the Soviet Union and so in 1990 hungarians elected a democratic government w/ free market 
    • By 1991, Gorbechev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika which introduced much more openness and some limited free market economics into the Soviet Union, ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union

• Nationalist Violence
  • Nationalism - a feeling of solidarity among people who speak the same language and share the same cultural history which often results in those people wanting a separate state of their own 
  • Chechen Nationalist Movement
    • Began among a group of Chechen Muslims who lived in southern Russia where there was profound anti-Russian sentiment
    • When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the Chechens declared independence and lived under their own government 
    • 1994, Russia decided to reassert its authority over the separatists 
    • This led to a series of deadly conflicts in which  over 100,000 Chechens were killed; the conflict ended in 2017 with Russian victory → Chechnya became officially part of the Russian Federation
  • The Troubles in Ireland 
    • After WWI, Ireland was split into two nations: Ireland and Northern Ireland 
      • Ireland was primarily catholic and wanted to become independent while the north was primarily protestant and wanted to stay loyal to Britain 
      • Catholic minority in the North and Protestant minority in the South each were not granted the same rights as the majority 
      • Civil rights movement sprang up among the Catholics in N Ireland, to which the British sent troops to crush the rebellion → furthered anti-British resentment among the Catholics
      • 1972-1998, N. Ireland was under direct British rule 
      • Good Friday Agreement - 1998, granted for sovereignty to N. Ireland 
• Separatist Movements
  • Basque Separatist Movement - struggle on the eastern border of Spain 
    • Basque - a group of abt 2 mil ethnically homogenous people who have long held anti-Spanish sentiment and fought for self determination/political independence from Spain
    • ETA - violent wing of the Basque to draw worldwide attention to their cause 
    • Disbanded in 2018 
  • Flemish Separatist Movement in Belgium 
    • Belgium consisted of the Flemish in the North and the Walloons in the South
    • Most of the power/wealth concentrated in the south, so the Flemish North staged movements to become a separate nation or to be annexed by the Netherlands 
• Ethnic Cleansing - the act of systematically killing member of an unwanted ethnic group, genocide   
  • Bosnia Herzegovina
    • After WWI, the victorious powers of WWI drew the borders of Yugoslavia, which didn’t consider the various ethnic groups that lived within the borders
    • Yugoslavia was made up of semi-autonomous republics which were bound together under Yosi Tito, who ruled Yugoslavia with an iron first, but once he died each of the ethnic groups began agitating for their own nation
    • Slobodan Milosevic was the president of Serbia and sought to consolidate the various republics under his control 
    • Bosnia Herzegovina declared independence in 1992. This region had a Serbian minority and a Bosnian Muslim majority 
    • To protect the Serbian minority, Milosevic sent Serbian troops into Bosnia Herzegovina and carried out ethnic cleansing against the Muslims 

• Postwar Prosperity 
  • Marshall plan invested $13 billion into western Europe’s reconstruction after WWII, helped increase economic growth 
  • Many European governments made strong policy decisions that put economic recovery at the forefront, they wanted to avoid another disaster like the Great Depression
    • Embraced Keynesian economics which is based on the idea that it’s the government’s job to stimulate the economy, and it does that by increasing government spending
      • 1950-1960s W democratic states greatly increased their gov. Spending, leading to: 
    • Welfare State - Governments began offering significant welfare benefits to their populations 
      • In Britain they established low/no cost universities, subsidized healthcare benefits, and unemployment insurance
      • These programs were implemented by the liberal labor party whose goal was to create a cradle-to-grave social welfare state 
    • To be able to fund this new gov. Spending, there had to be higher taxes
    • Stagflation - when 2 recessions hit, one in 1973-1975 and the other in 1979-1983, tax revenue decreased across western Europe and the high level of government spending was hard to maintain. Therefore the economy was stagnant, but prices were greatly rising (inflation) 

