WW2- Introduction (Part 1)

 

INTRODUCTION

By the time World War 1 had reached its bloody conclusion, many felt that the world had changed for good. A generation of men had perished. Many countries stood impoverished and bitter new enmities had emerged. In Eastern Europe a new and unknown political system had sprouted in the form of communism, the alien nature of which caused fear around the rest of the world. In Central Europe, new countries had been formed from broken off pieces of old Empires. 

The new states of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia bought new opportunities and also fresh tensions. In the USA the period after World War1 (WW1) was a time of substantial growth and development as it became the largest economy in the world.

The Treaty of Versailles

 

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed between the 'Victorious Allies' and 'Germany'. At the Paris France Conference of 1919, 32 different nations met to discuss how peace could be maintained in future and this kind of bloody conflict avoided for all time. Of all decisions taken in Paris, one later called the 'War Guilt Clause', required Germany to 'accept the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage' of the war.

It forced Germany to disarm, make territorial concessions and pay massive reparations to the countries of the Entente. The War Guilt Clause was intended to maintain peace for all, but instead sowed the seeds for further, even more extensive war just 25 years later. 

RISE OF HITLER

After the bloody and devastating war, Germany was in a state of shock. The ordinary German people began to seek a saviour and a decade after World War1 (WW1) they found one in the shape of Adolf Hitler.

HITLER

After a rapid rise to fame and a surge in popular support, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and from that movement onwards the country was preparing for war on a huge scale. Germany Industry went into overdrive building weapons and technology and a new army was recruited and trained.

 Hitler's aim was to make Germany the ruler of Europe. His fanatical nationalism led him to believe he had a right to invade other countries, occupy their space and control the race and nature of their populations to match his own beliefs. He wanted the 'Superior Aryan Race to rule the world'. He thought of the other races as 'outcast' and wanted to remove them from the Earth once and for all. 

But he could not have done it alone. The seeds of hatred he spread around him found fertile ground in a nation that was beaten, bitter and humiliated. Ironically, the evil beliefs of the Nazi party came from decisions intended to maintain peace forever. 

Flag of Nazi Party

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