Great War Dbq

The world created after the Great War, and especially during the Great Depression, was one of economic depression and political instability. People were looking for radical solutions to these radical problems, and many began to believe that the answer could be found in ideology. During the interwar years, nationalism was still extremely prevalent throughout the world as colonies sought independence, successor states struggled to establish legitimate governments, mandates were created, and Zionism moved into the Middle East. North America’s goal was the spread of democracy, but many people held the capitalist economy associated with democracy responsible for the Great Depression. In the relatively strong countries, governments eventually stepped in to provide relief for their citizens, shifting many democratic governments decidedly toward socialism. In the weaker countries, however, the military took

Many of these nations looked for new answers to both the old and new problems that they faced. This resulted in the rise of dictatorship governments across Europe. In Italy, Benito Mussolini established his Fascist government, which opposed democracy and relied heavily on military control of the country. In Germany, Adolf Hitler rose to power by appealing to the unhappiness of Germans over the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler promised to return Germany to prosperity. After some aggressive military maneuvers in the Rhineland and Czechoslovakia, Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The League of Nations, whose goal was to provide collective security, used the policy of appeasement to avoid creating a conflict with Germany. Thus, when Germany invaded Poland, the Allied nations decided that they had no choice but to respond aggressively. Two days later, both Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War