World War I and World War II, in Europe, not to include the Pacific Theater, were fought on mostly the same soil. That is about where the similarity ends. The politics, treaties, ethnic identification and economies before both wars were about as far apart as east is from west. IF a person has actually studied WWI and the Treaty at Versailles it becomes glaringly evident that the treaty at Versailles all but guaranteed there would be a WWII. The ineffective and emasculated Weimar Republic set up by France and the allies essentially promised Germany poverty and derision. In 1922 Mussolini set up the first fascist government. The Weimar Republic fell, a world wide depression made matters even worse in Germany. The exchange rate was ONE BILLION Marks to the dollar. Literally a wheelbarrow full of money for a loaf of bread. Those developments opened the door for some kind of savior in Germany. That Hitler was a fiend is understatement. He was also charming, mesmerizing and, as many choose to forget, legally elected. After that is when things went south. He also seemed to keep his political promises while on the other hand killing all political opponents. He thumbed his nose at the Treaty of Versailles and, while I absolutely DO NOT condone anything the man did but, he almost can't be blamed. He did restore the pride of the German people and in the process instilled arrogance.
Churchill was well informed of the goings on at Versailles. Even so great a statesman as he commented, and I paraphrase, that "those who can win a war rarely make a good peace". France and the allies proved that. Ironically, 27 years later, George C. Marshall and Harry S. Truman disproved it. Churchill also told FDR, "We need to meet the Russians as far to the east as possible". No, FDR could handle "Uncle Joe", except that it was Uncle Joe who was handling FDR. Thank FDR for 40 years of cold war, and Communist China but, that's another story.
Anyway, we are over a century removed from WWI and, the US was only in it for 17-18 months. Don't forget, when the US troops arrived, I believe it was Petain, the French general, who wanted to incorporate them into the French units. Thank God Pershing, another Missourian, stood his ground and said no.
The two conflicts were so different. I remember a person telling me, "we fought two wars against fascism". I mentioned WWII and asked if he could tell me the other. He said WWI. No, it wasn't a war against fascism. Fascism as a form of government did not make an appearance on the world stage until 1922, 4 years AFTER WWI ended. Prior to WWI Germany was a Constitutional Monarchy and Austro-Hungary was an absolute monarchy.
Anyway, both wars were....incredibly bloody and one was indescribably evil. Point being, have a better understanding and knowledge of the history of the causes as well as the events.
Last edited by sharps4590; 06/15/25 06:51 PM.
