A Decade of Uneasy Peace essays

A Decade of Uneasy Peace essays World War II was the worst war that was fought in the 20th Century, and perhaps the worst war in the history of man. The loss of lives in World War II was a staggering 50-60 million dead (Mitchner, Tuffs Global Forces of the 20th Century 130). World War II also ushered in the era of nuclear weapons. How did this war come about, and could it have been prevented? War was inevitable in 1939 due to the resentment of the German people towards the Versailles Treaty, poverty resulting from the great depression, the policy of appeasement, and Axis aggression in the 1930s. The Treaty of Versailles was the major treaty ending military actions against Germany in World War I. The treaty was signed at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, on June 28, 1919, and went into effect on January 10, 1920, following ratification by Germany and four of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan (Mitchner, Tuffs Global Forces of the 20th Century 22). It was not ratified by the United States, which made a separate treaty of peace with Germany in 1921 incorporating much of the Treaty of Versailles by reference (Mitchner, Tuffs Global Forces of the 20th Century 42). The lesser Allied powers, except China, were also parties. Separate treaties of peace were made with Germanys allied, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey (Mitchner, Tuffs Global Forces of the 20th Century 30). Instead of creating peace however, the Treaty of Versailles caused frustration and hatred (Elson 29). France felt that victory was not achieved, and deci ded to create more military alliances to seal off Germany. Italy felt cheated, because the spoils of war promised to her when Italy left the Triple Alliance to joined the Triple Entente in 1915 was not received. Germany felt the most betrayed, as all the wrongs in the war was pinned on her. This frustration would eventually lead to the popular support of Hitler (Elson 31). One of the poin...