Two Wars, Three Decades, and a Century of Change: 1914-1945 and Beyond

By Russ Gifford

Looking back at a century since the 'war to end all wars' we will see how the US entry into the battles changed everything. America's finest hour on display - and that hour did not end with the end of the war. But we will also see how peace 'went wrong.'

We will also see our tortured choices as the Axis powers rearmed, and their attempt to re-write the results of 1918 by launching the second world war. We will look at that war, and see how America's leadership prevented a repeat of the mistakes from the end of WWI.

In the end, we will see the changes the choice of war made in Europe and the world over the following century.

Part 1: The War to End all Wars

Theodore Roosevelt saw it coming. After Queen Victoria's funeral in 1901, he toured Europe and saw the military prowess of the new Germany on display. Hidden among TR's many public efforts were his behind the scenes moves to thwart the diplomatic efforts of Kaiser Wilhelm II, limiting Germany's expansion of power.

But from 1909, Europe was locked on target for war. The question was when. But no one had any inkling of how devastating and how deadly war between industrialized powers would be.

This session will review the Great War - the steps toward it, the reality of war, and how America became embroiled in it. We will pay attention to how the war ended, and America's part in the finish - both good and bad.

Part 2: Interlude - the Rise of the 'Strongmen' and the Coming of the Second World War

America left the continent of Europe as quickly as she could. Americans, mostly of European ancestry knew far too well the machinations of monarchs and their use of their people as cannon fodder. But this time was different. The Great War had wiped away most of the monarchies. The Russian revolution had ended the reign of the Tsars. The Hohenzollen dynasty in German was gone, and Wilhelm stepped down. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire disintegrated and the Habsburg dynasty swept away, leaving in its wake many small democracies, including the return of Poland, Ukraine, and the rise of Romania. Soon, a formation of many smaller countries would form into Czecho-Slovakia, and another union would create Yugoslavia. The Ottoman Empire would fall, causing maps of Turkey and the Middle East to be redrawn. All these efforts were hopeful, but they left a mark on the minds of the people, now pushed into foreign lands. For example, the Kurdish people failed to be recognized as a country, and their people were now in three different countries.

And with the end of the suffering of the war came the suffering of the peace. The worldwide depression followed the end of the war when governments stopped funding the industries and the armies. This led to a political crisis and the opportunity for those who promised quick results via 'strongman' tactics - meaning, dismissing the importance of long-held rules and hard-earned laws. This resulting rise of so-called patriots united former pro-war agitators behind them. First in Italy, with the rise of Mussolini, whose 'fighting leagues' - fasci di combattimento - furnished the name Fascists for those who advocate 'might makes right.' An inept plotter would study Mussolini's methods and use them to engineer his own rise in Germany.

We will follow these stories, and how the 'Great Lie' brought Hitler to power, and within days, an election in the U.S. which also cast out the Republicans and brought Teddy Roosevelt's distant relative to power. And we will see the path to the arrival of WWII.

Part 3: The Second World War, and the Application of Lessons Learned

While the story of WWII is known to most of us, war changes everything. We will see the progress of the war, first as an effort of people, and a progress of technology. Both will cause changes in the American outlook after the war. We also clearly see how our choices after the first war - leaving Europe to sort out its own problems - came to bite us as technology decreased the distances. Our moats of the Atlantic and the Pacific were no longer wide enough or deep enough to protect us.

Not only did technology change war, but it changes people as well. When thrust into the crucible of war, after the fires had cooled, we were a different people. We no longer cleaved to isolationism. Just as WWI swept aside the monarchs, we will see how WWII swept aside old ideas we had held for over a century. We saw the result of our isolationism. We also saw the result of unchecked propaganda. The result of the Great Lie had not only led Germans into war, but it forever associated their country with the evil results of the idea of a superior race.

We will look at the Holocaust, the war, and the differences after the war ended. We will also see how those changes affected the 20th Century.

This talk is much about things we all know - but the goal is to see the 'big picture.' Join Russ Gifford for this three-part look at perhaps one of the most important times in American History - and World History as well.