The events across the globe that ultimately lead to World War II are complex. Many people were
suffering economic hardship and a general weariness stemming from the First World War (1914-1918).
The United States had emerged victorious and became politically and economically more powerful
following World War I. However, the country was lacking that heightened sense of national pride.
America was not alone. The effects of World War I and the Great Depression touched almost every corner of
the world. In some countries, these upheavals led to the rise of a new kind of
brutal dictatorship in the form of the totalitarian state. Led by aggressive
dictators, these states would destroy the peace established after World War I
and spark a new and deadlier conflict. In November 1918, World War I ended when
Germany surrendered to the Allies. "In 1919, delegates from twenty-seven nations
met in Versailles to hammer out a peace agreement, but only Britain, France and
the United States had a real say in most of the important decisions. Germany and
Russia were not even present. From the first, Germans resented the resulting
Treaty of Versailles. Other nations also grumbled over the peace settlements.
Italy and Japan, both Allies, had expected far more land for their
sacrifices." (Harvey, 2000, p. 36). The war that American President Woodrow Wilson had called
"a war to end all wars" had left behind a mountain of bitterness, anger, frustration, and despair,
often capped with a burning desire for revenge. During the 1920s many nations,
new and old, moved steadily toward democracy and freedom. Others, however, took
the opposite direction, embracing dictatorships and totalitarianism, a theory of
government in which a single party or leader controls the economic, social and
cultural lives of its people.
suffering economic hardship and a general weariness stemming from the First World War (1914-1918).
The United States had emerged victorious and became politically and economically more powerful
following World War I. However, the country was lacking that heightened sense of national pride.
America was not alone. The effects of World War I and the Great Depression touched almost every corner of
the world. In some countries, these upheavals led to the rise of a new kind of
brutal dictatorship in the form of the totalitarian state. Led by aggressive
dictators, these states would destroy the peace established after World War I
and spark a new and deadlier conflict. In November 1918, World War I ended when
Germany surrendered to the Allies. "In 1919, delegates from twenty-seven nations
met in Versailles to hammer out a peace agreement, but only Britain, France and
the United States had a real say in most of the important decisions. Germany and
Russia were not even present. From the first, Germans resented the resulting
Treaty of Versailles. Other nations also grumbled over the peace settlements.
Italy and Japan, both Allies, had expected far more land for their
sacrifices." (Harvey, 2000, p. 36). The war that American President Woodrow Wilson had called
"a war to end all wars" had left behind a mountain of bitterness, anger, frustration, and despair,
often capped with a burning desire for revenge. During the 1920s many nations,
new and old, moved steadily toward democracy and freedom. Others, however, took
the opposite direction, embracing dictatorships and totalitarianism, a theory of
government in which a single party or leader controls the economic, social and
cultural lives of its people.