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Ruin and Renewal: Civilizing Europe After World War II
Winner of the American Philosophical Society’s 2021 Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History
From an award-winning historian, a panoramic account of Europe after the depravity of World War II.
In 1945, Europe lay in ruins. Some fifty million people were dead, and millions more languished in physical and moral disarray. The devastation of World War II was unprecedented in character as well as in scale. Unlike the First World War, the second blurred the line between soldier and civilian, inflicting untold horrors on people from all walks of life. A continent that had previously considered itself the very measure of civilization for the world had turned into its barbaric opposite.
Reconstruction, then, was a matter of turning Europe's "civilizing mission" inward. In this magisterial work, Oxford historian Paul Betts describes how this effort found expression in humanitarian relief work, the prosecution of war crimes against humanity, a resurgent Catholic Church, peace campaigns, expanded welfare policies, renewed global engagement and numerous efforts to salvage damaged cultural traditions. Authoritative and sweeping, Ruin and Renewal is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand how Europe was transformed after the destruction of World War II.
From an award-winning historian, a panoramic account of Europe after the depravity of World War II.
In 1945, Europe lay in ruins. Some fifty million people were dead, and millions more languished in physical and moral disarray. The devastation of World War II was unprecedented in character as well as in scale. Unlike the First World War, the second blurred the line between soldier and civilian, inflicting untold horrors on people from all walks of life. A continent that had previously considered itself the very measure of civilization for the world had turned into its barbaric opposite.
Reconstruction, then, was a matter of turning Europe's "civilizing mission" inward. In this magisterial work, Oxford historian Paul Betts describes how this effort found expression in humanitarian relief work, the prosecution of war crimes against humanity, a resurgent Catholic Church, peace campaigns, expanded welfare policies, renewed global engagement and numerous efforts to salvage damaged cultural traditions. Authoritative and sweeping, Ruin and Renewal is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand how Europe was transformed after the destruction of World War II.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published November 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 16, 2020
The process of rebuilding Europe in the wake of World War II has been the subject of numerous histories. What separates this history from earlier iconic postwar narratives written by historians such as Tony Judt, Mark Mazower, Konrad Jarausch, and Ian Kershaw is that Paul Bett, professor of modern European history at St. Anthony's College, focuses on the changing ways in which the concept of civilization was mobilized by various actors to redress the European crisis of identity after 1945. The book is based on the premise that in the twentieth and twenty-first century the idea of civilization was no longer associated with a narrative of cultural, social, economic, and political progress as it had been in the 18th and 19th century. Instead invocations of civilization were now associated with insecurity, anxiety, defeat, and the overwhelming task of rebuilding and redefining what it meant to European, and even what it meant to be human. Thus, rather than a narrative of superpower domination or of discrete national states, the author traces the different uses to which the language of civilization was put as Europeans tried to redefine their place in the world. This conceptual approach has the advantage of allowing the author to tackle subjects such as decolonization from the perspective of the colonized and colonizer as both mobilized the language of civilization against one another. Similarly, it also allows the author to write a history that transcends the Iron Curtain, showing how for a brief period the United States, the USSR, and Europe mobilized a shared language of civilization against the remnants of Nazism, only to later rework that narrative to justify their respective political systems. This approach also introduces historical actors that often receive minimal coverage in traditional histories, such as leading figures in the Catholic and Protestant churches, UNRAA relief workers, and the writers of etiquette guides in the 1950s. Similarly countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary and Yugoslavia that usually rate only a few pages in a traditional history of Europe, appear quite prominently as do Europe's former colonies. For this, the author should be commended.