• Economic Problems in the Soviet Union
  • Organization of the Soviet economy as a planned economy, meaning to gov. Made all the decisions about what jobs people had, how much they made, what was being manufactured 
    • 70s-80s worker productivity decline  
  • Malaise of workers - in a planned economy, no one had incentive to work harder than is needed
  • Crop failures in the early 70s due to a drought made the Soviet gov unable to feed its people
    • They asked the US for grain  
• Gorbachev’s Reforms 
  • reformer Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in 1982
  • Perestroika - an effort to restructure the Soviet economy by introducing some limited free-market elements  
    • Ex. gov price controls on many items were removed and more private property was allowed 
  • Glasnost - a word that mean openness 
    • Allowed citizens to discuss publicly the problems of their system and potential solutions 
    • More than 1 candidate was allowed to compete for office and political parties other than the communist party were legalized
    • Prisoners who spoke badly of the party/state were released 
    • The extent to this reform was demonstrated when daily communications about the disaster of Chernobyl were made
• Fall of the Soviet Union
  • When Gorbachev invited openness, plenty ethnic minorities started protesting the discrimination they had experience in the long yrs of Soviet rule, and in some cases this led to violent conflicts 
    • A wave of nationalism spread throughout the SU
  • 1989 Gorbachev broke significantly with his predecessors and announced that that Soviet Union would no longer intervene militarily in those states that prop up their communist governments 
    • Polish Elections of 1989 
      • a labor party called Solidary had led large-scale agitations against any attempts by the soviet to suppress their freedom 
      • Soviets finally agreed to legalize their party and allow for free elections 
      • Solidarity candidates won the majority of the elections and started the process of dissolving the bonds between Poland and SU
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall
    • Erected by Stalin in 1961 to keep east Berliners from fleeing ot the democratic west 
    • 1989 finally the border was opened and the wall came down
  • The Cold War was officially ended, and capitalist economies/democratic governments were established throughout eastern Europe in former Soviet Bloc countries 
  • Germany was finally united
  • Czechoslovakia was split into the Czech republic and Slovakia 
  • Yugoslavia broke into several ethnically defined states and the EU was enlarged by the entry of many new nations 

• The lives of women were defined by family and work responsibilities, economic changes, and feminism.
  • New opportunities for women
    • Postwar economic boom (largely due to the marshall plan) increased demand for labor
    • The economy of western europe was shifting away from male-dominated industries like coal mining or shipbuilding and more toward a knowledge economy in which people worked primarily with their brains
    • Many younger women started going to college in droves after the war and that prepared them well for work in the knowledge economy 
  • In Western Europe through the efforts of feminists, and in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union through government policy, women finally gained the vote, greater educational opportunities, and access to professional careers, even while continuing to face social inequalities.
    • Simone de Beauvoir: laid the foundation for feminist ideals in her book Le Deuxieme Sexe, which argued societal standards for women shoudl be abolished and they should have the same rights as men
    • Second-wave feminism: focused on societal issues and inequalities women faced including education, marriage laws, and professional careers
  • New modes of marriage, partnership, motherhood, divorce, and reproduction gave women more options in their personal lives.
    • Women gained more control over the divorce process
    • Birth control pill
    • Scientific means of fertilization
      • In vitro fetilization: egg could be fertilized outside the womba nd then implanted in the uterus 
  • Women attained high political office and increased their representation in legislative bodies in many nations.
    • Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain: conservative that became great britians first female prime minister who aimed to reverse the liberal labour party’s policies that was turning GB into a welfare state 
    • Mary Robinson of Ireland: first female president of ireland who worked to modernize ireland 
    • Edith Cresson of France: first female prime minister of france 

