Question

Do you think dictators and fascist regimes would have risen to power if Europe hadn’t been so economically depressed after World War I? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

World War II would at least would have been averted in the European Sector.

Explanation:

When we look at the European theatre, we typically look towards Germany as being the aggressor state. Why did Germany fall into disarray and appeared as a militaristic totalitarian regime?

The first event we must take a look at is the "Treaty of Versailles". The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay billions of marks in compensation to many of the victorious Allied states, as well as relinquish their territories and colonies. This forced Germany to print trillions of marks in hopes of paying the debt, which caused the mark to lose face value. With large amounts of money in circulation, and nothing to hold the face value of the mark afloat, the money became essentially worthless. Coupled with the Great Depression, many German families struggled to even obtain the bare minimum to survive.

The failure of the democratic German government to be able to solve this problem saw to the people looking for other leaders, and leaders such as Hitler and the Nazi party became popular as they promised a steady economy, as well as the retake of lost territories and the strength of the Reichsmark. With such, the Nazi Party rose in prominence, and became the dominant government, bringing with it it's ulterior motive of creating a master race, and the rest is history.

The same can be said of Japan. Japan felt that it was essentially handed the short end of the stick, as it was also in the victorious Allied side, and was not given much territory for their role. This, coupled with the Great Depression, saw the rise of a militaristic government with the Emperor as a puppet head of the state, and their territorial expansion for natural resources as well as land. If there was no Great Depression, the US could of continued to prop Japan up with funding deals and loans. Without such, Japan became extremely militaristic and rampaged across the Pacific in hopes of obtaining what they could not, through war or their own territories.

~