That said, in tracing the ways in which civilization was mobilized, the author at times flattened some historical complexities. For example, in discussing the Catholic Church's role in these contestations, the author usually assumes a monolithic, conservative Church under tight papal control. Thus, the various theological battles for control of the church's direction in the modern world in the 1960s, go unmentioned. There is no mention of the theological battle within the Catholic Church over sexuality and women's place in the Church in the 1960s and 1970s. Instead we have a picture of students at secular colleges "openly mocking the heroic defense of civilization as symptomatic of repressive Establishment values." While certainly this narrative of youth versus the establishment is real, it overlooks the battles taking place within so-called establishment institutions, such as the Catholic Church. Here, some noteworthy theologians were putting forth arguments against an all-male celibate priesthood, against the Church's prohibition against birth control, and even against a unilateral ban on abortion. These theological arguments, while certainly influenced by changes in secular society, were also informed by the diverse theological traditions within Catholicism. Thus, a binary civilizational narrative of establishment institutions versus liberal youth and /or Third World nations cannot capture the complexity of the decade..
Still, this is a thought-provoking narrative of postwar Europe that challenges the traditional boundaries of a European history.
That said, in tracing the ways in which civilization was mobilized, the author at times flattened some historical complexities. For example, in discussing the Catholic Church's role in these contestations, the author usually assumes a monolithic, conservative Church under tight papal control. Thus, the various theological battles for control of the church's direction in the modern world in the 1960s, go unmentioned. There is no mention of the theological battle within the Catholic Church over sexuality and women's place in the Church in the 1960s and 1970s. Instead we have a picture of students at secular colleges "openly mocking the heroic defense of civilization as symptomatic of repressive Establishment values." While certainly this narrative of youth versus the establishment is real, it overlooks the battles taking place within so-called establishment institutions, such as the Catholic Church. Here, some noteworthy theologians were putting forth arguments against an all-male celibate priesthood, against the Church's prohibition against birth control, and even against a unilateral ban on abortion. These theological arguments, while certainly influenced by changes in secular society, were also informed by the diverse theological traditions within Catholicism. Thus, a binary civilizational narrative of establishment institutions versus liberal youth and /or Third World nations cannot capture the complexity of the decade..
Still, this is a thought-provoking narrative of postwar Europe that challenges the traditional boundaries of a European history.
November 13, 2020
While presented in a linear fashion, this book presents the world’s recovery from WWII in a different manner than I anticipated. It is not about rebuilding cities, but civilization. “…World War II mercilessly blurred the boundaries between civilian and combatant, making it the first war in modern history in which civilian casualties far outnumbered soldier deaths.” Here, you won’t witness repairing cathedrals or reestablishing culture, but how Europe and beyond transformed in the aftermath. It reads like a text book, so I will structure this review around quotes that represent the overall themes throughout.
First, there’s the initial humanitarian relief efforts for millions of displaced persons. “These humanitarians were among the first witnesses and builders of postwar Europe, dedicated to the continued conversion of war to peace, killing to care.” But how to address former enemies, or “…recivilizing the defeated enemy… in the administration of international justice and military occupation.” At the outset, it was through avoiding contact as much as possible: “Nonfraternization measures had been drawn up during the war, and social distancing between victors and vanquished was seen as a vital part of moral reconstruction.” As years passed, attitudes softened, partly because of the media, which was, “…why photojournalism was so critical… helping to spur a new phase of humanitarianism after 1945.”
Fast forward to a few years later when things have settled down a bit. “The home and the restored nuclear family served as Europe’s romanticized sphere of postwar moral and aesthetic idealism.” And those ideals were threatened by Communism. “…The cold war threat of ‘godless’ communism spurred church leaders and conservative Western European political elite to make common cause in the fight against Moscow… By the mid-1950’s, the defense of Western civilization had become a foundational element of Christian democracy across Western Europe.” One could even say that it was Stalin who was actually responsible for European cooperation because of the fear he instilled on the continent. That fear extended across the Atlantic, too. “The American guardianship of Greece as a new frontier of Cold War Europe was the moment in which the United States assumed the mantle as principal defender of Western Civilization.”
