An era was ending in Europe, not all at once and in one dying fall, but perceptibly nonetheless.
What is disappearing is the era of emergency, exhortation and exertion. The exhortation came from the U.S., along with $39 billion of aid. The exertion came from the best of European leaders, and both exhortation and exertion came from the emergency of the cold war. Not only the Soviet cooing, but sounds the Russians did not want heard—the clash of revolt and unrest—had destroyed the impulse of emergency.
The drive which produced NATO and propelled Europe onto the road to unification was gone. The...
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