Three years after the end of the Second World War, Europe is once again on an historic threshold. Will the continent finally find lasting peace? Will people’s hopes for a better future be fulfilled? The allies of yesterday have become the enemies of today. An Iron Curtain separates East and West, communism and capitalism. It looks as if the curtain will remain down for a long time. The first half of 1948 brings decisive turning points: a Communist coup in Prague, the consolidation of Stalin’s power in Eastern Europe, in Yugoslavia the break between Tito and Stalin, and a crisis in Berlin that becomes a test of power and takes the world to the brink of a new great war. The Jews of Europe find a new home in Israel. The spring of 48 will continue to have an effect for decades to come. Contemporary witnesses such as the Frenchman Marc Ferro, the German Günter Lamprecht or the Russian Maja Turowskaja tell of their experiences in crisis-ridden post-war France, of the hope for a democratic awakening in Czechoslovakia, of Stalinism in Moscow. There is a phase of euphoria in socialist Yugoslavia and the fear of a new war among the Berliners, who have just cleared away the rubble. Texts by contemporary authors such as Anna Seghers and Simone de Beauvoir lead us into this period of uncertainty and search for orientation. Rarely shown archive material shows a year in which decisive decisions were made for the future of the continent.