After WWI art trends began to change, and a world of disjointed darkness, often with unrecognizable features, started to flow from the painter’s brush. Painting no longer bound itself to realism. Abstract painting started before WWI (about 1910) and foresaw the disruption of the modern world long before it happened. After WWI, life’s lack of meaning became a major theme in art. Another art form became important in the pre-WWI years—the motion picture. The stars of the silver screen became worldwide icons making enough money to qualify as royalty. The movies set forth popular themes such as romance, comedy, the futility of war, or living in the modern world. The dictators used the new art form for propaganda to keep the populace believing the party line. Governments used this instrument of the modern world for the modern purposes of suppression and mind control. Worst of all, it worked.
Science, so obvious in motion pictures, became more evident in everyday life. Overnight, it seemed, the world invented skyscrapers, electricity, hot water heaters, cars, inside plumbing, better medical care, wonder drugs, flushing toilets, vacuum cleaners, and a host of other modern tools and conveniences. During the Great Depression many great public works projects started construction, such as the Hoover Dam in the United States, and the autobahn in Germany.
The world was a strange mix of worry and wonder. The stress on society by the new fast-changing world, the frightening nature of world politics, the wonder of science and its fantastic accomplishments, the warnings coming from artists and writers of pending chaos, and the seemingly unending economic misery all swirled together creating a disconcerting world. Predictability was gone. Recall the world of ancient Egypt, the steadfastness of it all with the unchanging centuries slipping easily into history’s vastness. The ability to adapt may be humanity’s best trait, but that adaptation was accomplished over long spans of time. Now humans were adapting in months to titanic changes.
From 1850 to 1950, the changes were staggering. From fire light to light bulbs, horses to cars, balloons to jet aircraft, muskets to machine guns, dirt roads to paved roads, stage plays to movies and then television, brooms to vacuums, wash boards to washing machines, and much more. A person born in 1850 and living to the age of one hundred would see all these changes if they lived in the United States or Europe. A person living in Egypt in 2000 BC could live to the age of five hundred and never see any change (except a Pharaoh or two).
This review only scratches the surface of the changes going on after 1919, but this is the Super Summary so we cannot go too far. The tenor of the age was one of change and great improvement; but the long shadow of WWI, the Great Depression, and the darkening clouds of WWII put the stamp of uncertainty on the era. Once the dictators were in power, the world became ever more frightening and ever more deadly.
Let Us Learn
The Great Depression teaches us economies fail, often very fast. Even a stable economy can collapse with blinding speed. It also taught us the financial world is very complex and very important. Have some money in a safe place in case of economic decline. Trying to spend your way out of debt, or into prosperity, is folly. Two American presidents and their super educated advisors made that mistake. Learn from their errors. If hard times hit, cut spending. Do not follow the government’s example; they never get it right anyway.
The depression era shows we are all captives of our theories. Recall that the economists of the 1930s analyzed the crisis through the prism of their assumptions (theories). Many people never try to figure out what theories (assumptions) they use for analysis. For example, what is your theory of human nature? Are people fundamentally good or evil? Does life operate on cause and effect relationships; that is, if one is good to someone will they be good back? If we work hard, will rewards follow? Each of these questions, among others, discloses theories concerning life. Be aware of the theories binding your thought processes.
Watch events in other countries, because even small far away occurrences can affect the entire globe. The murder of one man plunged the world into the hell of World War I. Hitler came to power after winning one German election and torched the world. Stay alert to world events and unusual trends.
Watch for big trends and try to analyze them. A trend to worldwide dictatorship is not good. A trend toward bank failures should raise your concern. Very large trends usually have large impacts. Population trends within various nations, and the world, often foretell of critical changes.
Finally, the interwar era teaches that aggressors must be immediately confronted, and if war is necessary to prevent their exploitation, then war it must be. If one wants peace prepare for war. What seems like an ideological oxymoron is actually a primer on human nature. The strong will take advantage of the weak. The prepared will crush the unprepared. So it has been, so it is now, and so it will always be. To forget these facts is folly.
Books and Resources on the Great Depression
and the Rise of the Third Reich:
See http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/1939.htm for excellent information on the state of European affairs just before WWII.
See http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blygd24.htm for excellent history and photographs of the Great Depression
Books on the Great Depression and the Rise of the Third Reich:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer. The classic, but not so easy to read.
The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard J. Evans, 2005, Penguin.
The Third Reich in Power, Richard J. Evans, 2006, Penguin. I like this book. It records many laws that were on the books under Hitler’s murderous regime. It records the nightmarish existence under the Nazi regime.
The Gathering Storm, Winston Churchill. Churchill is always easy to read, but beware of some of his concepts. Churchill was very English and very supportive of the concept of the English Empire.
FDR’s Folly, How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression, Powell, J., 2003, Three Rivers Press. I actually enjoyed this book more than The Forgotten Man by Shlaes. FDR’s Folly gives more economic background.
The Forgotten Man, Shlaes, Amity, 2008, Harper. Excellent, but concentrates on personalities in the place of more economic facts.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal, R. Murphy, Regnery, 2009. Like all PIG books this one will raise your consciousness about the Great Depression, and may raise the hair on the back of your neck as well.
