chapter 21

I find it quite interesting that WWI was known as the great war. at the time people were told that it was just a huge war. as the veteran from the opening paragraph was told, it was a war to end all wars. little did people know back then that it was just the beginning of the wars Europe would face. Just like the spreading of European people led to slavery in different countries which led to an array of other things, the great war lead to many other things in Europe. the cold war, nazi germany, WWII, and the great depression.
Every time i read about the first world war i feel like it was very obvious that another world war would occur. it just seemed like the countries never were okay with the treaties or with each other for that matter. there was so much hate and revenge between everyone at that time and its hard to think that a piece of paper would solve everything. its nice to think that way, but there was way too much tension to have a treaty be the end of it. i get the feeling that it was a grit your teeth and sign the treaty kind of deal. im sure that almost every country after that went home and planned how to get back at an enemy, despite signing. this also encouraged countries to become allies of each other, in case another world war would occur. all leaders had to be prepared for the worst.
I have always been interested in the 20s and the time right before the great depression. it just seemed like a fun care-free time. and then the great depression hit and things went all down hill from there. however it does make sense that this occurred right after WWI. WWI had a huge impact on the country and people. the economy was doing well with making and selling things for the war, but now that it was over, manufacturing guns and warfare was not needed and many people were out of jobs. not to mention the war vets who had to return home and cope with the things they saw in war.
the picture on page 634 is shown everywhere when it come the to great depression. it explains all of it perfectly though. a mother, possibly single, possibly the father served and died while over seas, the mother is just at a loss of what to do next, she is just waiting for something to happen, trying to come up with a way to survive, the children at her shoulders are miserable and wondering when their next meal is or if they will get clean clothes any time soon. this was a time when many people went homeless and had to try and survive on virtually nothing.
For some reason I am fascinated with the holocaust and WWII. not fascinated in the fact that it was a huge killing spree of Jews and other groups of people, but because that actually happened. it is an event that i have no idea why it was even allowed. the more i learn about it the more i think that it never could have happened and how horrible the nazi's were. but then i snap back to reality and realize that this did in fact happen and people did in fact suffer and hitler was in fact an insane, horrible, heartless, sickening man. in high school i had read Night by a survivor of the holocaust. it was a story that completely opened my eyes and made me sick to my stomach to think that people were treated this way. The Last Sunset was another story I had read that had the same affect on me. I cant help to find this interesting because i feel the least we can do about all the victims is to learn about what they had to go through, what they didn't do wrong, what they experienced. we have to learn from events like this to make sure they dont occur again.
Pearl Harbor is another thing that i find interesting. for the same facts as the holocaust. my softball team visited pearl harbor while we were in hawaii and it was a very cool monument to see. it was very sad, but again, i enjoy history and i feel we should learn from it.
Europe went through a lot and its good to see that after so many devastating events, the country still recovered and came out on top. i feel like Europe also had a lot of support during their recovery as well.
looking back on the history of everything, it is clear to us that everything was adding up to the next event, but people back in that time would just hope for the best and deal with everything as it happened. they had no idea what horror was coming next.