Annotation
The thirty-year window Ortega specified — 1930 to 1960 — covers the most catastrophic period in European history: the rise of fascism, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and Soviet domination of the East. Legislative technique did collapse, spectacularly, across Germany, Italy, Spain, and Vichy France. But Ortega missed the second half of his own timeframe: by 1957, the Treaty of Rome had launched European integration, and the continent was deep in an economic miracle. He was devastatingly right about the disease and entirely wrong about Europe's capacity for recovery.
What Actually Happened
Within Ortega's thirty-year window (1930-1960), legislative technique collapsed across Germany, Italy, Spain, and Vichy France. The period encompassed the rise of fascism, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, and the Holocaust — the most catastrophic decades in European history. However, recovery began sooner than he imagined: the Treaty of Rome launched European integration in 1957, and by 1960 the continent was deep in an economic miracle. Europe did not sink back to barbarism; it rebuilt.