MAKING OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

1. One thematic shape of postwar European history was the overall reduction of Europe’s land holdings beyond what were their usual state borders for much of European history. While individual European states were well known for their unique penchants for land grabbing and colony formation before 1945, the aftermath of World War II served to shrink many states back to their immediate European borders. Though, on page 7, there are two notable exceptions to this, being the Soviet Union and Great Britain, two states were both “only half-European in their own eyes.” However, they too were inevitably much reduced in size and reach as well in later decades.

2. Judt points to a gradual lack of distinction between left-wing and right-wing European parties on many policy issues after 1945. For example, in the first paragraph of page 785, he argues that on various contemporary issues, Swedish Social Democrats and French neo-Gaullists might have “more in common with each other than with their respective ideological forebears.” A major effect of this development was the decay of old-style political parties, with declining membership and falling turnout at the polls.

A secondary effect was the drop in public prestige and respect for European public intellectuals, who together formed “an almost equally venerable European institution.” Though they were politically influential in the early years of the 20^th century, politically engaged intellectuals would eventually lose much of their national and international influence compared to their predecessors. This is largely due in part to the reality that political issues like Marxism, totalitarianism, human rights, or the economics of transition were no longer as prevalent in contemporary Europe as they once were, cutting off a way for political intellectuals to tap the public consciousness to mobilize them on these same issues. The only responses to mobilization these days is a “bored and indifferent response from younger generations.”

3. To a certain extent, a post-national European state entailed a loss of perceived state legitimacy and control. It is a far cry from the traditional European state that “made war abroad but enforced the peace at home.” In response to increasing political warfare against unarmed civilians, many European citizens have advocated for their governments to mobilize more of their policemen, armies, and generally their state’s monopoly of armed power against terrorist threats. For some, this has morphed into a general suspicion and opposition to a diverse European state, specifically regarding the entry of Muslim immigrants. This is invoked in one British poster from the British National Party made after a British serviceman was murdered by two Islamists in 2013. The poster offers the reader two choices, being “Freedom and Peace” or “Islam and Terror,” no doubt aiming to paint all Muslim immigrants as potential terrorists. A second poster by the France’s National Front made for the March 2010 Regional Elections comes with the tagline “No to Islamism, Youth with Le Pen.” The imagery is that of France covered in the colors of the Algerian flag, likely equating Muslim immigrants to not only terrorists, but also to “cultural invaders” that should be forcibly dealt with by the state.

1.) Judt talks about many thematic shapes of postwar Europe. I think that one of the more important ones is the United States relationship with Europe, both the eastern and western half.  With the western half of Europe, we can see great destabilization due to the second world war. States used many of their resources on the war and there was severe economic and political turmoil. The United States was at a position to help said countries but it caused a bit of resentment. The best way I can explain this resentment is through the metaphor of an independent individual becoming more and more dependent on others after either aging or having an accident or illness. Because of their independence, relying on others can create this mindset of resentment because they would much rather be doing this on their own but physically cannot. This works with European countries because they needed the resources from the United States but their senses of nationalism following the war were diminished because of their dependence.

2.) The political topography of Europe  changed in the late 20th, early 21st century in the sense that policy and legislation is more about public opinion, rather that by the hands of the few intellectuals and philosophers. Judt brings up arguments such as abortion availability and the legalization of gay marriage, and a slew of other social issues in which public opinion was the driving factor is such changes. In old Europe, power was more centered around the intellectual arguments about what should and should not be done. But with modern times, policies regarding social conflict were very much in the hands of the public and what they believed was morally right and wrong. People were making the decisions rather than having decisions made for them.

3.) I think I can apply his observation through the posters because the posters display a large us or them mentality, which is a product of nationalism in Europes various states, rather than ideas of transnationalism and a singular European identity. Looking at the first poster, it has a clear bias against Islam and Muslims. If the universal European mindset ran true, there would not be posters which make such assumptions about a big group of people. This speaks to modern ideas of immigration in Europe. States have been very stringent on immigration but with an idea such as one European identity, there wouldn’t be arguments against immigration.

1. Judt states on page seven, “as a substitute for the defunct ambitions of Europe’s ideological past, there emerged… the European model.” This describes the modern European state, in which Liberal dDemocracy has been combined with Social Democratic ideas about the welfare state. This thematic shape is seen by Judt as a sort of compromise which came out of the failure of Fascism, which was discredited by its defeat and the destruction it wrought in the Second World War, and the failure of Soviet Communism, which was apparent as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. These ideologies were deeply attached to the overarching narrative proposed by the European right and left wing, only a sort of compromise seemed to remain as an option for political organization.
2. Judt describes the political topography of the New Europe as much more settled than in previous centuries. He mentions that Neo-Gaulists in France and Swedish Social Democrats had/have more in common in their practical goals and beliefs with each other than with their ideological forefathers. He also points out that public intellectuals, once a central aspect of European political organization, had fallen to the wayside in relevance. He reiterates that with Fascism and Communism discredited and the idea of War itself unthinkable, it was difficult for intellectual moralists to find any cause to rail against or for. This produced a fairly stable political environment.
3. Judt thinks that in an age in which terrorism is one of the main concern for European citizens, the presence of the state as a peacekeeping force cannot be forgotten, and therefore Europe is unlikely to become truly post national unless some alternative can be found for the purpose of peacekeeping. In the political posters documented in The World Transformed, one can see how the fear of terrorism – specifically Islamic terrorism, despite that fact that white supremacist terror is more widespread and deadly, though that is a subject for another time – is something that truly does terrify the European public. The antidote to this fear for those who are the most affected by it so far has been nationalism, and the feeling that the in-group and the state will protect them. With this in mind, the nation-state is unlikely to completely disappear from Europe anytime soon.

