8.1 Context of 20th Century Global Conflicts

The breakdown of the Concert of Europe allowed for territorial rivalries among European nations to arise and culminate in the world’s most deadly global conflicts. 19th century conflicts among European nations over imperialist goals created new rivalries and rekindled old ones. These rivalries spiraled into larger issues:

Alliances divided Europe between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance until the Russian Revolution forced them to revoke their involvement in the Triple Entente. After understanding the void left by Russia, the United States joined the war to aid the British and the French forces against Germany. The fresh forces, supplies, and aid of the US military ended WWI only a year later. The Paris Peace Conference severely punished the German government for its role in WWI, created the League of Nations to keep regional conflicts from erupting into global ones, and forced Germany into extreme debt.

Authoritarian dictators began consolidating power that had been previously dispersed from absolutist leadership by newly formed parliaments, constitutions, and other reforms. These dictators used the force of military, grand rhetoric in speeches, and played on the fears of others to come to power and enforce strict societal changes.

Leaders such as Francisco Franco in Spain, Benito Mussolini in Italy, and Adolf Hitler in Germany began stripping certain citizens of their rights, and effectively created a police state in each nation. Specifically, Hitler in Germany used the Great Depression to unify the German people, all the while mounting formidable alliances and rebuilding the German military to bring Germany back to its greatness before WWI.

Word War II, caused mainly by the unresolved issues of the Treaty of Versailles and the rise of Hitler in Germany, is the deadliest conflict in global history. Not only were there countless casualties of the war, the rise of fascism also saw the genocide of the Holocaust. The ruthless leadership of European leaders resulted in thousands of deaths. WWII ended after strategic Allied invasions of France and Italy, the deaths of both Mussolini and Hitler, and the US used atomic weapons to force a Japanese surrender.

In post-WWII, there was an intense ideological battle that was enhanced by the stresses of economic collapse and engendered conflicts between the European states. The failure of the League of Nations led to the creation of the United Nations 🇺🇳 and its main goal was to avoid future wars and promote cooperation. Economic hardship impacted Europe after WWII, and many nations saw themselves indebted to the United States, but many were unable to pay their loans completely.

There was an intense transformation in the European demographics after the conflict, which occurred due to a change in tradition and social patterns. Besides the tremendous suffering brought forward from WWI and WWII, the overall standard of living of European individuals improved in the 20th Century.

1914: Outbreak of WWI

1917: Russian Revolution

1917: US joins WWI

1919: Paris Peace Conference, end of WWI

1925: Benito Mussolini comes to power in Italy

1927: Joseph Stalin comes to power in the Soviet Union 

1929: US stock market crash

1932: Franklin Roosevelt is elected US President

1933: Adolf Hitler becomes German Chancellor 

1935: Nuremberg Laws passed in Germany

1939: Spanish Civil War ends, Francisco Franco becomes dictator

1939: Germany and Soviet Union invade Poland, WWII begins

1940: Winston Churchill is re-appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain 

1941: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, US joins WWII

1943: Battle of Stalingrad

1944: D-Day Invasion

1945: Atomic bombs are dropped in Japan, WWII ends