All Quiet on the Eastern Front: European Societies after the Russia-Ukraine War

Abstract

This article seeks to answer the question of how some European countries prepare their societies for possible wars and crises in the wake of increasing security threats. In the modern era, civilians have also become a part of the war, since the wars have started to affect those behind the frontlines. In response to this, states developed various practices to prepare their people for the devastating effects of war. The activities carried out under the name of Total Defence in many countries during the Cold War years were a product of this understanding and preparations. The applications that were shelved in many countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union have been brought back to the agenda after 2014 especially with the Russian-Ukrainian War and with the preparations of European societies against war and crisis. Based on the claim that these preparations do not carry revolutionary innovations, this study concludes that the threat perception, historical memory, and past collective defence experiences of the countries shape the current practices. The last part of the article evaluates a brief history of the social preparedness of Turkish society in war and crises in terms of the concept of total defence.

Keywords

• total defence
• civil defence
• cold war
• russia-ukraine war
• armed forces and society