WORLD CIVILIZATION II

World Civilization II and Its Causes

World Civilization II and Its Causes

Introduction

After the "Great War", many European countries were democracies replacing destruction by totalitarian regimes of the extreme right and Italian fascism and German Nazism. In the Soviet Union, developed a dictatorship of the extreme left represented by Stalinism. There were two major factors that were seen which led to World War 2. The Great Depression economy that was experienced after 1929, contributed to increased insecurity, violence and tension in international relations. There can be little doubt that another long-term cause of the war was the anger felt in Weimar Germany that was caused by the Treaty of Versailles.

Discussion

The Great Depression of 1929

A breather experienced the Weimar Republic in the so-called "Roaring Twenties". Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann tied the young republic again internationally. The contracts were renegotiated, and the reparations Germany was a member of the League of Nations. The economic upswing was noticeable especially in the metropolis Berlin. The people started to enjoy themselves again. However, the new prosperity was on shaky ground. The world economic crisis of 1929-30, triggered by the stock market crash in New York, tore the country into the abyss. Much needed capital from the United States failed to materialize, the industrial production dropped by 40 percent. Unemployment rose to six million people. Many people were left homeless and hungry or had been so desperate that they chose to commit suicide. From the economic chaos and misery of people which have benefited the radical parties, there were the Communists and the Nazis. The Great Depression, also known as the 1929 crisis, is the period of world history that goes from the 1929 crash in the United States until the Second World War. It is the largest economic depression of the century, which was accompanied by a significant deflation and an explosion of unemployment (Dowswell, 2008).

The Versailles Peace Treaty

The young Weimar Republic had to contend not only with the chaotic political conditions; most of the burden of the new state should be the Versailles peace treaty. On 28 June 1919, the German foreign minister Hermann Müller and Transport Minister John Bell in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, signed the peace treaty. The feds had to accept sole war guilt and reparations in billions. The peace conditions were also presented a limited 15-year occupation of the left bank of the Rhine, the Reichswehr was limited to 100,000 professional soldiers and the German Reich was forced to surrender one seventh of its territory. The majority of Germans, regardless of their political affiliation, were outraged when the peace terms were announced. On the German side, there was talk of a shameful, the "Versailles diktat". The shame of Versailles, far from heat and kept the spirits alive with the idea of revenge over the years (Corrigan, 2005).

Teething problems of an emerging democracy

The forced peace of Versailles, along with the question of war guilt and reparations, demanded that radicalized the people left and ...