A large chunk of the latter half of the book deals with imperialism. “The postwar restoration of empire sat uneasily with the wartime espousal of liber values in general and the principles of the United Nations Charter in particular.” I wouldn’t think Africa would factor much in postwar restoration, but it’s a central theme in two chapters: Decolonization and African Civilization: Ghana, Algeria, and Senegal (which I skimmed) and Socialism’s Civilizing Mission in Africa. From the latter: “Ghana’s effort to repurpose past and present was not unique, but rather was the first sub-Saharan attempt to give shape to what a postimperial African civilization might look like once the Europeans where gone.” I think the title of the latter chapter speaks for itself, but it also addresses how African nations explored their cultural identity.
The chapter I found most compelling was about UNESCO and its efforts. “UNESCO served as a unique hub of international production… and was explicitly dedicated to overcoming cultural barriers between Europe and the developing world. It did so by means of soft power, aiming to spread international understanding through cross-cultural respect, general education, and above all the promotion of what it boldly called ‘world civilization.’ This chapter also detailed how UNESCO unified nations to cooperate in saving the Nubian Monuments from being flooded by an Egyptian damn.
Though this book doesn’t tell us how cities or cultural institutions were physically rebuilt, it’s theme of reestablishing civilization covers a huge range of ideas. The attempts to define civilization are often exhausting, and the concept is perhaps too broad. But the historical context presented is essential to understanding our present place in the world despite the intimidating rhetoric.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
First, there’s the initial humanitarian relief efforts for millions of displaced persons. “These humanitarians were among the first witnesses and builders of postwar Europe, dedicated to the continued conversion of war to peace, killing to care.” But how to address former enemies, or “…recivilizing the defeated enemy… in the administration of international justice and military occupation.” At the outset, it was through avoiding contact as much as possible: “Nonfraternization measures had been drawn up during the war, and social distancing between victors and vanquished was seen as a vital part of moral reconstruction.” As years passed, attitudes softened, partly because of the media, which was, “…why photojournalism was so critical… helping to spur a new phase of humanitarianism after 1945.”
Fast forward to a few years later when things have settled down a bit. “The home and the restored nuclear family served as Europe’s romanticized sphere of postwar moral and aesthetic idealism.” And those ideals were threatened by Communism. “…The cold war threat of ‘godless’ communism spurred church leaders and conservative Western European political elite to make common cause in the fight against Moscow… By the mid-1950’s, the defense of Western civilization had become a foundational element of Christian democracy across Western Europe.” One could even say that it was Stalin who was actually responsible for European cooperation because of the fear he instilled on the continent. That fear extended across the Atlantic, too. “The American guardianship of Greece as a new frontier of Cold War Europe was the moment in which the United States assumed the mantle as principal defender of Western Civilization.”
A large chunk of the latter half of the book deals with imperialism. “The postwar restoration of empire sat uneasily with the wartime espousal of liber values in general and the principles of the United Nations Charter in particular.” I wouldn’t think Africa would factor much in postwar restoration, but it’s a central theme in two chapters: Decolonization and African Civilization: Ghana, Algeria, and Senegal (which I skimmed) and Socialism’s Civilizing Mission in Africa. From the latter: “Ghana’s effort to repurpose past and present was not unique, but rather was the first sub-Saharan attempt to give shape to what a postimperial African civilization might look like once the Europeans where gone.” I think the title of the latter chapter speaks for itself, but it also addresses how African nations explored their cultural identity.
The chapter I found most compelling was about UNESCO and its efforts. “UNESCO served as a unique hub of international production… and was explicitly dedicated to overcoming cultural barriers between Europe and the developing world. It did so by means of soft power, aiming to spread international understanding through cross-cultural respect, general education, and above all the promotion of what it boldly called ‘world civilization.’ This chapter also detailed how UNESCO unified nations to cooperate in saving the Nubian Monuments from being flooded by an Egyptian damn.
