Chapter 21

                In the beginning of the chapter Strayer calls the 3 decades that began with World War I and ended with World War II a period of self-destruction in Europe with effects felt around the globe. The reason that the whole globe was impacted was due in large part to the fact that almost the entire world was at some point colonized by a European country where the wars took place. Strayer goes on to say that the world wars were an accident waiting to happen due to competition among the European states and in hindsight, of course he was right. I think that because one relatively small area had such power over the whole world, any sort of turmoil within this region could potentially be something destructive for all peoples around the world.  One big cause that was mentioned but not completely fleshed out was the idea of alliances playing a big role in starting the first world war. If not for the alliances made between two groups of countries, a relatively minor incident would not have turned into a full scale war. Something I found particularly interesting about this chapter is that the Treaty of Versailles ended WWI but also was a huge cause of WWII because of the conditions it established that punished Germany heavily. And not only did the ending of the war cause another war, but also resulted in the Great Depression because soldiers coming home and integrating them was a difficult challenge. I find it extremely ironic that the end of one war actually played a part in starting another war as well as played a role in what was one of the worst economic crises in human history.