The Super Summary of World History by Alan Dale Daniel

Author:Alan Dale Daniel [Daniel, Alan Dale]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: History
ISBN: 9781436343268
Google: D7gwPQAACAAJ
Amazon: 1436343267
Barnesnoble: 1436343267
Goodreads: 8605389
Publisher: Xlibris Corp
Published: 2008-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The Interwar Years 1919 to 1939

The “war to end all wars” was finally over in 1919 with the execution of the Treaty of Versailles. Europe was at peace. It would remain at peace for twenty years. It turned out the “war to end all wars” only set up Europe for the next conflict which was even greater. World War II would officially start in 1939 with Germany, led by Adolph Hitler, invading Poland. Winston Churchill, Britain’s lord of the admiralty in WWI[190]and its Prime Minister in WWII, stated the Second World War should have been easy to prevent because the Western Democracies only needed to enforce the Treaty of Versailles to stop Germany from rearming. Along with economic errors and the Great Depression, these flawed decisions paved the way to World War II.

After the Great War of 1914 to 1918, with its attendant slaughter of at least 8 million soldiers, the people of the United Kingdom, France, and the United States tried fixing the world in an attempt to prevent a repeat of WWI. To that end, the governments of the great powers including Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States entered into arms limitations treaties to prevent arms races. Under these various agreements, the major world powers agreed to limit the tonnage of warships constructed, among other items. The League of Nations involved itself in keeping the peace through diplomatic efforts. Large peace organizations formed in America, England, and France to keep their countries out of wars. “Peace at any price” was their motto.

As it happened, the great powers would not have the money to engage in arms races. The Great Depression deprived the nations of funds needed to construct and field large armies or invest in extremely expensive weapons systems. No money equals no arms races. Peace seems to require the bankruptcy of all.

After the Great War, America, England, and France disarmed to a large degree and went back to civilian budgets. In America the US Army shrank dramatically, but the navy did somewhat better because nations usually avoided scrapping battleships like beer cans. Germany was stripped of its army and Austria-Hungary ceased to exist. Turkey also faced financial problems that limited its ability to rearm. In the USSR under Stalin, the Soviets began a massive rearming and rebuilding of its army. Its secret arms buildup included development of the excellent T-34 tank. During this period between 1919 and 1929 an economic boom of sorts was underway, and the nations of the world prospered. Europe could trade once more, even though Germany was on the ropes, and the USSR took itself out of international trade under their communist regime. Money was available for investing, and companies expanded to meet growing consumer demand.

From 1919 to 1933, the United States tried another experiment in abolishing evil. Just as the nation abolished slavery it would now abolish drunkenness by making sales of liquor illegal.[191] The Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, approved on January 29, 1919, prohibited the sale of alcohol in America.

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