Efterkrigstida

Ef­terkrigstida is a term used in Swedish to refer to the period following a war, commonly the era after World War II. It functions as an adjective describing things associated with the postwar period, while the noun form is efterkrigstiden, the postwar period. The word is built from efter (after), krig (war), and tid/ti­ta (time, era). Variants with similar meaning exist in other Nordic languages, such as Norwegian etterkrigstida/etterkrigstiden and Danish efterkrigstiden.

The concept encompasses the social, political, and economic changes that follow conflict. In historical writing, efterkrigstida is associated with reconstruction, economic growth, expansion of the welfare state, demographic shifts, and reforms in governance and foreign policy. In Sweden, for example, the period after the mid-1940s is often described as the efterkrigstida due to rapid industrial modernization, full employment, and extensive social reform led by the Social Democrats, along with urbanization and education expansion. In other countries, the term is used more broadly to denote the postwar experience, including decolonization, shifts in international alignments, and regional integration.

Usage notes: The exact dates of the efterkrigstida vary by country and conflict. It is not a fixed calendar period but a flexible descriptor signaling the era after war. The term appears in academic, journalistic, and public discourse to frame analyses of postwar development and historical change.