“before we can move forward, we must come to some kind of terms with 1945, with what it...
TRANSCRIPT
• “Before we can move forward, we must come to some kind of terms with 1945, with
what it represents. A start would be the recognition that 1945, with its devastation,
displacement, and horror, was the result not just of a few madmen and their befuddled
followers, not just of ‘others,” but of humanity as a whole and of out culture as a
whole” (Eksteins, 13).
What is Europe now? A rubble heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground of pestilence and hate” –Winston Churchill
Hiroshima: the pictures they didn’t want anyone to see
“Winners have no shame, no matter how they win” –Machiavelli.
“our historical sense is derived in turn from two directions: from the buildup that were the events of the pre-1945 past, with its inherent notions of
agency and cause, and from the confusions of our own end-of-century, end-of-millennium present, with its immediacy and contradiction” (Eksteins, x).
Pre-WWII Build-Up
Post WWI effects: • introduction of total war/cult of the offensive• Russian Revolution • Economic Disaster with Great Depression• League of Nations• Rise of dictators and fascist states• Dissatisfied Germany
“Europe After the Rain” –Max Ernst
Europe 1919-1929
“a radically new government, based on socialism and one-party dictatorship, came to power in a great European state, maintained power, and eagerly encouraged worldwide
revolution.”
The Rise
The Rise of Dictators!
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
Originally a Marxist. By 1909 he was
convinced that a national rather than an international revolution was necessary.
Mussolini Was Hitler’s Role Model
Inter-War Years: Conflict and Cooperation
Road to WWII
• Treaty of Versailles• Great Depression• Russian Revolution
http://www.worldology.com/Europe/europe_history_md.htm
Picasso’s “Guernica”