Of the many years covered in class, the most politically influential, physically and economically devastating, and unprecedented events fall between the years 1939, with the invasion of Poland, to 1949, with the end of the Berlin Blockade and the beginning of a long Cold War that would shape Europe for decades to come. The events of World War II were unprecedented in the style of warfare as well as the number of lives taken. The political allegiances built during these years would have lasting effects, some still present in our current political landscape. The events between 1939 and 1949 saw great advances in military strategy and warfare. The events of World War II effected the population, as well as the physical landscape of Europe, at
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In the first half of our decade, we see Hitler’s sterilization campaigns in their midst. The implementation of what would be known as the “Final Solution”: the complete annihilation of the Jewish race would begin its planning in the latter part of 1941 (Black 58), and in January of 1942, the Wannsee Conference is held, setting Germany on a brutal path that still holds a large presence in our collective memory today: officials plan the Genocide that would later be known as The Holocaust. Upon Hitler’s approval, labor camps shift to death camps, not only in Germany, but in Nazi-occupied Lithuania and France, as well. By wars end, the Holocaust had taken 9 million lives, of which 6 million were Jews. There is no genocide before it that occupies such a profound place in our collective memory as the Holocaust, making it one of the defining events of the first half of the twentieth century. On April 30th of 1945, Hitler commits suicide. Three days later, on May 2nd, fighting ends and the war is over on the 8th: V-E Day, ending the 1000 year Reich after 12 years. V-J Day is on August 14th, after two atomic bombs are dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These victories, by the allies, were a defining moment for democratic freedom in Europe, even if brief before the initiation of the Cold
In the first half of our decade, we see Hitler’s sterilization campaigns in their midst. The implementation of what would be known as the “Final Solution”: the complete annihilation of the Jewish race would begin its planning in the latter part of 1941 (Black 58), and in January of 1942, the Wannsee Conference is held, setting Germany on a brutal path that still holds a large presence in our collective memory today: officials plan the Genocide that would later be known as The Holocaust. Upon Hitler’s approval, labor camps shift to death camps, not only in Germany, but in Nazi-occupied Lithuania and France, as well. By wars end, the Holocaust had taken 9 million lives, of which 6 million were Jews. There is no genocide before it that occupies such a profound place in our collective memory as the Holocaust, making it one of the defining events of the first half of the twentieth century. On April 30th of 1945, Hitler commits suicide. Three days later, on May 2nd, fighting ends and the war is over on the 8th: V-E Day, ending the 1000 year Reich after 12 years. V-J Day is on August 14th, after two atomic bombs are dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These victories, by the allies, were a defining moment for democratic freedom in Europe, even if brief before the initiation of the Cold