From August 1944 until June 1947 Albert Camus was one of the most prominent contributors to Combat, an authoritative daily paper whose origins lay in the French Resistance movement. In his editorials and articles (165 in total) Camus expressed his views on the political and moral issues dominating post-war France. At that time Camus, like many others, cherished fresh hope that a peaceful and just "United States of Europe" would soon be established. These "United States of Europe" would not only achieve economic unity: they would also lay the groundwork for a socially just society in which human rights were to be scrupulously respected. It was a short-lived hope: the onset of the Cold War and the division of the continent into spheres of influence soon forced the adoption of much more modest objectives.