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...... The countries of Western Europe had by this time established at least limited democracies and republics, making the processes by which such major institutional shifts at once more achievable and more complex. Increased taxes carried the financial burden of increased social programs, and the government response to ongoing demands and inefficiencies is a continuing process even today
Communism in Postwar Europe
The red Scare was a common feature of the 1950s, not only in Americathough sentiments appear to have been stronger herebut throughout much of the Western world. Many individuals and governments in Europe were greatly concerned about the Communist threat which existed very close to their own borders, and even in pockets within them. Yet by the close of the 1950s, Communism had ceased to be a very potent political force in Europe. As in most major historical and social trends, the reasons for this are complicated, and have to do both with the changing face of Communism and the attitudes and actions of Communist countries, as well as with shifts that were happening in the ostensibly socially democratic and truly capitalist countries of Western Europe. Many governments, despite popular fears, had Communist and increasingly Socialist factions in

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