Though this book doesn’t tell us how cities or cultural institutions were physically rebuilt, it’s theme of reestablishing civilization covers a huge range of ideas. The attempts to define civilization are often exhausting, and the concept is perhaps too broad. But the historical context presented is essential to understanding our present place in the world despite the intimidating rhetoric.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
February 24, 2021
I read approx. one year into the COVID-19 pandemic where US deaths were over 400,000; in Feb. 2021, after President Biden and Vice President Harris were inaugurated in the US; after the coup at the Capitol; and during/after the 2nd impeachment trial of Trump; and after Michigan lawmakers were charged with willful negligence for the poisoning of Flint's water system. I was interested to learn what efforts were made to de-program Europeans after the fall of Nazism post WWII. How to come back from crossing such lines of "humanity." Mostly relevant to the conspiracy theory, Qanon, and constant racial injustice fall out that is the reality currently in the US.
The first two chapters of Betts' book were interesting. Especially the division of content / theme for the Nuremberg Tribunal, the initial reluctance to include Russia due to their aggressor role at the start of the war, but was surprised similar sentiments of reluctance wasn't attributed to France. It was poignant that, during the 2nd Trump impeachment trial, I faced this section of Betts' book: "The court thus interpreted Nazism as a lapse of civilization on the grounds that the Weimar Republic had developed 'a civilized and enlightened system of jurisprudence.' As a consequence - and this was pivotal to the tribunal's finding - it was held that the 'accused knew or should have known' that they were 'guilty of participation in a nationally organized system of injustice and persecution shocking to the moral sense of mankind.' In other words, the very existence of Germany's pre-1933 legal system and its 'norms of civilization' meant that these men standing trial could and should have known that their actions were illegal." This section has stayed with me, much like Hannah Ardent's work has.
The second piece of the book I thought compelling was that although the brutality of Germany's
(and Russian + others) war crimes were well known as early as the 1940's, it wasn't until generations later that 'civilization' re-focused their compassion from forgiving Nazi Germany and the quality of their survival to instead, a focus on the victims of Nazi Germany and their desperate need for support to survive the aftermath. "The universalization of victimhood espoused in these famous photography exhibitions of the 1940s and 1950s unwittingly erased the specificity of Jewish victimhood and suffering, as Nazi genocide against the Jews marginalized in public consciousness as simply a subchapter of the broader story of World War II. It was not until the 1980s that the Holocaust and Auschwitz moved to the center of history of World War II and even the century itself."
I kept my hopes up Betts' book would continue looking at the civilization, or better, the re-civilization, of a continent after entrenched racial warfare. But it quickly went from the end of WWII to the Cold War, and farther yet into the 21st century and ISIS. It seems the book is more about NGOs and non-profits, religious and secular than what I was looking for.
the 1980's that, "The universalization of victimhoood espoused in these famous photraphy
The first two chapters of Betts' book were interesting. Especially the division of content / theme for the Nuremberg Tribunal, the initial reluctance to include Russia due to their aggressor role at the start of the war, but was surprised similar sentiments of reluctance wasn't attributed to France. It was poignant that, during the 2nd Trump impeachment trial, I faced this section of Betts' book: "The court thus interpreted Nazism as a lapse of civilization on the grounds that the Weimar Republic had developed 'a civilized and enlightened system of jurisprudence.' As a consequence - and this was pivotal to the tribunal's finding - it was held that the 'accused knew or should have known' that they were 'guilty of participation in a nationally organized system of injustice and persecution shocking to the moral sense of mankind.' In other words, the very existence of Germany's pre-1933 legal system and its 'norms of civilization' meant that these men standing trial could and should have known that their actions were illegal." This section has stayed with me, much like Hannah Ardent's work has.
The second piece of the book I thought compelling was that although the brutality of Germany's
(and Russian + others) war crimes were well known as early as the 1940's, it wasn't until generations later that 'civilization' re-focused their compassion from forgiving Nazi Germany and the quality of their survival to instead, a focus on the victims of Nazi Germany and their desperate need for support to survive the aftermath. "The universalization of victimhood espoused in these famous photography exhibitions of the 1940s and 1950s unwittingly erased the specificity of Jewish victimhood and suffering, as Nazi genocide against the Jews marginalized in public consciousness as simply a subchapter of the broader story of World War II. It was not until the 1980s that the Holocaust and Auschwitz moved to the center of history of World War II and even the century itself."
