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Judt: A Brief Summary

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The late 1940’s were bleak times for Europe. Europe’s history at the end of World War II was a distressing time. Death took its toll amongst about 36 million Europeans from the war, and the numbers keep adding up from the corruption and dramatic and destructive influence of Hitler and Stalin. The wars on Europe continued past 1945, which took many different forms.The cold-war years seemed to be an even worse predicament that Europe will never be able to thrive again. However, as time progressed, so did Europe. Through Europe’s recovery, Judt was able to confine its history within Postwar, specifically through the topics of europeanization and culture. Although these topics were strong points, Judt failed to include LGBT rights, which are controversial …show more content…

First and foremost, in the earliest years of Europe, between 300-500 A.D., homosexuality was looked down upon due to Christianity. Being a homosexual meant being punished by castration and being burned alive. However, in present times, LGBT rights are widely diverse per country in Europe, and out of the 19 countries that have legalized gay marriage world-wide, thirteen of them reside in Europe. Thirteen other countries within Europe have also formed legal civil unions for same-sex couples. Websites like “ILGA Europe” speak upon the rights of people’s sexual orientation or gender identity, primarily for people who consider themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). LGBT persons have not been able to enjoy their universal human rights, having been victims of hate crimes and lacking protection in their everyday lives. Not including the LGBT community within Postwar, is a form of exclusion of the LGBT community within Europe and how they have had to deal with the shortcomings of protective services during and beyond the years of the war. Prejudices and misconceptions lead to harassment and intolerant attitudes, behaviors, and violence against LGBT persons across their social and economic lives. As much as europeanization and culture are important within Postwar, so is the inclusivity of self-identity within Europe’s popular social spheres. If Judt would have included the topic of self-identity within Postwar, the entire book would be even more complete, as these issues are prevalent on a worldwide scale, primarily American culture, where much of the problems faced within the LGBT community in Europe are seen through the American scope. The inclusivity of personal and sexual identity is important as it adds a greater and extremely diverse perspective of European’s

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