Ch. 3: Defying Versailles

The First World War not only claimed the lives of an estimated 37 million young European and American (wo)men, it seismically reshifted the political boundaries of the Continent and gave rise to a myriad of competing visions for the post-war European order. Following the unprecedented brutality and destruction of the Great War, a handful of world leaders sought to develop organizations, systems, agreements, and norms which would, many hoped, prevent such wanton bloodshed from ever occurring on the Continent, or in the world, again. These new international norms regarding modern warfare and notions of human rights, however, would be rather short-lived.

Why did World War I occur? What types of organizations and agreements, geopolitical pressures, etc., motivated Europe’s leaders to slide into industrial warfare in 1914? What types of steps were taken in order to guarantee peace in 1918? And what explains the breakdown of the Versailles order during the latter half of the 1930s? – Why did peace ultimately fail and world war, once again, prevail?