History

The German economic miracle emerged in the 1950s with the resurrection of an economically powerful Germany. It was part of a much larger growth of consumer societies in the Western world and Japan. What were the benefits and problems of consumerism and its spread among the middle classes and part of the working classes? The beginnings of what became the EU already emerged in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Why did many European states seek to create a united Europe? The Cold War heated up in the 1950s and 1960s with flashpoints globally, from Berlin, to Korea, to Vietnam, to Prague, etc. What role did Europe (not the US) play in the Cold War in these decades? Europe was not simply split by the so-called Iron Curtain but also by class and politically? How were these other divisions manifested, such as in Euro-terrorism of the 1970s, demonstrations in the 1960s, etc.?