Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1914~Present
By Rit Nosotro
World War I
World War II
Modern Europe
World War 1
1914~1918
On June 28th, 1914. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne
of AustriaHungary was assassinated. This set off a chain reaction of
events all across Europe. Within days, Germany invaded the neutral
country of Belgium and rolled toward Paris. The invasion of Belgium
convinced the British to join the allies against Germany. Germany
declared war on Russia and invaded Russian Poland. AustriaHungary
declared war on Serbia at this time and attempted an invasion but was
repeatedly repulsed.
In 1917, The United States also entered the war because of the
continuous attacks on American ships such as the Lusitania. The United
States, with France and other allied forces, pushed the German army
back to well past it’s original borders. Both sides experienced heavy
losses, but the Germans were finally beaten back, ending the war in
1918. Although short, World War I changed warfare drastically. World
War I was when airplanes first became widely used. The introduction of
gases such as mustard gas and chlorine gas had devastating
consequences too. An estimated 100,000 people died from gas attacks
and another 1,000,000 were seriously injured. Tanks were also
introduced for the first time during World War I. A total of about 9
million people died, and countries were still recovering from their losses
50 years later.
Most of World War I was fought in trenches
After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was made by the allied
forces. Germany’s colonies in Africa, China and the North Pacific were
seized. Provisions were included to make sure that Germany could
never start a war again. The huge German navy had to be reduced to 6
war ships, no submarines were allowed and Germany could not have an
army of more than 100,000. In addition, Germany was forced to pay a
total of more than $33 billion to the allies. The Germans thought the
treaty unfair, but were forced to sign because of starvation of their
people. The German diplomats left the hall weeping, with a sence that
things were not yet resolved. Looking back, The Treaty of Versailles
proved to be a step backwards, evident less than a generation later.
Map of Europe after World War I
World War II
1939~1945
Germany
After World War I ended, Germany entered an economic depression.
The Germans blamed other European countries and the Jews for their
economic difficulties. In 1934 Adolf Hitler took control. Under
Hitler’s rule, Germany began to increase its power. It renounced the
Treaty of Versailles and annexed Austria in 1937 and 1938. In 1939
Germany’s invasion of Poland began. In 1940, Germany attacked
Norway, Denmark, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and France.
Then, in 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union.
Adolf Hitler
Italy
In 1940, Italy, under Mussolini entered the war. It attacked countries of
North Africa in 1940 and declared war on France and Britain in 1941. It
also attempted invasions on Greece although unsuccessful. Italy
defeated British forces in in Africa in 1942. But in 1943, the US entered
the desert war and along with other allied forces, conquered the Italian
army. Italy’s mainland was then attacked and conquered during the
same year. After being beaten, Italy actually changed sides and attacked
Germany, although they lost to the Nazis too.
Hitler and Mussolini
during a parade
The Holocaust
Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler started a mass extermination of the
Jews. Jews across Europe were sent to concentration camps where they
were tortured and gassed. Other groups that suffered at the hands of the
Nazis were Gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally retarded.
Jews at a
concentration Mass graves
camp
Germany’s power began to wane in 1943. After a series of battles, they
lost completely to the allied powers. The atomic bombs dropped on
Japan in 1945 signified the end World War II. The devastating effects of
World War II are inconceivable. Over 50 million people lost their lives,
half of them civilians, including 6 million Jews.
The “Big Three” after WWII. From left, Churchill of
Britain, Truman of the USA and Stalin of USSR.
The Cold War
The basis for the Cold War was democracy versus communism. It was
the clash between the two most powerful nations in the world, The
Soviet Union and The United States of America. In 1949 The Soviet
Union tested its first atom bomb and China turned to communism.
These two events showed that communism was spreading and gaining
power. The US responded by making more nuclear weapons. They also
helped make countries devastated by the war, such as Japan and
Germany, into democratic and economic world powers. Containment
efforts led to fighting communism in Korea and Vietnam.
Nuclear bomb
test site
NATO
Shortly after World War II, NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization was made. This organization of ten West European and
two North American countries agreed to protect each other from the
powerful Soviet Union whose troops were massed along borders of
communist and democratic nations. Through Mutual Assured
Destruction (MAD), NATO kept the Soviet Union from using its nuclear
weapons. Now that the Cold War is over, NATO still tries to improve
security for countries as well as to help reform the former Soviet bloc
countries.
NATO flag (left)
and shield (right)
Arguably the most vivid symbol of the cold war was the
Berlin wall which separated East and West Germany. In
1948, the Berlin crisis arose, in which Soviets blockaded
West Berlin, in an attempt to starve West Berlin into
communism. But the allies airlifted food to the citizens,
ending the crisis.
Communist Russia and Eastern Europe VS
democratic US and Western Europe
Under communism, incredible amounts of people suffered. In the
Soviet Union alone, 61,000,000 people were killed by the
communists. Stalin himself was responsible for 43,000,000 of
these. This was the worst megamurder ever, the second worst
being 1,000,000 killed in communist China.
The Fall of Communism
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the iron curtain finally came down.
The Soviet Union broke up into independent states. Some of these were
Russia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Estonia,
Lithuania, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Although free from
communist control, some of these countries have had difficulty dealing
with economic troubles.
Once again, one of the most significant signs in the fall of communism
was the Berlin Wall. On November 9th, 1989, after 28 years of
separation, East and West Germany were united once again.
People celebrating the fall of the
Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
European Union
The European Union or EU is an international organization of 25
European states, established in 1992. The European Union carries out
many activities, the most important being a common single market,
consisting of a customs union, a single currency (for 12 out of the 25
countries), a common agricultural policy and a common fisheries policy.
The European Union also has various initiatives to coordinate activities
of the member states.
Future Challenges
One major future challenge for European countries is integrating new
members into the European Union. These new members, most of them
in Eastern Europe are deeply scarred by communism. The EU would
also like to include Turkey by the year 2015. Another challenge that
Europe faces is its economy. Population growth is zero in most
European countries and their economies are heading South. Europe will
have to work out these problems as well as many others as they continue
on into the future.