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“Before we can move forward, we must come to some kind of terms with 1945, with what it represents. A start would be the recognition that 1945, with its devastation, displacement, and horror, was the result not just of a few madmen and their befuddled followers, not just of ‘others,” but of humanity as a whole and of out culture as a whole” (Eksteins, 13).
What is Europe now? A rubble heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground of pestilence and hate” –Winston Churchill
“Winners have no shame, no matter how they win” –Machiavelli.
“our historical sense is derived in turn from two directions: from the buildup that were the events of the pre-1945 past, with its inherent notions of agency and cause, and from the confusions of our own end-of-century, end-of-millennium present, with its immediacy and contradiction” (Eksteins, x).
Pre-WWII Build-Up Post WWI effects: • introduction of total war/cult of the offensive • Russian Revolution • Economic Disaster with Great Depression • League of Nations • Rise of dictators and fascist states • Dissatisfied Germany
“a radically new government, based on socialism and one-party dictatorship, came to power in a great European state, maintained power, and eagerly encouraged worldwide revolution.”
The Rise The Rise of Dictators!
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) • Originally a Marxist. • By 1909 he was convinced that a national rather than an international revolution was necessary.
Road to WWII • Treaty of Versailles • Great Depression • Russian Revolution http://www.worldology.com/Europe/europe_history_md.htm