With war at its doors, Europe discovers a capacity for action

GIVEN THE dauntingly long and complex compound-nouns that abound in German, Wende might sound like a modest concept. Yet a Wende—a watershed, a turning-point, the crossing of a Rubicon—is a big, important, intimidating thing. It is when deeply held beliefs are discarded for what was once unthinkable. As communism crumbled it was die Wende that made reunification inevitable, sweeping away the assumption that Germany would remain permanently split into East and West. The Energiewende marked the rash decision a decade ago to ditch nuclear power, to be replaced partly with renewables but also with coal and more Russian gas. Carmakers speak of a Verkehrswende, or transport revolution, which will send the combustion engines at the core of their business to the scrapheap.