Existentialism emerged in the 1950s and 1960s as a philosophical response to the struggle of finding meaning after the World Wars. Returning soldiers grappled with the inability to integrate back into a 'normal' life after experiencing the trauma of war. The monumental effort to defeat evil during the war left individuals questioning how to create meaning in their post-war lives, knowing that they had fought for their own lives while others had perished. This post-war existential crisis reflects a macro-level societal struggle mirrored in the micro-level experience of individual soldiers.