Second Thirty Years' War

"Second Thirty Years' War"is aperiodizationscheme sometimes used to encompass the wars in Europe from 1914 to 1945.^[a] Just as theThirty Years' Warof 1618 to 1648 was not a single war but a series of conflicts in varied times and locations, later organized and named by historians into a single period, the Second Thirty Years' War has been seen as a "European Civil War",fought over the problem of Germany and exacerbated by the new ideologies offascism,Nazismandcommunismthat came into power after World War I.^[1]The thesis of the Second Thirty Years' War is thatWorld War Inaturally led to World War II; in this framework, the latter is the inevitable result of the former, and thus they can be seen as a single conflict.^[2]Historians have criticized this thesis on the grounds that it excuses the actions of fascist and Nazi historical actors.^[2]

Origins

The concept of a "Second Thirty Years' War" originated in 1946 with the former head of French governmentCharles de Gaullein his speech inBar-le-Duc(28 July 1946) evoking "the drama of the Thirty Years War we just won". De Gaulle viewed the First World War and the Second World War as a single conflict, theinterwar periodbeing a meretruce.^[3]That was echoed, among others, bySigmund Neumannin his bookThe Future in Perspective(1946).^[4]In 1948, British Prime MinisterWinston Churchillgave the idea a boost when, in the first paragraph of the preface toThe Gathering Storm(1948), he wrote that his books would "cover an account of another Thirty Years War".^[5]Major European conflicts during that period included theBalkan Wars(1912–13),World War I(1914–18), theRussian Civil War(1917–23), theUkrainian–Soviet War(1917–21), thePolish–Soviet War(1919–21), theSpanish Civil War(1936–39) andWorld War II(1939–45). In addition, the interwar period saw significant levels ofcivilian and labor conflictas well as colonial wars.

Though it is not "scholarly" in form, it is obviously based upon close acquaintance with the sources and keenly perceptive observation. Thus it is that rare combination of the scholarly study and readable synthesis that many strive for and few attain. In approaching his subject, Neumann regards the years since 1914 as another Thirty Years' War which has been accompanied at the same time by a revolution that is still going on. Likening World War I and the Versailles peace to a prologue, he interprets what followed as five acts of a Greek drama of approximately equal length: 1919–24, 1924–29, 1929–34, 1934–39 and 1939–45.^[6]
— Lee, D. W. (December 1946). "Review of Sigmund Neumann'sThe future in perspective"

Criticism

The thesis has been challenged and rejected by many historians, who see it as too simple an explanation for the complex series of events that occurred during the interwar period of 1918 to 1939.^[2]In particular, some argue that, in describing the rise of the Nazis as an inevitable result of theTreaty of Versailles,the "Second Thirty Years' War" thesis excuses Nazi rhetoric as being a defensive reaction to supposed British and French vindictiveness.^[2]Rather, critics see World War II as a consequence of Hitler and the racist ideology of Nazism, and since Hitler's rise to power was contingent on the Great Depression, it cannot have been inevitable, nor can his support have been a direct reaction to Versailles.^[2]The Second Thirty Years' War thesis is part of the larger debates over thecauses of World War IIand over the idea of aEuropean Civil War.

Notes

^Use of this term can be found in many sources. Some examples include"Naming World Wars"at GlobalSecurity.org, Anthony Shaw'sThe World in Conflict, 1914–1945(2000)ISBN 978-1-57958-212-8,andmany other sources.

References

^"HIST2013 Twentieth-century Europe, Part I: The European Civil War, 1914–1945".TheUniversity of Hong Kong.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-03-09.This period can be seen as a Thirty Years' War fought over the problem of Germany, beginning with the First World War, 1914–18, and clima xing with the total defeat of Germany at the end of the Second World War, 1939–45. Tensions between the Great Powers were exacerbated by new ideologies such as Fascism, Nazism and Communism, which appeared in Europe as part of a general crisis in Western Civilisation after the First World War.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eBell 1988,p. 35-48.
^Charles de Gaulle, Discours prononcé à Bar-le-Duc, 28 juillet 1946,http://mjp.univ-perp.fr/textes/degaulle28071946.htm
^Pons 2000,p. XII, Footnote 3.
^Churchill 1948,preface.
^Lee 1946,pp. 604–606.

Sources

Bell, P.M.H. (1988). "Ch. 3: The Case Against a Thirty Years War".The Origins of the Second World War in Europe.Harlow: Longman.ISBN 0-582-49112-6.
Churchill, Winston(1948).The Gathering Storm.London: Houghton Mifflin.OCLC 519713098.
Lee, D.W. (1946)."Review of Sigmund Neumann'sThe future in perspective".Political Science Quarterly.61(4). New York: The Academy of Political Science: 604–606.doi:10.2307/2144376.JSTOR 2144376.
Pons, Silvio (2000).Russia in the Age of Wars, 1914–1945.Milan: Feltrinelli.ISBN 88-07-99055-5.