Modern European History

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intellectuals began to doubt the Enlightenment and even the
future of Western civilization. This state of uncertainty and unpredictability
brought out many modern philosophers of that time. One of them was a French
poet and critic Paul Valery. He stated that "Europe was looking at its future
with dark foreboding." In his writings, he said that "The storm has died away,
and still we are restless, uneasy, as if the storm were about to break." The
storm in this case was the war. People were so terrified by it that they were
still in shock and unsure of its outcome and consequence and the possibility
that it might cause another war to break out. Valery saw that many people
suffered from anxiety. He argued that the people looked at the future with
great unease and discomfort for what the war had done and what the war will
cause. He also suggested that "Europe doubted itself profoundly" because of all
the lost of all optimistic ideas and accomplishments. People did not have to
strength or ...

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