The Stable Years

The next major event in global history was the Second World War. Like its predecessor, a complex combination of causes led to the conflagration. The First World War ended with the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans felt humiliated by the conditions the treaty placed on them, which cut German territory by 13 percent by ceding them to Belgium, Poland, and the League of Nations; Germany lost almost seven million people as a result. Military restrictions placed on Germany downsized their army and navy and abolished their air force. Germany was also forced to pay reparations to France and Britain. This led to popular discontent in Germany, with its electorate turning to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), more commonly known as the Nazi Party. Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, after a stint as a rather unsuccessful painter, followed by service in the Bavarian Army. Beginning with Austria and Czechoslovakia, Germany made ever-increasing territorial demands. Italy had turned to authoritarianism before Germany, but their grievances arose from a feeling of entitlement after finishing on the winning side of the war. The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini wanted to create a New Roman Empire in the Mediterranean region, so Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 (resulting in the formation of the colony of Italian East Africa in 1936), Albania in 1939, and France and Greece in 1940.