Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................8
Politics of memory.............................................................................................13
2.1. Introduction............................................................................................13
2.2. The enduring legacy of WWII/8 may 1945..............................................13
2.2.1. 8 May as a lasting caesura................................................................14
2.2.2. Discussion text Katz/Putin................................................................15
2.2.3. The war in the East...........................................................................16
2.2.4. Discussion text Vasily Grossman......................................................17
2.2.5. Conclusion........................................................................................18
2.3. Politics of memory as a new phenomenon?...........................................19
2.4. Fields of conflict and tension – different examples.................................19
2.4.1. Different fields..................................................................................19
2.4.2. Coping with the past as official policy..............................................20
2.4.3. History and the Law..........................................................................21
2.4.4. Memorials and museum...................................................................23
2.4.5. Politics of memory and (new) historical research............................25
2.4.6. Commemorating the Holocaust.......................................................25
2.4.7. Discussion text Apor Rousso, Pasts..................................................26
Security.............................................................................................................. 28
3.1. Security as current issue: Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.............28
3.1.1. Invasion as a caesura........................................................................28
3.1.2. Phases of invasion............................................................................30
3.1.3. Pre-history........................................................................................31
3.1.4. Interpretation text Hill/Stent, speech Putin.....................................34
3.2. Post-war order........................................................................................35
3.2.1. Potsdam Conference........................................................................35
3.2.2. Context 1945-1948...........................................................................36
3.3. Cold war..................................................................................................37
, 3.3.1. The Cold War....................................................................................37
3.3.2. Interpretations of the Cold War.......................................................37
3.3.3. NATO (1949) vs Warsaw Pact (1955)................................................38
3.3.4. Crisis and escalation: Berlin 1961.....................................................39
3.3.5. Cold War logics – stationing of troops..............................................40
3.3.6. In a state of preparedness................................................................40
3.3.7. Towards 1989...................................................................................41
3.4. Peace movement.....................................................................................41
3.5. Conclusion...............................................................................................43
From the Founding Six to the Frugal Four? European integration.....................44
4.1. Introduction............................................................................................44
4.2. Text Patel.................................................................................................45
4.3. Meta narratives.......................................................................................45
4.4. Thesis.......................................................................................................46
4.4.1. Formal institutional integration........................................................46
4.4.2. Economy...........................................................................................50
4.4.3. Legalism............................................................................................50
4.4.4. Enlargement.....................................................................................50
4.4.5. European currency...........................................................................51
4.5. The sources: websites & songs................................................................55
4.5. Antithesis.................................................................................................55
4.5.1. Hidden integration...........................................................................55
4.5.2. Social construct................................................................................56
4.5.3. Disintegration...................................................................................57
4.5.4. Global context..................................................................................58
4.6. Synthesis.................................................................................................60
4.6.1. Europe integration = messy outcome of myriad forces...................60
Socio-economic transformation – East Central Europe.....................................62
5.1. “Laboratory” Central Eastern Europe as a Current issue.........................62
5.1.1. Socio-economic change (transformation) in East Central Europe as a
Current Issue..............................................................................................62
5.2. Background revolution of 1989...............................................................64
, 5.2.1. Reality and dilemmas of 1980s communism....................................64
5.2.2. Main lines of development ECE........................................................65
5.3. Revolution of 1989: different national cases...........................................67
5.3.1. USSR as key player – Gorbachev......................................................67
5.3.2. Dynamics of the end: Poland and Solidarnosc.................................68
5.3.3. Change in other Eastern bloc countries...........................................70
5.3.4. Heroes of Retreat?...........................................................................71
5.3.5. Dynamics of change in GDR..............................................................71
5.4. Consequences of revolution and transformation....................................72
5.4.1. Text Ther..........................................................................................72
5.4.2. Political and economic transformations...........................................73
5.4.3. Transformation and biographies......................................................74
5.4.4. Dealing with the past........................................................................74
5.4.5. The case of Russia............................................................................75
5.5. Conclusion...............................................................................................76
Urbanism and Urbanity......................................................................................77
6.1. The city as an arena of social and political conflict.................................77
6.1.1. The city as a current issue................................................................77
6.1.2. Smart cities as focal points of current debates on the city..............77
6.2. Specifics of the European city – text Föllmer/Smith...............................78
6.2.1. Specifics and the postwar period.....................................................78
6.2.2. Urban tensions in historical perspective..........................................79