1. One of the trends identified by Judt is the transition towards the “European” style of politics and society. Tenets of this stylization include the idealization of the stable welfare state, liberal democracies with a decidedly progressive leaning later in the 20th century, and generally risk-averse conduct as a modus operandi. Its formation took time, and eventually took on anti-Atlanticist tones in that the style sought to distinguish itself from the “American” style of politics. This can be witnessed at large in the creation of the European Union in 2002, which mostly promotes such modalities and seeks to avoid warfare through a sense of a pan-European alliance. The pre-1945 European continent had witnessed its fair share of solely nationalist ideas that had little application outside of a single state; for example, National German socialism or Ceausescu’s Romanian strand of communism were extreme and dictatorial, and could not be considered constituent parts of a broader “European” ideology.
2. As European politics shifted, the political topography was marked by the evaporation of the traditional divide between left and right in political parties. Judt calls this the death of the “old-style political party” (785). Especially in the modern day, there is more overlap in terms of several concepts: “anti-Capitalism,” anti-globalization, fears of immigration, and resistance to cultural sacrifice in the name of supranational organizations like the E.U.
3. Judt focuses on the seeming dissolution of the European nation-state around 1945, and a gradual restoration after World War II. He describes this in relatively positive terms, so it would not make sense to return to a model that he views as detrimental to European progress and status.

1. One of these “thematic shapes” that Judt discusses is the reduction of European nations. World War 2 brought about immense change in Europe and one of those changes is Europe’s power. European nation’s international and imperial aspirations of control were subsided, in part to outside help for winning (or losing) the war. Many of Europe’s great empires shrunk after the war, losing territories as nations began claiming independence and decolonizing. What is seen after the war, is a liberated Europe. The liberation of European nations with the help of outsiders, such as the United States helped push this reduction of Europe.
2. The political topography of Europe was transformed considerably in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. What the terms of “Left” and “Right” in politics distinguished was muddled and not clear anymore. Groups that may have had a lot of differences in past years, began to have more in common. The line between moderates on either side became smaller. One outcome of these changes was the old-style political party. People were not as fitting into what the old-style parties meant, so those parties began to disappear. On top of that, the younger generation was less interested in public intellectuals. Those who use to thrive in the political climate as public intellectuals became increasingly marginal.
3. Judt’s comment on “limitations of a post-national prescription for a better European future” (p.797) was connected to the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, 2001. Judt argues that the European state enforces war abroad as well as peace at home. The security of their people is of the utmost importance to them. This can be seen to a scary degree in the posters in The World Transformed. The threat of domestic violence is a driving force of prejudice and can be seen in the posters on page 479-482. Those posters are preying on people believing in stereotypes of groups of people, in this case, Muslims and immigrants. The security of one’s home country is important to people; they want to feel safe in their country. Important enough that they will generalize an entire group to persuade people who fear for their security into voting for them. Such as the British National Party making a leaflet advocating for kicking out certain Muslims (479).

1. One of these thematic shapes were globalisation, where countries in Europe wanted to become more interconnected and have greater influence with the rest of Europe and the world. This thematic shape emerged because of competition with other countries and their desire to get ahead of them. Competition created their need to expand their power, economically and politically so they conquered countries, specially in Africa where they profited greatly from. They formed alliances with other powerful nations, which helped eliminate conflict with them and helped each other gain new knowledge that benefitted their economies, through products and services.

2. The political topography of Europe altered dramatically, where there was a decline in membership and falling turnouts at the polls. There was a slight increase in the amount of political intellectuals, where more people became engaged in the science and ideas behind politics. However, more of the younger generation became less interested and worried about politics like Marxism and human rights, where they cared more about material products. Communism, war, censorship and the death penalty were also less an area of concern for the younger generation, where they had more freedom- with abortion and contraception being very accessible, and homosexuality was freely permitted and openly practiced.

3. Judt pointed out the European Dream as a life without complications, basically a life of leisure. A life of leisure meant that most Europeans didn’t want to be apart of another war and wouldn’t have to be because they only had one possible enemy, the US, that was on a whole other continent. One statement from The World Transformed was that part of Europe’s rightful role in the world was to be able to guarantee its own security. Judt wrote that Europe took considerable responsibility for its citizens’ welfare, security and well-being, so in this sense their rightful role in the world was fulfilled. Most Europeans felt safe with the presence of their military and government and as long as the nation insured the unemployed and educated children then the nations’ political state would not be questioned.