• Decolonization
  • Began after WWI with American president Woodrow Wilson advocated for self-determination - (any group should be able to determine their own political structure without the influence of European colonial powers)
• Colonial soldiers fought in both WWI & WWII and calls for independence from European powers grew
  • After WWII, major imperial powers were too weak to stop demands for independence
• Scramble for Africa (19th cen) European powers carved up Africa -> after WWII, indigenous nationalist movements began demanding independence
• Decolonization in Africa:
  • Algeria- France had recognized Morocco & Tunisia’s independence but wouldn't give up Algeria because of its large population of French migrants -> 1950s, the National Liberation Front (nationalist Muslim group) rebelled -> France crushed the rebellion -> 8-year civil war in Algeria until the French president officially recognized their independence
  • Egypt- became “independent” after WWII but the British were still in charge -> the Wafd (Egyptian nationalist party) was formed -> 1952, they led a coup to overthrow the Egyptian monarchy & throw of British intrusion
• Decolonization in Asia:
  • India- 1920, Mohandas Gandhi led the Indian National Congress to freedom from Britain using non-violent civil disobedience
  • As nations gained their independence during the Cold War, the U.S & Soviet Union fought to persuade them to join their side
    • India resisted both sides & remained independent, paving the way for the Non Aligned Movement
  • Indonesia- 1949, gained independence from the Dutch -> Soviets Union advanced their policies -> 1965 an Indonesian nationalist movement overthrew the socialist president & established a new government, aligned with the West
  • Vietnam- 1950s, Ho Chi Minh (Vietnamese nationalist) organized the Viet Minh to overthrow French rule in Vietnam
    • 1954, France split Vietnam to prepare for elections -> the north became Communist while the South was loyal to Western ideologies
    • 1975, Vietnam gained its independence

• Causes for Influx of Immigrants
  • Booming economy -> new jobs & not enough people to fill them (labor shortage) ->1950s & 60s, European countries began relying on “guest workers” to fill these jobs
  • Decolonization -> ppl from former colonies began moving to European countries that colonized them
  • Immigrants brought with them their culture & religion
    • Muslim immigrants bringing Islam (religion) to Europe -> debates about religion in the public sphere
• Effects- Resistance to Immigrants
  • Growth of Islam -> resistance from historically Christian Europe
    • Resistance to traditional Muslim head coverings, & other cultural practices
  • 1970s economic problems -> immigrants holding the blame for the decline of jobs
    • National Front (France) Freedom Party (Austria), pushed anti-immigrant rhetoric

• Advances in medical technologies led to increased lifespan, and autonomy in reproduction. These advances also raised questions about society, and caused objections from religious groups.
• New medical technologies!
  • Birth control pill- Developed largely by the support of Margaret Sanger-American feminist
    • Gave women control over their reproductive organs
  • Increasing safety of the abortion pill
  • Fertility treatments- 20th cen, doctors began to understand the science behind infertility and develop medical treatments
    • In Vitro Fertilization- fertilizing an egg outside of one's body, “test tube babies “
  • Genetic engineering- 20th cen, scientists discovered they could alter the genetic code of an organism's’ DNA -> new cures for genetic diseases
• Objections to new medical technologies
  • Development of welfares states -> longer lives -> higher cost to the state -> higher taxes
  • Roman Catholic Church’s objections to abortion & in vitro fertilization
    • They believe life began at conception, & abortion was murder & defiance to God
    • If God closed the womb “infertility”, it is against him to have children
  •  Objections to genetic engineering because of Eugenics- eliminating “undesirables” from society & encouraging “desirables” to have more children 

• Globalization- the increasing economic, political, and social interconnectedness of the world
  • Globalization rapidly became more widespread in the 20th & 21st centuries, due to the rise of:
    • Multinational Corporations (entity incorporated in one country but manufactures & sells goods in other countries)
      • Ex: Nestle, based in Switzerland, uses cheap/exploitative labor in West Africa, sells everywhere
    • International governing bodies - European Union & United Nations
      • Policies for the global community > policies for a single state
    • Communication & transportation technologies
• Communication:
  • Better communication -> immigration becomes more appealing as immigrants can now keep in touch with their home countries
  • 1950s, televisions made entertainment more accessible for all classes
  • 2000s, computers & internet allowed people from around the world could now communicate & influence each other, rise of online retailers increased commerce
  • As much of European entertainment came from the US, Europeans absorbed American values which sometimes contradicted their own state’s ideas -> tensions over this new type of “American Imperialism
• Transportation:
  • 1930s, rise of the automobile in Europe -> by the 20th century, most cities were car centered
  • Ease of transportation -> rise in migration
• Opposition to Globalization
  • Green Parties- aimed to challenge the effects of increasing consumerism and its environmental consequences
    • By the 1970s, the environmental effects of globalized commerce (4 ex: oil spills in Brittany & France) became apparent in Western & Eastern Europe -> growth of green parties who tried to enact policies to fix these problems
      • Began with the success of the German green party who focused on opposing nuclear energy (especially prominent after the Chernobyl disaster in the USSR)
    • End of the 20th cen, the party began challenging globalization policies that degrade the environment

