Blog 15

The reading talks about the different alliances between the countries of Europe. It also talks about the Germans' defeat in the Great War. The war made each European country mobilize. The war also mocked Enlightenment values of progress, tolerance and rationality. As the war ended, many' values and beliefs changed such as women receiving the right to vote, radios and movies started to be created, and people became more open about sexuality. The Great War also widely affected other countries out of Europe. Some could argue that it sparked the beginnings of the ideas of the Nazi party. The war also led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire. The Great Depression began in 1929 as the stock market crashed. The Depression led the rich to jack up stock prices as the poor became poorer.Banks had closed and many lost their savings. The unemployment rate plummeted as many shops had to close down due to their loss of savings and business. Adolf Hitler discriminated against those who didn't have blonde and blue eyes or who were not a part of who he believed to be the master race, also known as the Germans. Many were exiled to concentration camps, the most popular being Auschwitz. The Nazi government then became the aspect of German life. The Marshall plan was put into place by the Americans who seeked to aid Europe and Asia. They donated billions of dollars to rebuild Europe after all the damage that had been done after World War II. The Germans felt threatened by the Soviet Union which lead to the birth of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO split up Germany into two, the West and East. NATO was formed in order to keep peace between the allies and axis powers.