What made postwar Europe one of the most attractive places on Earth with perhaps the most favorable material and spiritual conditions for life and human development? On the basis of what ideology did Germany become the richest country in Europe and the European Union become a space of reconciliation and prosperity? One of the reasons for this rise was a good ideological foundation that created the institutions and values that made rapid development possible.
After World War II, Christian principles of mutual aid, solidarity, and social responsibility were combined with political programs. Christian democracy, an ideology that aims to integrate Christian and democratic principles, became the ideological basis for the reconstruction and development of postwar Europe. It sees the solution to the most important social problems in the ideas of Christian morality and humanism.
It was Christian democratic governments and parties that were the authors of the “economic miracle” of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria. The social reforms of the Christian Democrats have done much to make Europe today perceived as a “paradise of social welfare.” Thanks to the Schuman Declaration, the economies of the postwar states reoriented from aggressive struggle to cooperation based on the principle of positive sum. Instead of socialism, common-sense politicians chose the path of reforms based on the formula of a social market economy, adopting the Protestant ethic, initiative, and the principle of “who cares, has.”
According to Professor Udi Greenberg, after the Second World War, Christian democrats achieved the unthinkable by uniting the heterogeneous legal systems of Europe into a democratic community. High social standards, a significant level of security protection for citizens, and continental integration are largely the achievement of Christian democrats. Christian democratic leaders such as German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, and Italian Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi laid the foundations for the postwar economic revival of Germany, France, and Italy. They also created the institutional and ideological foundations of the European Union, which were based on classical Christian political principles of solidarity, responsibility, subsidiarity, and social justice.
In Ukraine, few people know that the founding fathers of the European Union were Christian democrats who laid Christian values in the ideological foundation of the common European home. All of the ministers who signed the 1951 agreement establishing the European Coal and Steel Community were representatives of European Christian Democratic parties. This community became the basis on which the EU was created.
The book “Christian Democracy. A Solution for Ukraine and Europe” was published in Ukraine, which is devoted to a detailed analysis of the formula for European economic growth and political reconciliation between the age-old competitors who today peacefully coexist in the European Union. The book, authored by civic activist Yuriy Mindyuk, journalist Kostyantyn Kanishev, and political scientist Valeriy Maidaniuk, was published by the Democracy Promotion Foundation with the support of the European Foundation Sallux.
The book “Christian Democracy. Solutions for Ukraine and Europe” tells the stories of Christian democratic success stories, successful and unsuccessful struggles to build a society of welfare, justice and values. It explains why Christian democrats in Germany, Italy, or the Netherlands managed to build a successful state, while Venezuela, where Christian democrats were forced to cede power to socialists, had to slide into poverty, inflation, and long lines for the most basic necessities.
The book is intended for a wide range of readers, politicians, political scientists, journalists, civic and religious activists, students, Christians, and anyone interested in the principles of building successful and socially oriented states. The book can be found on the website of the Conservative Christian Platform https://conservative.org.ua/
Author: Valeriy Maydanyuk