I kept my hopes up Betts' book would continue looking at the civilization, or better, the re-civilization, of a continent after entrenched racial warfare. But it quickly went from the end of WWII to the Cold War, and farther yet into the 21st century and ISIS. It seems the book is more about NGOs and non-profits, religious and secular than what I was looking for.
the 1980's that, "The universalization of victimhoood espoused in these famous photraphy
July 28, 2021
Ruin and Renewal by Paul Betts
Rating 3.5/ 5 Stars
Published By Perseus Books
Published On 17th November 2020
Thank you to Netgalley, Perseus Books, and of course, PAul Betts, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Writing an account of the entire continent of Europe in only 550 or so pages is a task in itself. Setting that account after one of the most pinnacle periods of Modern History and one of the most devastating makes it even more difficult. Betts does a good job in his attempt, however the scope of his work is the main issue I find. There is not enough time, not pages dedicated to the entire continent of Europe. In order to cover in its entirety, Betts would have to double or even triple the word count to do it justice. I found this to be an exceptional read beyond that fact and I did really enjoy the interesting facts and theories put forward. It is an informative book and one worthy of reading. In the end, I wanted more due to the nature of the title, but as a historian - I always want more!
Rating 3.5/ 5 Stars
Published By Perseus Books
Published On 17th November 2020
Thank you to Netgalley, Perseus Books, and of course, PAul Betts, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Writing an account of the entire continent of Europe in only 550 or so pages is a task in itself. Setting that account after one of the most pinnacle periods of Modern History and one of the most devastating makes it even more difficult. Betts does a good job in his attempt, however the scope of his work is the main issue I find. There is not enough time, not pages dedicated to the entire continent of Europe. In order to cover in its entirety, Betts would have to double or even triple the word count to do it justice. I found this to be an exceptional read beyond that fact and I did really enjoy the interesting facts and theories put forward. It is an informative book and one worthy of reading. In the end, I wanted more due to the nature of the title, but as a historian - I always want more!
March 1, 2024
Read is perhaps a bit of an overstatement here I ordered this book from the library well over a month ago when I was looking for readings for the course on the history of postwar Europe, but it languished. I read the first half quickly but the really rushed through the second half so I could return it. Betts's book was not what I expected, which seems to be a common experience. In the end it is more a study of how the concept of Civilization was mobilized after WW2 to reimagine Europe and deal with the new challenges and the return of others. Since my interest for my students was finding a reading that might help them appreciate what rebuilding Europe was like, I lost interest fairly quickly, and my gut feeling is that Betts's perspective goes over the heads of a lot of people who are learning about postwar Europe for the first time. You simply have to know a fair amount about postwar Europe already to appreciate the arguments Betts makes. In a way I wish I could go back and pick it up less focused on my students' needs, maybe I would have found it more enlightening.
January 26, 2025
This book wasn't always quite what I was expecting, or hoping for, but with adjusted expectations, I can say it's very good; interesting and well researched. I was hoping for a very close analysis of post WWII reconstruction in Europe. The first half of the book largely sticks to this theme, and does it well. For 200 pages or so, I was riveted.
However, after a while, we drift further from Europe, and from the immediate aftermath of the war, and I was less and less interested as the book wore on. Betts spent a lot of time on the involvement of European powers in Africa and the Middle East, and while these things are in many ways vitally important to understanding Europe between the end of the war and the present time, the book's scope became so wide that I did not always feel that I was getting a close enough look at anything in particular.
I enjoyed the book, and I'm glad I read it. I think it could have been a bit shorter and more focused, but it's a truly inventive approach to understanding European conceptions of "civilization."
