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Were the Second World War more or less inevitable after the results and settlements of the First World War? Could WWII have been avoided if certain decisions were made differently at the end of WWI that made for different controlling, economic, political, etc. provisions in Europe?
Were the Second World War more or less inevitable after the results and settlements of the First World War? Could WWII have been avoided if certain decisions were made differently at the end of WWI that made for different controlling, economic, political, etc. provisions in Europe?
I'd have to say that the decisions that were made after World War I directly and inevitably led to the second war. The Allies deliberately humiliated the Germans and foisted a crippling amount of concessions and war reparations on them (of course that's what happens to the ones who lose wars). The aftermath was so vindictive toward the Germans, it is completely understandable how Hitler could play on the passions of his people and deceive them into leading the world into another nightmare. Hitler was born from the humiliation and spite still lingering in the German nation in the wake of their defeat.
That really was my point in the other thread where this onversation first came up. If not Hitler I think someone else would have done the same thing and played on the Germans frustrations and humiliation to get them to rise up again. Though had it not been Hitler I wonder how much of the 'world domination' mindset would have been in play.
My understanding more or less coincides with both your opinions. I doubt that WWII was inevitable, and I do think that Hitler was singular in his vision and activities, but here was probably a decent chance that a leader would play on sentiment against the oppressions of post-WWI to gain or hold on to power. Hitler just happened to do this with another angle of ruthlessness.
I bet you could find that in any conflict world wide and througout history. Theres always someone who wants a war for what ever reason and so the firebrands start telling the people they have the answers to their problems and they know who to blame as well.
I think that the WWI to WWII connection has taught the world a great lesson: if we bomb, we rebuild. Even today we are investing hundreds of billions of dollars (exact figures I do not have) into Iraq after we removed Sadaam from power. Had we left a month or two after we had him removed Iraq would have fallen into a quagmire where a leader or leaders may have emerged which would have taken the country in the wrong direction. Hitler was able to do this with his skillful communicating and bold vision. While he was a probably a unique figure, I don't think that his methods are necessarily uncopiable.
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