Conclusion 1103must force ourselves to save at least the skeleton, the scaffolding, the form
of civilization.”
After World War II, in contrast to the end of World War I, there seemed
little optimism that such a total war could not occur again. Two factors, in
particular, contributed to this new feeling of angst. The first was the rising
tension even before the war ended between the Soviet Union and the
Western Allies. The second was the development of rockets, the jet plane,
and above all, the atomic bomb, a terrifying weapon for a new age.
The cataclysmic experience of the Second World War weighed heavily
on the social, political, and cultural climate of the post-war era. In every
country, those who resisted Nazi rule played a major part in the reconstitu
tion of their nations after the war. Politicians, intellectuals, and virtually
everyone else would try to come to grips with what had happened to
Europe, to assess blame, and to find hope. For the moment, however, for
many, it seemed enough to have survived.