6.2.3. Ambivalent modernization...............................................................80
6.2.4. The Eastern experience – differences and communalities with the
West...........................................................................................................80
6.3. The legacy of the Second World War for European cities.......................82
6.3.1. The legacy of WWII – a ‘Blessing in disguise’?..................................82
6.4. Modernizing the European city...............................................................83
6.4.1. New towns in Western Europe.........................................................83
6.4.2. The challenge of housing..................................................................85
6.4.3. Traffic, mobility, suburbanization.....................................................87
6.5. Disillusion and the postmodern city........................................................88
, 6.6. Conclusion...............................................................................................91
Economy: from social cohesion and mobility to a new gilded age?...................92
7.1. New gilded age?......................................................................................92
7.1.1. Economy as a current issue: new gilded age?..................................93
7.1.2. Inequality: old or new phenomenon?..............................................93
7.2. Text Capuzzo...........................................................................................96
7.3. Marshall Plan and new economic order..................................................98
7.3.1. European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) and postwar economic
order...........................................................................................................98
7.3.2. Political dimension Marshall Plan and retrospective assessment. .101
7.3.3. Politics and economy after 1945....................................................101
7.3.4. Rise of the welfare state.................................................................102
7.4. Boom years............................................................................................103
7.4.1. The boom (postwar economic expansion).....................................103
7.4.2. Explanations for the boom.............................................................104
7.4.3. Consequences of the boom............................................................105
7.5. Crisis and neoliberalism.........................................................................106
7.5.1. When and by did the boom end?...................................................106
7.5.2. Neoliberalism and relation to end of boom?.................................109
7.6. Conclusion.............................................................................................112
Politics: from postwar consensus to populism?...............................................114
8.1. Introduction..........................................................................................114
8.2. Definition and manifestations of populism...........................................115
8.3. Text Müller............................................................................................117
8.3.1. The nature of populism..................................................................117
8.3.2. Populism as a phenomenon...........................................................118
8.3.3. Response to populism....................................................................119
8.4. Populism in Europe...............................................................................120
8.4.1. North-South....................................................................................120
8.4.2. East Central Europe: populism in power?......................................121
8.4.3. In haw for a new phenomenon?....................................................121
8.5. Populism and history.............................................................................122
Table of Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................8
Politics of memory.............................................................................................13
2.1. Introduction............................................................................................13
2.2. The enduring legacy of WWII/8 may 1945..............................................13
2.2.1. 8 May as a lasting caesura................................................................14
2.2.2. Discussion text Katz/Putin................................................................15
2.2.3. The war in the East...........................................................................16
2.2.4. Discussion text Vasily Grossman......................................................17
2.2.5. Conclusion........................................................................................18
2.3. Politics of memory as a new phenomenon?...........................................19
2.4. Fields of conflict and tension – different examples.................................19
2.4.1. Different fields..................................................................................19
2.4.2. Coping with the past as official policy..............................................20
2.4.3. History and the Law..........................................................................21
2.4.4. Memorials and museum...................................................................23
2.4.5. Politics of memory and (new) historical research............................25
2.4.6. Commemorating the Holocaust.......................................................25
2.4.7. Discussion text Apor Rousso, Pasts..................................................26
Security.............................................................................................................. 28
3.1. Security as current issue: Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.............28
3.1.1. Invasion as a caesura........................................................................28
3.1.2. Phases of invasion............................................................................30
3.1.3. Pre-history........................................................................................31
3.1.4. Interpretation text Hill/Stent, speech Putin.....................................34
3.2. Post-war order........................................................................................35
3.2.1. Potsdam Conference........................................................................35
3.2.2. Context 1945-1948...........................................................................36
3.3. Cold war..................................................................................................37
, 3.3.1. The Cold War....................................................................................37
3.3.2. Interpretations of the Cold War.......................................................37
3.3.3. NATO (1949) vs Warsaw Pact (1955)................................................38
3.3.4. Crisis and escalation: Berlin 1961.....................................................39
3.3.5. Cold War logics – stationing of troops..............................................40
3.3.6. In a state of preparedness................................................................40
3.3.7. Towards 1989...................................................................................41
3.4. Peace movement.....................................................................................41
3.5. Conclusion...............................................................................................43
From the Founding Six to the Frugal Four? European integration.....................44
4.1. Introduction............................................................................................44
4.2. Text Patel.................................................................................................45
4.3. Meta narratives.......................................................................................45
