Leading Up To World War II
After World War I came to an end, it was inevitable that the world would be thrown into another world war soon due to the treatment of Germany. The French being the most adamant about punishing Germany for their part in WWI was the most aggressive in determining their fate. Part of this animosity stems also from the way Germany treated France after the end of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870. France, the losing party, was essentially devastated. Germany gained control of the territories Alsace and Lorraine as part of the settlement, something that turned the French into bitter enemies to the Germans. One of the first things decided after WWI was the negotiation of returning these two territories to France. France was also obligated to repay an exorbitant amount of money to Germany to be paid in full in a very short period of time. All of these, as stated before, essentially cause France to take revenge upon Germany following the end of WWI. Germany was devastated and forced to repay their own lump sum of money. If Europe, more specifically France and Great Britain, had taken a less aggressive punishment to Germany and instead followed the essential guidelines of the Hoover Moratorium and treating Germany with a semblance of mercy, perhaps WWII could have been prevented. This in itself is doubtful, however. The animosity between the major European powers was so tangible, either way, there was going to be another war.
Read more about this topic: Hoover Moratorium
Famous quotes containing the words leading, world and/or war:
“Everywhere—all over Africa and South America ... you see these suburbs springing up. They represent the optimum of what people want. There’s a certain sort of logic leading towards these immaculate suburbs. And they’re terrifying, because they are the death of the soul.... This is the prison this planet is being turned into.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“A great number of the disappointments and mishaps of the troubled world are the direct result of literature and the allied arts. It is our belief that no human being who devotes his life and energy to the manufacture of fantasies can be anything but fundamentally inadequate”
—Christopher Hampton (b. 1946)
“The contention that a standing army and navy is the best security of peace is about as logical as the claim that the most peaceful citizen is he who goes about heavily armed. The experience of every-day life fully proves that the armed individual is invariably anxious to try his strength. The same is historically true of governments. Really peaceful countries do not waste life and energy in war preparations, with the result that peace is maintained.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)