The bloodiest period in human history was the 20th century in which countless lives got perished as a result of wars, massacres, and conflicts. The First and the Second World War alone caused the deaths of more than 65 million people worldwide. Almost half of these casualties were civilians – children, women and the elderly who were killed cruelly. The reason for fighting such brutal wars was nothing other than godlessness and greed.
Almost 20 years and a few months after First World War ended, the whole world was involved in another disastrous war – the Second World War. There are many views about the real causes of this war among historians. Most people put the blame squarely on Adolf Hitler and his plans of conquest. They argue that Hitler had always planned to crush Russia and the conquest of Poland was just the beginning of his ambition.
Other historians argue that Hitler would never have launched an invasion of Poland if he had been convinced that Britain and France would go to war against Germany. He thought Britain and France would make loud noises of protest and then would let the matter drop. For this reason, they claim that some of the blame must be placed on the appeasers, like Chamberlain, for continually giving way to Hitler.
German Rearmament:
The Treaty of Versailles signed between Germany and victorious powers of the First World War prohibited German rearmament. It also limited the size of the German army to about hundred thousand men. Germany was not allowed to build submarines to strengthen her navy.
Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. Hitler claimed that Treaty of Versailles was unjust and imposed on Germany to keep Germany weak. He openly opposed the treaty and began rearming Germany. “Guns not Butter” became the slogan.
The Policy of appeasement:
Many countries in Europe, including Britain and France did not take notice of the aggressive actions of Germany, Italy and Japan. This was due to the fear of another war. This policy was known as the policy of appeasement.
Japan took advantage of this by invading Manchuria (China) in 1931. Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935.
Germany began invading areas taken from them after the First World War. Hitler sent troops to reoccupy the Rhineland which had been demilitarised. This was in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
The Versailles Treaty also prohibited union with Austria (Anschluss). However, Hitler claimed that Austrians spoke German, therefore, Germany had the right to unite with Austria. There was little or no opposition when Hitler took control of Austria and declared the union in 1938.
In May 1938, Hitler decided to wipe Czechoslovakia off the map. He laid claim to the Sudetenland containing three million Germans. Hitler believed that all German speaking people should unite and be as one nation. He also formulated a master race theory and Germans were the master race. Hitler announced that the Sudetenland was his last territorial demand in Europe. After the area had been given, Germany would lay no claim to any territory. A meeting was quickly convened at Munich on 29 September 1938. In the meeting, the heads of the European powers: Neville Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler and Mussolini quickly agreed that the Sudetenland area would be occupied by Germany. Six months later, in March 1939, German troops invaded and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia indicating that the policy of appeasement had failed.
Failure of the League of Nations:
From the very start the absence of the United States was a severe blow to the League. The USA being one of the most powerful countries of the world refused to become a member of the League.
The League of Nations did not have a peacekeeping army, as such had no power to stop the aggressors.
Germany was not allowed to join the League of Nations until 1926 and she left the League in 1933 when the World Disarmament Conference set up by the League collapsed.
Britain, France and many other countries did not make a real effort to make the League succeed. The major powers gave half hearted commitment and they were more interested in making deals which bypassed the League of Nations altogether.
The Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Pact:
This was a treaty signed by Germany, Italy and Japan in 1936-1940. In this agreement these three countries agreed to help each other economically and militarily if war broke out. This pact made these three counties into a strong alliance. In the event of a war, they would fight together against Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union.
Events within Germany after World War I:
November 1918:
The First World War ended with the defeat of Germany. Armistice was signed. Kaiser Wilhelm (William) II abdicated.
June 1919:
Weimar Republic starts. Anton Drexler and workers from Munich’s railway shops formed German Workers Party. This party was later renamed as National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) after Adolf Hitler joined it in 1920.
June 1919:
President Ebert’s republic was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The terms were harsh and humiliating. Germany was blamed entirely for the war and had to agree to pay war reparations for a total of 6600 million pounds.
March 1920:
Kapp Putsch; the Frei Korps led by Dr. Kapp attempted to seize power by force in Berlin to overthrow the Weimar Republic.
January 1923:
The inflation; the German Mark lost its value. The price of a loaf of bread rose from 0.6 Mark to 1.5 million Marks by September.
November 1923:
The Munich Putsch; the Nazis (the National Socialist German Workers Party) tried to seize power by a coup but failed. Hitler was arrested, tried and sentenced to be imprisoned for five years but released after nine months. While in prison Hitler wrote the book Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
May 1925:
Paul Von Hindenburg was appointed as the second President of the Weimar Republic.
1925-1929:
‘Golden Years’ of the Weimar Republic. Stresemann’s Germany was accepted back into the international community.
1929-1933:
The Great Depression starts to affect Germany. Political instability in Germany, Chancellor Bruning lost majority of seats in Reichstag (Parliament) in September 1930 election. Bruning had to govern by decree. Nazis and Communists clashed and competed for power. Unemployment reached 6 million by 1932. In the Reichstag election of July 1932, Nazis became the largest party in Parliament.
January 1933:
Adolf Hitler was appointed as Chancellor by President Hindenburg.
