The First World War and perceptions of Catholicism in England

After the First World War there was a changed, more positive, attitude in England towards Catholicism in England. It was perceived to have risen to the test of the War where other forms of religion had failed. The newly acquired optimism of Catholics found expression in the apologetics of the era. New doubts about Protestantism - tainted by imaginary association with Germany - gave Catholic apologists the opportunity to mount a largely successful polemic against the hitherto accepted biased national anti-Catholic historiography. An acknowledged classic of the genre is Hilaire Belloc's Europe and the Faith.