Politics of this time were predominated by two major events: World War I and World War II.
World War I began in 1914. The spark that set it off was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A Serbian named Gavrilo Princip had thought that this assassination would free his people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbians as a whole, and many other nations did as well. Russia supported Serbia.
Austria-Hungary didn't declare war until the leader of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm, secretly pledged his support. Serbia looked toward Russia for support, Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, 1914, and within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, and Britain backed Serbia in the war against Austria-Hungary and Germany.
The war passed and battles were fought. USA eventually did join the war. Towards the end of the war, Austria-Hungary had started dissolving from within and Germany's resources were dwindling, so Germany surrendered on November 11, 1918.
Then, the nations signed a treaty called the Treaty of Versailles. (USA did not sign the treaty, thinking it unfair to Germany, but instead made its own with Germany.) The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to give up all of its previously captured territory, and pay 132 billion gold marks (12.5 billion US dollars.) It also forbade the union of Austria and Germany ever again. Germany protested against the terms, and when they did finally agree to terms, they were resentful.
Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader, exploited this resentment to attract support. Germany was currently crippled by the loss of territory, human beings, resources, and money (the payments caused inflation in Germany so bad that people walked to the store with wheelbarrows of cash, and restaurants would not print prices because by the time you got the food the price had gone up!) Hitler blamed Jews (among other discriminated groups) for Germany's problems. Hitler developed a dictatorship and sent all the Jews to concentration camps, then allied with the Axis, signed a non-aggression treaty with USSR, and started to take over territory. WW2 was on its way.
Facts:
Germany and Italy exploited the fact that countries wanted to be peaceful for as long as possible until the other powers finally stepped up.
Because of the war, technological advancements boomed. Between 1900 and 1950, we went from Wright Brothers to fighter jets.
Norway, before surrendering to Germany, sent most of its Jewish population over to Sweden.
Historians estimated the war would have continued for at least two more years if not for the Turing Machine.
There was still a Prussia. Then it got assimilated into Germany and dissolved after the war.
It wasn't just the Jews that Germany prosecuted. Gypsies, Slavs, disabled, and homosexuals were also trimmed from the population.
Finally, the Allies won the war and Hitler killed himself (that's actually up for debate, but he was definitely dead) and WW2 was over.
World War I began in 1914. The spark that set it off was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A Serbian named Gavrilo Princip had thought that this assassination would free his people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbians as a whole, and many other nations did as well. Russia supported Serbia.
Austria-Hungary didn't declare war until the leader of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm, secretly pledged his support. Serbia looked toward Russia for support, Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, 1914, and within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, and Britain backed Serbia in the war against Austria-Hungary and Germany.
The war passed and battles were fought. USA eventually did join the war. Towards the end of the war, Austria-Hungary had started dissolving from within and Germany's resources were dwindling, so Germany surrendered on November 11, 1918.
Then, the nations signed a treaty called the Treaty of Versailles. (USA did not sign the treaty, thinking it unfair to Germany, but instead made its own with Germany.) The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to give up all of its previously captured territory, and pay 132 billion gold marks (12.5 billion US dollars.) It also forbade the union of Austria and Germany ever again. Germany protested against the terms, and when they did finally agree to terms, they were resentful.
Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader, exploited this resentment to attract support. Germany was currently crippled by the loss of territory, human beings, resources, and money (the payments caused inflation in Germany so bad that people walked to the store with wheelbarrows of cash, and restaurants would not print prices because by the time you got the food the price had gone up!) Hitler blamed Jews (among other discriminated groups) for Germany's problems. Hitler developed a dictatorship and sent all the Jews to concentration camps, then allied with the Axis, signed a non-aggression treaty with USSR, and started to take over territory. WW2 was on its way.
Facts:
Germany and Italy exploited the fact that countries wanted to be peaceful for as long as possible until the other powers finally stepped up.
Because of the war, technological advancements boomed. Between 1900 and 1950, we went from Wright Brothers to fighter jets.
Norway, before surrendering to Germany, sent most of its Jewish population over to Sweden.
Historians estimated the war would have continued for at least two more years if not for the Turing Machine.
There was still a Prussia. Then it got assimilated into Germany and dissolved after the war.
It wasn't just the Jews that Germany prosecuted. Gypsies, Slavs, disabled, and homosexuals were also trimmed from the population.
Finally, the Allies won the war and Hitler killed himself (that's actually up for debate, but he was definitely dead) and WW2 was over.