New Philosophy 

• World wars led to decreased confidence in science as the solution to all our problems (scientific developments could now be used to kill millions of people) 
• Society began to stray away from Enlightenment Rationalism 
• Existentialism- philosophy that the world was absurd, and one had to find meaning depict that absurdity  
• Led by Friedrich Nietzche, who believed God was dead and life was inherently meaningless 
• Postmodernism - believed all truth was relative & no one group understood absolute truth and all their ideas were culturally conditioned  

Organized religion  

• Over the 20th & 21st centuries, Europe grew more secular, BUT organized religion still played a significant role in European social & cultural life, 20th century, the church had to deal with totalitarian governments  
• Germany: Confessing Church, founded by Dietrich Bonhoeffer- openly criticized Nazi policies  
• Italy: Mussolini needed the support of the Catholic Church in Rome -> he gave the Vatican City independence & recognized Catholicism in Italy -> the pope encouraged Italians to support the fascist gov 
• Poland: the church to deal with Soviet Communist repression  
• Solidarity (est. 1980)- Polish trade union outside of the Warsaw Pact, Soviets did not like this union tried very hard to crush this opposition  
• 1978, John Paul II became pope of the Catholic Church & financially supported Solidarity’s efforts to undermine the Soviet Communist regime in Poland 
• 1960s, the Catholic Church underwent a massive reform movement at the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), which was meant to bring the church into the modern world -> these reforms led to a revival of Catholicism in parts of Europe  

Arts- 20th cen, began questioning objective knowledge  

• Cubism- depicted 3-D objects in 2-D (Pablo Picasso, very famous cubist)  
• Futurism- emphasized the future of Italy in Russia to distract from their past (WWII)  
• Dadaism- response to the purposelessness of life after two world wars, satirical commentary on Western Aesthetic values 
• If life has no purpose, neither should art  
• Surrealism- art should reflect the chaos of the human mind that had been exposed by Sigmund Freud  
• Salvador Dali- persistence of memory, commentary on the disturbing relativity of time  

Architecture 

• Germany: Bauhaus School of Architecture- goal was to design structures solely on function and not aesthetics 

Literature 

• James Joyce developed Stream of Consciousness- new form of composition, writing the characters actual thoughts occur in rapid succession without typical conventions of composition (commas & stuff)  
• Franz Kafka- challenged old conventions by mixing elegant writing with elements of fantastical imagination 

Consumerism 

• the disposable income of the average European increased  
• WWII -> factories had perfected their workflow from producing munitions & now shifted towards producing consumer products  

Baby Boom- occurred during the postwar years 

• Many countries encouraged the baby boom by investing in neonatologist (encouraging more babies)  
• More common in Western countries than in the Soviet Union  

Civil Rights Movements  

• Gay & lesbian movements- fought for the equality for LGBTQ+ people in the 20th & 21st centuries 
• France: Homosexual front for Revolutionary Action 

Revolts of 1968 

• Counterculture Movement: opposed cultural conformity caused by consumerism & the growing wealth gap 
• They revolted across Europe & the world, against inequality & other social justice issues 

• In the post war period, European nations put aside their nationalistic ideas to help each other rebuild -> increasingly unified European identity  
• BUT, some form of nationalism continued in most European countries and around the world  
• The end of the world wars exemplified different ideologies (mainly capitalism & communism) and led to the rise of global superpowers (US & Soviet Union)  
• Technological advances spurred globalization, further connecting the world  
• After WWII, the Europe began to integrate economically, beginning with the European Coal and Steel Commission (ECSC), and eventually developing into the European Union 
• Nationalism worked against economic integration (ex: Brexit)  
• The world wars affect people’s understanding of self and reality 
• In the 20th century came the development of new ways thinking and processing the world, such as Postmodernism & Existentialism