4.4. Thesis.......................................................................................................46
4.4.1. Formal institutional integration........................................................46
4.4.2. Economy...........................................................................................50
4.4.3. Legalism............................................................................................50
4.4.4. Enlargement.....................................................................................50
4.4.5. European currency...........................................................................51
4.5. The sources: websites & songs................................................................55
4.5. Antithesis.................................................................................................55
4.5.1. Hidden integration...........................................................................55
4.5.2. Social construct................................................................................56
4.5.3. Disintegration...................................................................................57
4.5.4. Global context..................................................................................58
4.6. Synthesis.................................................................................................60
4.6.1. Europe integration = messy outcome of myriad forces...................60
Socio-economic transformation – East Central Europe.....................................62
5.1. “Laboratory” Central Eastern Europe as a Current issue.........................62
5.1.1. Socio-economic change (transformation) in East Central Europe as a
Current Issue..............................................................................................62
5.2. Background revolution of 1989...............................................................64
, 5.2.1. Reality and dilemmas of 1980s communism....................................64
5.2.2. Main lines of development ECE........................................................65
5.3. Revolution of 1989: different national cases...........................................67
5.3.1. USSR as key player – Gorbachev......................................................67
5.3.2. Dynamics of the end: Poland and Solidarnosc.................................68
5.3.3. Change in other Eastern bloc countries...........................................70
5.3.4. Heroes of Retreat?...........................................................................71
5.3.5. Dynamics of change in GDR..............................................................71
5.4. Consequences of revolution and transformation....................................72
5.4.1. Text Ther..........................................................................................72
5.4.2. Political and economic transformations...........................................73
5.4.3. Transformation and biographies......................................................74
5.4.4. Dealing with the past........................................................................74
5.4.5. The case of Russia............................................................................75
5.5. Conclusion...............................................................................................76
Urbanism and Urbanity......................................................................................77
6.1. The city as an arena of social and political conflict.................................77
6.1.1. The city as a current issue................................................................77
6.1.2. Smart cities as focal points of current debates on the city..............77
6.2. Specifics of the European city – text Föllmer/Smith...............................78
6.2.1. Specifics and the postwar period.....................................................78
6.2.2. Urban tensions in historical perspective..........................................79
6.2.3. Ambivalent modernization...............................................................80
6.2.4. The Eastern experience – differences and communalities with the
West...........................................................................................................80
6.3. The legacy of the Second World War for European cities.......................82
6.3.1. The legacy of WWII – a ‘Blessing in disguise’?..................................82
6.4. Modernizing the European city...............................................................83
6.4.1. New towns in Western Europe.........................................................83
6.4.2. The challenge of housing..................................................................85
6.4.3. Traffic, mobility, suburbanization.....................................................87
6.5. Disillusion and the postmodern city........................................................88
, 6.6. Conclusion...............................................................................................91
Economy: from social cohesion and mobility to a new gilded age?...................92
7.1. New gilded age?......................................................................................92
7.1.1. Economy as a current issue: new gilded age?..................................93
7.1.2. Inequality: old or new phenomenon?..............................................93
7.2. Text Capuzzo...........................................................................................96
7.3. Marshall Plan and new economic order..................................................98
7.3.1. European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) and postwar economic
order...........................................................................................................98
7.3.2. Political dimension Marshall Plan and retrospective assessment. .101
7.3.3. Politics and economy after 1945....................................................101
7.3.4. Rise of the welfare state.................................................................102
7.4. Boom years............................................................................................103
7.4.1. The boom (postwar economic expansion).....................................103
7.4.2. Explanations for the boom.............................................................104
7.4.3. Consequences of the boom............................................................105
7.5. Crisis and neoliberalism.........................................................................106
7.5.1. When and by did the boom end?...................................................106
7.5.2. Neoliberalism and relation to end of boom?.................................109
7.6. Conclusion.............................................................................................112
Politics: from postwar consensus to populism?...............................................114
8.1. Introduction..........................................................................................114
8.2. Definition and manifestations of populism...........................................115
8.3. Text Müller............................................................................................117
8.3.1. The nature of populism..................................................................117
8.3.2. Populism as a phenomenon...........................................................118
8.3.3. Response to populism....................................................................119
8.4. Populism in Europe...............................................................................120
8.4.1. North-South....................................................................................120
8.4.2. East Central Europe: populism in power?......................................121
8.4.3. In haw for a new phenomenon?....................................................121
8.5. Populism and history.............................................................................122
