Outside of politics, did European society engage in civil wars? With the exceptions of Ireland and Finland, I would have to say that, for the period between the end ofthe Russian Civil War and the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, European society did not engage in civilwars. Given the presence of Ireland and Finland …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Slide to War: Versailles and the Outbreak of War
Did the Treaty of Versailles lead directly to the outbreak of war in 1939? I think it’s safe to say that a direct line cannot be drawn from the Treaty of Versailles to the outbreak of war in 1939. Of course, the events are related, and it’s unlikely that Hitler, largely embodying the proximate cause …
Continue reading “The Slide to War: Versailles and the Outbreak of War”
Defending Democracy: The Popular Fronts and Stalin
Were the popular fronts held hostage by Stalin? I think the answer to whether the popular fronts were held hostage by Stalin depends on which front is being examined. If the most important popular fronts were those in France and Spain, then it seems clear that the former was not held hostage while the latter …
Continue reading “Defending Democracy: The Popular Fronts and Stalin”
Constructing Utopia? The Third Reich
How important was anti-Semitism to the Nazi regime before 1939? Had the regime started on the ‘twisted road to Auschwitz’ before 1939? Anti-Semitism was always vitally important to the Nazi regime, although that importance could be muted in public at times. Certainly it was a core philosophical underpinning of the Nazi movement, and while the …
Irredentism and Minorities in the Interwar Period
Why did the Minorities Treaties fail to solve the minorities question? To what extent did they merely intensify hatreds and mistrust? Although well intentioned, the Minorities Treaties ultimately failed to solve the minorities question because they underestimated the sheer complexity of the demographics in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, the enforcement mechanisms of the …
Continue reading “Irredentism and Minorities in the Interwar Period”
The Interwar Crisis: Politics
The rise of the NSDAP to power is often seen as inexplicable, but placed in the context of interwar Europe as a whole, is the ascension to power of a radical, nationalist and anti-Semitic party more easily understood? This is a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, so I thought I’d write about …
Diplomacy and Economics in Interwar Europe
In what ways were diplomacy and economics linked in this decade? In my opinion, diplomacy and economics were linked in the 1920s in essentially two regards, i.e., with regard to French-German relations and to American-European relations. On the one hand, the economic situation in Germany had a direct impact on the extent to which it …
Continue reading “Diplomacy and Economics in Interwar Europe”
Culture in Interwar Europe
Can we define a typology of modernism in Interwar Europe? I think it’s possible to define a typology of modernism in Interwar Europe that permeates the visual arts, music, and literature. Part of understanding the term “modernism” is seeing it as something other than a merely date-specific categorization. Rather, it’s informative to situate culture within …
The Triumph of Democracy?
Why was violence such a salient feature of politics in the immediate postwar period? A phenomenon like increased public violence is not likely to be one with a simple explanation. It is more likely that a complex interrelationship of several factors, among them historic, sociological, and economic. Here, it seems the greatest contributors to this …
Undermining the System: Revisionists and Counter-Revolutionaries
How important was the relationship between fascism and nationalism? What did fascists in Eastern Europe believe in? To what extent was fascism in Central Europe, in essence, a revolt against modernity? Did fascism represent a challenge to the established order in interwar Europe? How far was fascism the exception rather than the rule in radical …
Continue reading “Undermining the System: Revisionists and Counter-Revolutionaries”
Inevitable Historicity 