One Long War?

“The Great War” was fought from 1914 to 1918. Another global conflict erupted 20 years later. The two events became known as the First World War and the Second World War. However, many historians argue it was all one long war. Are they right? One way to determine if two events are continuous is to look for continuities. These are the themes and situations that connect them.

Let’s explore the continuities across this bloody period in history. We’ll concentrate on the roles of nationalism, empire, and colonialism. We will also consider the causation that links these issues.

Continuity: Nationalism

We’ll start with nationalism. Nationalism is when a country and its people think they are better and more important than any other country. It was one of the most important continuities between the First World War and the Second World War.

In June of 1914, a young Bosnian Serb killed an important Austro-Hungarian political figure. This triggered a series of events. Political leaders across Europe strengthened alliances in preparation for war. The assassination might have been a surprise. However, everyone’s willingness to fight was not. Decades of conflict had created a war- ready mood across Europe. In addition, many European countries wanted access to more resources. To do this European powers sought to expand their empires by taking over others.

Major European states quickly ramped up for war. Most people believed the fighting would be short and inexpensive. It was neither. It snowballed into the deadliest war up to that point in history. The war lasted until 1918. The final result was 17 million people dead and another 20 million wounded, and the continent was left even more unstable. The same territorial disputes and national tensions remained. Twenty years later came part two, the Second World War.

Between the two wars, a new leader arose: Adolf Hitler. By 1930, many Germans were poor and hungry. They also felt humiliated and angry at the harsh peace they had been forced to accept. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and set out the conditions for the post- war world. It was no secret that the terms of the treaty were severe for Germany. The treaty put tight limits on Germany’s industry and military. Germany also had to pay a large amount of money as a consequence. Germans’ resentment toward their conquerors grew. It was ripe for a strong national leader to take advantage of. Along came Adolph Hitler and the Nazis.

Hitler appealed to Germans’ national pride. He also promised more land and resources for the German people. Twenty years before, France, Germany, Russia, and other powers had also called on nationalism. They used it to arouse their people to fight. Some might argue that the Nazi nationalism of the 1930s was worse. It was more racist and destructive. But weren’t all these countries promoting a similar vision, a vision in which their nation was supreme above all others?

Continuity: Empire and colonialism

A second continuity between the two wars was the importance of empire. In the decades before the First World War, the competition for colonies had grown intense. Many non-Europeans fought for their European colonizers in these wars and millions of them would die. Survivors, both civilian and military, suffered long after the war was over.

One example is Japan. The Japanese joined the winning side during the First World War. Before the war Japan had a very small empire. As a result of the war, Japan expanded its influence over China. Its forces also captured the German colonies in Asia. It now controlled many trade routes in the Pacific region. Japanese imperialists still wanted more.

In the 1930s, nationalist politics in Japan heated up. Goals turned toward military strength and conquest. With little territory of its own, Japan had a shortage of raw materials. The need for these materials pushed Japanese industrialists to demand new sources. They wanted colonies, in other words. In these colonies, industries could also sell their goods. In pursuit of these ambitions, Japan invaded China in 1937. Japanese forces would kill some 400,000 Chinese people and raped tens of thousands of Chinese women.

In Europe, the German and Italian states were trying to expand their empires as well. Benito Mussolini had become the Fascist dictator of Italy. He vowed to rebuild the Roman Empire. Under his leadership, Italy invaded several countries. Germany also wanted to expand. It began large-scale invasions of Eastern Europe in August 1939.

In 1940, these three empires signed a pact. They agreed to help each other pursue their goals. In December 1941, Japan bombed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The objective was to cripple the U.S. military. Japan wanted to prevent the United States from interfering with its goals in Asia. The United States entered the Second World War as a result. Germany and Italy then declared war on the United States. The Americans soon joined the Allies. They fought alongside Britain, the Soviet Union, and China.

Causation: German moves

Historians have studied carefully how the First World War ended. They have also researched the events of the years afterward (1919–1928). Many have linked those periods to the rise of Nazi Germany. In particular, scholars point to the harsh treatment of Germany after the First World War. The war had cost Germany all of its colonial possessions. Those losses were added to the humiliations of the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans were forced to pay costly penalties. Strong restrictions were placed on their industries. They were not allowed to rebuild their military. The victors of the First World War wanted to punish Germany and keep it weak. They planned to keep Germany from ever again becoming a threat. The plan backfired.

In the end, the harsh peace settlement had destructive consequences. It left the German people hungry and desperate. Their resentment paved the way for the rise of a dictator.

Hitler and his Nazi party came to power early in the 1930s. They appealed to German pride. They also harnessed the desperation of German citizens. Germans were eager to find someone to blame for their defeat in the First World War. The Nazis channeled that hate. They aimed it at Jews, Communists, and other groups. Such anger appealed to the once proud and powerful nation. The vision of a restored Germany motivated great national effort. It also sparked sweeping military victories in the first years of the Second World War.

Still, Germany and Japan were both defeated in 1945. Their nationalist dreams failed. Their defeat came at the end of the second phase of this 30-year conflict (1939–1945). The cost in human lives of the Second World War was more than 70 million dead.

Conclusion

Such continuities connect the First World War and the Second World War. This suggests that the first war may have caused the second. We can ask ourselves if the end of the earlier conflict was a missed opportunity. Perhaps there might have been ways to build a more lasting peace. We can also wonder whether leaders missed a chance to deal more effectively with what caused the war: militarism, nationalism, and imperialism. But perhaps the underlying causes ran deeper. Is it possible the issues were even more difficult to resolve?

Fun fact: “Fascist” is capitalized when referring to the actual National Fascist Party that Mussolini led. Hitler was also a fascist, but there the word is lowercase because it refers to his style of leadership, not the name of his political party. In a fascist state, as Hitler’s Germany would become, strict economic and civic laws can be enacted without a democratic process.