Olivier Wieviorka

Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann

Sandrine Kott

Peter Romijn

When World War II ended, Europe was in ruins. Yet politically and socially, the years between 1943 and 1947 were a time of dramatic reconfigurations that proved to be foundational for the making of today's Europe. This volume homes in on the crucial period from the beginning of the end of Nazi rule to the advent of the Cold War. It demonstrates how the everyday experiences of Europeans during these five years shaped the transition of their societies from war to peace. The essays explore these reconfigurations on different scales and levels with the purpose of enhancing our understanding of how wars end.

Europe, 1943-1947

Seeking Peace in the Wake of War

Examines how East German citizens and workers experienced the conditions created by the socialist dictatorial state, focusing on state enterprises as a contact zone between state and society.

State Enterprises in East German Society

Communism Day-To-Day

Michel Christian

Ondrej Matejka

The idea of planning economy and engineering social life has often been linked with Communist regimes’ will of control. However, the persuasion that social and economic processes could and should be regulated was by no means limited to them. Intense debates on these issues developed already during the First World War in Europe and became globalized during the World Economic crisis. During the Cold War, such discussions fuelled competition between two models of economic and social organisation but they also revealed the convergences and complementarities between them. This ambiguity, so often overlooked in histories of the Cold War, represents the central issue of the book organized around three axes. First, it highlights how know-how on planning circulated globally and were exchanged by looking at international platforms and organizations. The volume then closely examines specificities of planning ideas and projects in the Communist and Capitalist World. Finally, it explores East-West channels generated by exchanges around issues of planning which functioned irrespective of the Iron Curtain and were exported in developing countries. The volume thus contributes to two fields undergoing a process of profound reassessment: the history of modernisation and of the Cold War.

Competition, Cooperation, Circulations (1950s-1970s)

Planning in Cold War Europe

Sandrine Kott

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