However, after a while, we drift further from Europe, and from the immediate aftermath of the war, and I was less and less interested as the book wore on. Betts spent a lot of time on the involvement of European powers in Africa and the Middle East, and while these things are in many ways vitally important to understanding Europe between the end of the war and the present time, the book's scope became so wide that I did not always feel that I was getting a close enough look at anything in particular.
I enjoyed the book, and I'm glad I read it. I think it could have been a bit shorter and more focused, but it's a truly inventive approach to understanding European conceptions of "civilization."
August 18, 2021
Honestly if the option for zero stars existed I would give that instead of one. Paul Betts has written a mess of a book that in no way relates to the title of this book. For one thing it has next to nothing about how Europe was civilized after WW2. He opens with it and closes with it but in between there are little dabbles of it.
The greatest part of the book to me seems to focus on Africa and de-colonization. If he wrote an entire book about it I am sure it would be good. But he doesn't and we get some weird hodgepodge that moves architecture to culture to their relationships with the eastern Europe, Soviet satellite countries.
I can go into more details but I'll sum it all up by repeating myself in saying this book is just a mess.
The greatest part of the book to me seems to focus on Africa and de-colonization. If he wrote an entire book about it I am sure it would be good. But he doesn't and we get some weird hodgepodge that moves architecture to culture to their relationships with the eastern Europe, Soviet satellite countries.
I can go into more details but I'll sum it all up by repeating myself in saying this book is just a mess.
February 22, 2022
I once wrote a freshman English paper highlighting the use of Christ imagery in WWI poetry and propaganda posters. In many ways – not the least of which its narrow academic scope, limited appeal, and overemphasis on imagery (in this case photographic) to demonstrate a point – this book reminds me of that paper. The chapter Empire Regained shows unexpected, if underdeveloped, promise but the work shortly thereafter loses its way. Surprising that a book subtitled “Civilizing Europe After World II” should devote at least a third of its pages to, well, Africa…
BTW, my professor was much more generous – she gave me a B+
BTW, my professor was much more generous – she gave me a B+
October 3, 2020
So many historical accounts of the war focus on the battles, the politics and the human experience. And I love those books. What is often missing, however, is what happens when the gunfire stops and society moves to a state of relative peace. The concept of reconstruction and the effective rebuilding of Europe and of society is explored in this fascinating account. After war, still nothing is normal This book reminds the reader of that.
March 25, 2021
Like other reviews, it didn’t turn out to be the book I expected. However it does have enough interesting facts and theories to absorb, but only after the first two chapters. The introduction was far too long (27 pages) and the book is quite difficult to read in parts. A good edit would improve things but in turn shorten the book. Overall not quite enough ‘story’ to warrant a book of this size and scope.
November 6, 2021
Very interesting look at efforts to rebuild countries’ cultures after WWII while also reimagining what civilization and humanity are and having multiple ideologies jockey for domination. There is much to unpack in this book.
October 15, 2025
Nicht einfach eine Geschichte der Ereignisse des Jahres 1945 - sondern eine Abhandlung über die Wiederentdeckung der Zivilisation in der Nachkriegszeit und die Auswirkungen auf die internationalen Beziehungen - äußerst interessant zu lesen.
January 1, 2021
Skipped the religious angle which was 1/2 the book
April 19, 2021
An exceptionally good read. It traces much of the world recovery from 1945 until today. Very informative, thought provoking and occasionally frightening.
November 15, 2021
A good read. Very technical.
September 6, 2022
Three chapters of this book were picked by my teacher to read for a course in Western Civilization. I was disappointed in the lack of a common thread throughout the chapters and in the overuse of specific dates and names, because it made for an uncomfortable and unnecessarily technical read.
Additionally, at times I found the language used questionable because to me it felt like a form of casual Western arrogance.
I wouldn't recommend this book for teaching purposes, as it is a thick book without the needed depth to really instigate a discussion.
Additionally, at times I found the language used questionable because to me it felt like a form of casual Western arrogance.
I wouldn't recommend this book for teaching purposes, as it is a thick book without the needed depth to really instigate a discussion.
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