Against Leviathan, Government Power and a Free Society, Higgs, Robert, 2004, The Independent Institute. Wonderful book. A must read.
Churchill, Hitler, and The Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost The World, Buchanan, P., Three Rivers Press, 2009. For a completely different take on the run up to WWII.
Chapter 15
World War II 1939 to 1945
The Second World War shattered the world. After the war Europe was spent, its power and glory evaporated in an orgy of violence created by technological advances and new ideologies of hate and murder harnessed by cruel dictators. After the Second World War, new nations took the world’s center stage, and these nations’ ideology and governmental forms were diametrically opposed. The “Cold War” started immediately after WWII, involving new nations in a new kind of war and competitive diplomacy.
How Many Dead?
Estimates of the number of dead vary greatly, but deaths from battles (military) were at least 65 million between the USSR, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan. Estimated civilian deaths not associated with battles are over 35 million. The number killed in China is unknown, but it would be millions. In Japan, the total dead are unknown although there are good estimates. In my opinion, the Soviet Union understated its death toll by at least one-half to hide their casualties from the West. After the fall of the Soviet Union scholars examined the archives to try to determine the total number of Soviet deaths in WWII. Most think fifty million (50,000,000) citizens of the USSR were killed (At the Abyss, T.C. Reed, Bal
lantine Books, 2004, p 296). If this number is accepted then the death toll from WWII exceeds 100 million.
In addition, wars in Ethiopia, Spain, Korea, Manchuria, and China prior to the “official” start of WWII add hundreds of thousands to the count. China suffered immeasurably during the war. The Japanese launched yearly “rice offensives” at harvest time, stealing the rice crop for shipment to Japan. The number of Chinese dying from starvation because of Japanese actions would be hundreds of thousands at least. The numbers who starved or died of neglect in Eastern Europe after WWII are not included in the official count in spite of dying as a direct result of the war. Although reasonable estimates put the total dead at about 65 million, this number is probably low. In my opinion, WWII destroyed well over 100 million lives worldwide, especially if fatalities in conflicts like Korea, China, Spain, and Finland before the war are counted, and deaths from noncombat causes suffered immediately after World War II from starvation, disease, and wounds are included (for example, radiation sickness).
Compare 1914 and 1939
At this point, we should analyze the major similarities and differences between 1914 and 1939:
In both cases, horrible wars exploded from Central Europe and engulfed the world. In both wars, the major players were practically the same. Germany was the centerpiece in Western and Eastern Europe in both wars. England, France, and Russia fought in 1914 for the Allies, but in 1939 the USSR signed a peace treaty with Hitler leaving France and England alone to face Germany until June 1941. In 1914, Japan was with the Allies; however, in 1941 they were with the Axis. In both wars the United States of America attempted to remain neutral, eventually entering the wars with decisive consequences.
Prior to World War I, the “Concert of Europe,” an informal system of conflict resolution, encouraged great powers to work out disagreements through diplomatic exchanges thus resolving threats of war. This was a balance of power system. In 1914 the system of diplomacy utterly failed after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and nations moved on impulse rather than rationality.[212] From 1919 to 1939, the League of Nations failed to act in several cases of aggression by Japan, Italy, and Germany, consistently losing credibility. Compounding the League’s inaction was the policy of appeasement adopted by England and France in the hope of avoiding war; however, this lack of resolve led the Axis partners to increasingly belligerent actions.
World War II was the direct result of Hitler’s appointment to German Chancellor in 1933. Excluding the USSR, nations fighting for the West in the Second World War opposed the governmental philosophy of the Nazis in every possible way.[213] Totalitarian dictatorships of the Axis fought to rule the world against democracies fighting to shield their way of life. Japan’s policies mimicked Hitler’s with Japan openly stating that totalitarianism was superior to democracy. It was a winner-takes-all contest. As such, the worldwide battles determined if democracy and individual freedom would survive. Never was the purpose for war clearer.[214]
In 1900, the world was a relatively stable place; however, in 1939, the world faced turmoil from China to Europe due to revolutionary ideologies and power-hungry dictators. The “old order” was still in place prior to WWI and it tended toward conservative and practical government. The Great War of 1914-1918 shattered European societies and revolutionary leftist movements, such as communism, gained substantial popular support. The backlash from anti-revolutionaries supported rightist movements like the fascist[215] trying to block the march of the communists to power. The problem with the revolutionary movements of the 1930s (communist, socialist) was their adoption of violence to achieve their ends. With labor strikes and armed force, the revolutionaries threatened governments and industry alike. The response of the right wing anti-revolutionary parties (fascist) was to adopt force to restrain the left. Undeclared civil wars broke out in many European nations, and governments were not stable enough or strong enough to control the situation. In Japan, the violent nature of militarism resulted in the assassination of two prime ministers and the endless war in China. Pre-World War I this was not taking place, as internal or external forces struggling for primacy could not easily challenge the established governments.
