The years following the end of the Second Weltkrieg were unlike anything Europe had witnessed before.
For nearly half a century the continent had been defined by instability, economic hardship, and endless military mobilization. The collapse of old empires, the rise of radical ideologies, and the constant specter of war had drained entire generations of their vitality.
But the victory of the German Reich had fundamentally changed the trajectory of the continent.
For the first time since the late nineteenth century, Europe stood beneath a single dominant power whose leadership had no interest in endless territorial conquest.
Instead, Berlin had turned its attention inward.
If the Reich was to remain the preeminent power of the world, it would not do so through conquest alone.
It would do so through civilization.
And civilization required infrastructure.
