Two world wars tore the heart out of the twentieth century. Between these two tragedies was an age that nostalgia views enthusiastically – a time of jazz, prohibition, the talkies, radio and the motor car. A time that was in reality an age of anxiety. Twenty years of peace that produced war. A peace that failed. Impossible Peace.
After the horrific carnage of World War I, a new age of prosperity was expected, but it wouldn’t be that simple. Societies needed years to recover.
Following World War I, treaties were designed to punish the aggressors. But the balance of power was tilted too drastically in favor of the victors.
After the war, cars and other technological advances were as influential as exchange rates and floundering economies in the new world order.
As 1929 dawned on Paris, it seemed the party would go on forever. And few saw that the masses were hiding from a looming and devastating future.
In the 1920s, there seemed to be good candidates for leadership in Europe, but where were they when the Great Depression descended?
As the Depression’s effect on the US became clear, Japanese business interests set their focus on East Asia, where the empire was expanding.
Would early action have stopped Hitler’s aggression? No one knows, but inaction certainly didn’t work. Why did the great powers decline to act?
Some believed appeasement of Hitler would preserve the peace. They either didn’t see, or ignored, the Nazi leader’s obvious territorial ambitions.