Japan had strove for recognition as a major world power since 1900. By skillfully playing her position Japan gained colonies from World War I, but not the recognition she craved. Before World War II, Japan defined itself as a “have not” nation believing America and Britain remained wedded to the status quo to maintain their imperial power. Japan decided to act with naked force to establish itself as a “have” nation. It would do so to shatter the status quo and the imperial powers; hence, avoiding being forever blocked by the old order. The same reasoning held true in Germany and Italy. All the Axis powers believed they had to challenge the status quo to gain economic power, resources, and respect. To the Axis, the Western nations supported the status quo and argued for peace, morality, and humanity only because it maintained their power. Axis leaders believed without a change in the power structure, through war if necessary, they would always be second tier nations.
Prior to World War I, European great powers aimed at peace. No major nation in World War I supported violence as a key component of national policy. Prior to World War II the fascists and communists proclaimed violence was well within the purview of their philosophies. The communist, socialist, fascist, and militarist claimed democracy was failing and caused exploitive imperialism, the Great Depression, the Great War, and created vastly unequal classes. The radicals said democracy had the working poor dying and starving while war profiteers grew rich on the peoples’ blood. These claims found ready support among the dispossessed of Europe and within the “have not” nations of the Axis. Communists leftist established violent revolutionary cells all over Europe trained in pushing an international revolution, and they struggled to seize governments by subversive means. Meanwhile, the fascists won elections, took control of entire nations, and used national power to smash the leftist. The fascist tactics established repression and violence as suitable policies for national control. Most Europeans welcomed the end of chaos, even by an oppressive government. Oppression of the people was a given under the radical left or right. The communist, fascist, or militarist nations all embraced violence to control their dominions.[216] Post 1919, the Soviets, Germans, Italians, and Japanese abandoned all philosophical niceties and just conquered whom they wished. Power alone was lord.
In World War I, the Russian Empire helped the Allies from the first and played a critical role in staving off Allied defeats in 1914. Prior to Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, Stalin signed a peace treaty with Hitler allowing the Nazis to strike west without the threat of a two-front war. In 1914-1918 France held the line against Germany at tremendous cost. In 1940, France fell six weeks after the German assault began. The fall of France had major repercussions, as Japan decided to assail Allied interests in the Pacific, and England was left fighting alone until the Nazis invaded the USSR in the summer of 1941.
Comparing 1914 and 1939: in 1914, war was outright foolish. In 1939, it was a necessity. By avoiding a European war in 1914 the world could have progressed along paths of democracy and steady increases in personal liberty and wealth. If democracy continued sidestepping war with Hitler in 1939, the Axis may have created a world hell itself would envy.
Deciding Factors
Some of the deciding factors of the war in order of importance were:
1) Poor decisions by Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany,
2) The breaking of the German and Japanese codes by English and US code breakers,
3) The amazing performance of the Soviet Union against the German Army in 1941,
4) The considerable industrial might of the United States,
5) The unbreakable will of the English people,
6) The quality of Allied leadership—they made good decisions,
7) The fall of France, and
8) The good luck of the Allies.
Some of
this will need explaining.
1) Better decisions by Adolph Hitler would have changed everything. One example should suffice for now. If Hitler had followed his general staff’s war plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union, he may have been able to knock the USSR out of the war (obtain a favorable peace) by 1942, thereby releasing enormous numbers of veteran troops and their equipment to defend his Western European empire.
2) The code breakers were critical. Assume for one moment that Hitler broke the Allies’ codes, and the Allies did not break the Nazi codes. One can see German submarines accurately directed to Allied convoys, Allied bombing raids consistently intercepted, massed Axis units throwing the D-Day invasion into the sea, the Battle of Stalingrad stalemated, and Rommel stopping Montgomery at El Alamein. Just defeating the D-Day invasion would have changed the war and the world immensely. Had Japan broken the American codes, she could have annihilated the US carriers at Midway and intercepted the US invasion force steaming for Guadalcanal. Outside of Hitler’s incredibly poor decisions, breaking the Axis codes was the most important event of the war.[217]
3) The USSR’s miraculous performance saved the West. The USSR suffered horrifically in 1941 when the Germans invaded. German generals were right to be happy with the way the war was going; after all, they destroyed an army at least their size and seized enormous amounts of territory. How could anyone believe a nation could take that kind of punishment and survive—much less turn and destroy the invader? Nevertheless, the Soviets did just that. In 1941 the USSR absorbed the loss of over 2 million troops, nearly all of its air force, huge numbers of tanks plus other military equipment, and moved its heavy industry east so the Germans could not capture it (this alone was a miracle). The Soviets lost vast amounts of farmland, resources and numerous cities. By winter the Germans reached Moscow, but were too exhausted to storm the city. The Russians held on and successfully counterattacked the Germans pushing them back from Moscow. They later amassed new armies with better equipment, aircraft, and artillery to smash the Nazis. Had the USSR quit in 1941 or 1942, a considerable number of German troops would be released (1 to 2 million) to Western Europe. These veteran German troops could have prevented any successful invasion of Western Europe. Hitler would own Europe, and the United States and England could not have taken it away. The Wehrmacht was never the same after 1941, because their best men perished in the Soviet maw.
The Super Summary of World History Page 38