February 1933:
The Reichstag (Parliament) building was set on fire. Hitler blamed it on the Communists. Soon the Nazis closed their offices, banned its press and arrested its leaders.
March 1933:
Nazi Party dominated the election and with their allies achieved a parliamentary majority. The Enabling Act passed by the German parliament and signed by President Hindenburg granted Hitler the power to rule by decree and suspend civil liberties.
July 1933:
The Nazis quickly banned all other political parties and prohibited the formation of new parties, turning Germany into a one party dictatorship.
June-July 1934:
The ‘Night of the Long Knives’ or ‘Operation Hummingbird’: a purge that killed 90 people from a Nazi paramilitary organization. The killings were carried out by SS (an elite Nazi Corps) and Gestapo (Nazi secret police) to prevent Ernst Rohm, a rival of Hitler becoming head of German army.
August 1934:
President Hindenburg died of lung cancer. Hitler declared that office of the President was permanently vacant. Hitler made himself Fuhrer (Leader), a combination of President and Chancellor.
January 1935:
Saar was returned to Germany after a plebiscite.
March 1935:
Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by introducing compulsory military conscription in Germany. He began to rebuild the German armed forces. This included a new Navy, the first full armoured divisions and an Air Force.
June 1935:
The United Kingdom violated the Treaty of Versailles by signing the Anglo-German Naval Agreement with Hitler.
September 1935:
Nuremberg Laws paved way for the persecution of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs and other races of non-Aryan descent in Germany. Hitler claimed that Germans were a master race and all other human beings on the earth have to remain in bondage to serve the German master race.
March 1936:
Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by reoccupying the demilitarized zone in Rhineland.
March 1938:
Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by annexing Austria in the Anschluss.
September 1938:
At the Munich Conference it was agreed with the approval of Chamberlain (Britain) Daladier (France) and Mussolini (Italy) that Hitler can annex the border regions of Czechoslovakia called Sudetenland containing 3 million Germans provided that Hitler claim no more territory in Europe.
March 1939:
Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia. Britain and France realized that the policy of appeasement was not working and announced that if Hitler continued with his aggression they would declare war on Germany.
August 1939:
Hitler began to lay claim to Polish Corridor and Danzig saying that both the areas be given to Germany. Britain and France announced that if Germany attacks Poland they would declare war on Germany. On 1 September 1939 Hitler began the invasion of Poland. Britain and France demanded that Germany stop the attacks on Poland immediately. When Germany refused to do so, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later and thus began the Second World War.
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Note:
The Bolshevik Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the Czar of Russia in 1917. Lenin was convinced that Russia could not continue the war and decided to make a separate peace with Germany. Russia withdrew from World War I and later signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk handing over vast areas of territory to Germany.
By the beginning of 1917, Germany had almost won the war and Kaiser Wilhelm wanted to declare victory. Right then the tide of the war was turned in favour of Allies by the United States entry into the war on the side of Britain and France. It was said the reason for US entering into war on the side of Allies was the sinking of British liner Lusitania by German U-boats which killed 128 Americans. The Lusitania incident happened in 1915 and almost two years later the US was still pursuing the policy of non-intervention. Why then this sudden change of policy only in April 1917?
It really was a Jewish conspiracy that led the US to intervene in the war. The Jews had been closely monitoring the developments in the Middle East and when it was almost certain that Jerusalem would fall to the British by December 1917, the Jews made a deal with the British Monarchy. The Jews with their money power and influence would do their best to make sure that the United States would join the war on the side of the British. If that happens and once Germany had been defeated, Palestine would be given to the Jews. They also agreed to finance the Allies to save the British Empire from collapse. The Jews not only obtained all these in secret documentation but made the British to announce that their promise of a Jewish homeland in Palestine was binding upon them under all the circumstances. This was evident in the Balfour Declaration of November 1917.
Therefore, Adolf Hitler’s claim that Germany had not been defeated but was stabbed in the back was true. The real scapegoats were Jews living in Europe and the United States. The Jews were responsible for many of Germany’s problems in the 1920’s, including the Great Depression that affected Germany more than any other European country. The Jews also had a secret hand in forcing Germany to accept the harsh terms in the Treaty of Versailles.
One of history’s best kept secrets is the collaboration between Zionist Jews and Nazis to drive the Jews out of Germany. The Zionists encouraged the persecution of Jews so that they would flee Germany paving way for Jewish colonization of Palestine.
Jews were not the only people systematically killed in the concentration camps during the Second World War. These include a million gypsies of Romani origin, four million Slavs from Russia and Eastern Europe and 200,000 old and disabled people from Germany. The Zionists claim that six million Jews perished in the holocaust but many historians put the figure at about 2.8 million. They point out that the total number of Jews living in Europe at the time would not even exceed 4 million. The Nazis could only capture Jews in countries or areas under their total control. Despite the presence of German army, there were many areas in which Jews kept hiding or were provided safety by local residents. Today the world’s Jewish population totally number about 16 million. So, it would not be possible that six million Jews could be living in Europe more than 70 years ago.
__________________________________________________________________ Written by: Ibrahim Nazim
15 September 2010, Wednesday
6 Shawwal 1431
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