The end of World War II and the measures implemented by the allies brought one of the longest periods of peace on the European continent. Eighty years later, Ukraine needs – at its scale – of it. Which, at its scale, means more than double the Marshall plan. And it would also mean judgment to the Nuremberg of Russian politicians and generals – “impossible”
Berlin was a ruined field in May 1945. More than 70% of its buildings were destroyed and the silence of the streets, once vibrant, was broken only by the rumor of the rubble. On the outskirts of the city, in Karlshorst, a German marshal, Wilhelm Keitel, entered a room under the weight of defeat. With his baton and monkener, he signed the unconditional surrender of Germany in the face of the firm looks of the Soviet and Allied officers. At 11:01 pm on May 8, weapons began to shut up and Europe entered into peace for the first time in many years.
From London to New York, thousands went to the streets to celebrate the day of victory, although the war ended only months later, with the surrender of Japan in September. The devastation gave way to reconstruction. At that time no one could predict him, but they were about to be implemented measures that would launch Europe in the most peaceful period in his history. Eighty years later, Ukraine needs similar measures.
But let us return to 1945.
The silence of weapons was just a first step. Millions of refugees lived in temporary fields and industrial facilities in various countries were decimated. Europe needed more than peace, needed a future. In 1948, the United States of America launched the Marshall Plan, an ambitious program that injected about $ 13 billion (equivalent to 135 billion in 2024) in economic aid and technical assistance to recover the most affected countries. This help has been sent over four years.
The American plan was a success. German factories were recovered, Italian ports were operating again, and European infrastructure were raised, creating jobs and stabilizing the countries that were on the brink of collapse. In Germany, the effect became known as “Wirtschaftswunder”, the economic miracle. American support was more than a boost and turned out to be crucial to promoting cooperation and integration between former enemies, such as Germany and France, which would later create the European economic community.
“The Marshall Plan was quite important to Continental Europe, which was in a scenario of deep devastation after Nazi invasions. The plan not only re-registered Europe, but also secured the American position as the main western power and eventually created the basis for peace between two historical enemies,” says Carlos Martins, a researcher in the history of fascism and the far right.
In 2025, Ukraine faces many of the challenges with which Europe faced in the postwar. Cities that are close to the front, such as Kharkiv or Kherson, are often bombarded and have various neighborhoods, factories and destroyed critical infrastructures. But the intensity of the conflict and the long range attacks are repeated all over the country and reach the safest cities of the rear. The dimension of damage is high and the World Bank that the total cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction is 506 billion euros, more than twice the Marshall plan.
The main affected area is really housing. The Kyiv School of Economics, this sector has been damaged at 60 billion euros, with over 236,000 homes to be destroyed or damaged by Russian attacks. For the Ukrainian government, this problem can become even greater in the postwar if a peace agreement results in the return of millions of Ukrainian refugees who left the country at the beginning of the war. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees who are more than 6.9 million people.
Although the war is not yet completed, there are already some initiatives to finance the Ukrainian reconstruction effort. The European Union, with the Ukraine Facility program, mobilizes 50 billion euros by 2027 to support the effort to recover Ukrainian infrastructure. In late April, the US signed an agreement for mineral exploration in Ukraine and created the United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which will channel resource revenues for Ukrainian economic recovery. But unlike the Marshall plan, reconstruction money does not come from Ukrainian resources.
At the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two great powers, creating a bipolar world. For José Filipe Pinto, a professor specializing in International Relations, this dynamic created the necessary elements for Washington to look at investment in the prosperity of Western European countries as a fundamental factor to contain communism. Only the world today is different. And this role may not be destined for Americans.
“Europe has recovered in the postwar from having allied with one of the power centers of the time, the US. What will happen is very similar, with the Ukrainian reconstruction to be achieved through European effort. The EU will be to Ukraine just as the US was to Europe at the end of World War II.”
The end of the war in Europe also brought to light many of the crimes that were committed by German leadership over six years of war. Public opinion was shocked not only with the size of the deaths caused by the conflict – it is estimated that 70 million to 85 million people died, about 3% of the world’s population in 1940 – but also by the way many of these happened. The western public arrived the images of the Nazi extermination camps and the world was known to the Holocaust, which took his life to six million Jews persecuted throughout Europe by the Adolf Hitler regime.
It was necessary to do justice and hold those responsible for these crimes responsible. A year after the end of the war, the Allied countries created the Nuremberg International Military Court to judge Nazi leaders of crimes against humanity. During this process, which lasted a year, 22 men close to Hitler went to trial, with 19 to be considered guilty and condemned by the atrocities committed. The court’s verdict stated that the crime of planning and waging a war of aggression was the “supreme international crime” as it contained “in itself the accumulated evil of all other” crimes.
“Nuremberg’s judgments were fundamental. In these trials were cemented that the idea that the crimes committed by the Nazis were absolutely rejectable. It was important for the public to realize the gravity of the crimes so that they were not repeated and prevented Germany from having felt victim, as in World War I, which was eventually explored by far-right political actors.” Martins.
Ukraine faces a similar challenge in 2025. Volodymyr Zelensky guarantees that Kiev over 183,000 Russian war crimes since Russia has started the large -scale invasion in February 2022. The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates Russia for various war crimes, including masseurs in bushing, where hundreds of civilians were found dead in 2022, many of them with hands, many of them with hands tied and with signs of torture. The UN report found “strong evidence” of summary executions of 441 civilians in this locality. Russia denies the Ukrainian accusations that its soldiers may have committed atrocities.
This Friday, while Vladimir Putin watched the Victory Day parade alongside some of his main allies, representatives of about 40 countries were in LVIV, Ukraine, to announce the support for the creation of a special court built from root to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine, such as the Nuremberg Court made with Nazi leaders. This agreement happens after two years of behind -the -scenes work between legal advisors from various countries. Initially the US was involved in this process, but the new US administration decided to move away from the process.
Still, the condemnation of those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine promises to be a complex process. Mainly because neither the United States nor Russia recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC. Not only are the US not signatories but Donald Trump’s administration has authorized the application of economic sanctions and travel restrictions against the court and its members, due to its TPI investigations against US citizens and allies such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Very hardly, with the divided world, the International Criminal Court will have the strength to judge the crimes that fall at its purview. The great powers do not recognize its statute and there is no one able to make Russia comply with these rules. There will be many public convictions, but this new world will make it impossible for a judgment like Nuremberg,” argues José Filipe Pinto.
But peace is impossible without justice, Volodymyr Zelensky. The lessons of the past, from the Marshall Plan to the search for justice in Nuremberg, offer a course of hope for Ukraine. But the path to reconstruction and peace is complex and uncertain, with hard wounds to heal after more than three years of a war that made hundreds of thousands of victims. The ability to find a solution that allows Ukraine to rebuild and build a future without war will need some creativity.
“The story is not repeated, revisit. And what happens is that we are in a situation where we have no precedent. There are some elements in common, but this is a new reality. It will need to be creative, we cannot apply old recipes to new problems,” concludes José Filipe Pinto.
