From War into the Future: Historical Legacies and Questions for Postwar Reconstruction in Ukraine

Much of European history of the 20th century is described as “postwar”: from post–World War I to post–World War II into the post–Cold War. “Postwar” is familiar to many from the title of a major book, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.¹ Now, in the midst of the recent large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, with all the uncertainty about when it will end, and guessing what names and chronological frames it will acquire in the future, we are already discussing and sketching our newest “postwar”: in social media and public discussions, by launching initiatives, and, most recently, by establishing the National Council for the Recovery of Ukraine from the War.²