The End of the First World War and the Interwar Period

7 months after the end of WW1, the Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Allied powers who had finished the war. This treaty was very one sided and eventually led to the rise of Nazism. The treaty placed many restrictions on the German economy and military, while also forcing them to pay heavy reparations. The price to pay for the First World War was $55,000,000,000. This may not seem like very much, as Bill Gates owns more than that all bu himself, but that was in 1919. Adjusted for inflation, that 55 billion dollars today is actually $887,295,695,364.24. This is the reason why Germany only stopped paying the fines in 2011! The close to 1 trillion dollar fine crippled the German economy after they were forced into a democratic government, commonly known as the Weimar Republic. Shortly after the war, the republic spiraled into a deep economic decline that left their neighbors speechless at the failings of the state they had created. Unemployment soared and inflation skyrocketed. Millions of people already tired of the conditions during the war left the country, emigrating to neighbors and far away places like France and the United States. As the population lowered, the economy actually started to improve slightly, as there were less people to feed and less unemployed citizens. Just as there seemed to be a glimmer of hope, the stock markets in the United States crashed, launching a majority of the world into the great depression. Unemployment soared again, but this time, it was much worse. The number of unemployed people now heavily outnumbered the amount of people with jobs.

A new political party arose, and sparked hope for many people. The leader of the party would hold rallies, and protesters who showed up at his rallies would be beaten by his private forces that he called the Sturmabteilung, or SA. The leader of the party, although he looked awkward and peculiar, gave rousing speeches that continued to attract more and more followers. These followers tried time and time again to get him elected to the position of president and chancellor, but the majority always voted otherwise. Eventually, the president Paul von Hindenburg, who was going senile at the time, placed Hitler, the leader of the SA and National Socialist German Workers Party, as chancellor. As the following weeks placed Germany in a state of emergency, Hitler stole the power away from parliament, or Bundestag, and declared himself the Fuhrer. He started to introduce reforms, many of which violated the Treaty of Versailles. Britain and France knew that Germany was violating the treaty, but they decided not to stop them, something that would turn out to be a fatal decision, as they acted too late when they did. Germany annexed Czechoslovakia and Austria, claiming that they were only restoring the German speaking territories to the Reich(empire). They re-militarized the Rhineland, an area where troops had been banned on the border of France. Germany also exceeded their force limit created by the Treaty of Versailles of only 100,000 men. When Hitler decided the army was sufficiently large, he unveiled the Luftwaffe, the new secret air force of Germany. He eventually decided to invade Poland alongside the Soviet Union, unleashing the Panzer Corps and the new blitzkrieg tactics. With these new innovations, it only took 18 days to invade Poland! This shocked the rest of the world, and France and England finally declared war on Germany, although too late. I’ll go into greater detail of the outbreak of war in later posts, and maybe more into the SA and politics of the world.

Thomas Edward Lawrence 1888-1935

The man, the myth, the legend.

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on August 16, 1888, in Tremadoc, Wales. As a teenager, he became interested in Medieval history and fortifications. He chose to study military history and strategy for his exams as a young man. In 1908, he joined Oxford University’s officer program. In June of 1909, he was recommended for a job in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. When Britain and the Ottomans found themselves on opposite sides of the first world war in 1914, Lawrence was assigned to Cairo and promoted to Staff Captain. His job was to collect information for maps of the Middle East. He enjoyed his work, and buried himself in it after both of his brothers, Frank and William, died on the Western Front.

Britain had its hands full in the Middle East, especially because they needed to defend the Suez Canal at all costs. Something new was needed to combat the Turks. The British ambassador to the Middle East opened communications with the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali. The Sharif wanted to create an Arab State that spanned the whole Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. In return for help, he would give the British full economic rights. The British Chief of Intelligence, Sir Gilbert Clayton, did not want it. He said, “We do not want a powerful and united Arabian kingdom. Not under the Sharif or anyone else. If it is even possible.” He was ignored, and the British pledged support for the Sharif. At this point, the Middle East did not have nationalism, people did not see themselves as Syrian or Arabians, they just identified with their city, and were held to together by the might of Ottoman bureaucracy. The Sharif received British help in the form of money and equipment, and then started the Arab Revolt. Lawrence was chosen to supervise, and on June 5, 1916, he set off to support the revolt. In the early days of the revolt, they saw little success, and many soldiers deserted. The British provided heavy artillery, machine guns, 5,000 rifles, and 100,000 British pounds worth of gold. When Lawrence first entered an Arab camp, he was completely underwhelmed, even commenting that the Arab army was disorganized and only good for defense. He started a campaign of guerrilla warfare, destroying bridges and railways. Even though their efforts were great, by the end of 1916, the Arab Revolt was in full retreat, with only 2,000 men left. Not only that, but the Bedouin soldiers refused to enter trenches, being massacred. One of the Sharif’s sons, Faisal, recruited 10,000 more men with the help of the British. With a significant manpower advantage, they take the nearby city of Wagh, rallying the soldiers because of this new victory. Another main point was the destruction of the Hejaz railway, which linked Damascus to Medina. One major problem, was that the majority of the population was pro-Turk. In March 1917, the first attack on Gaza, and ends up being a tough defeat for the British. The second attack also fails, but the Ottoman hold over Palestine starts to weaken. The Turkish protection money starts to dry up, and more tribes started joining Faisal.The Revolt continued to avoid the main Ottoman armies, laying ambushes for patrols and reserves.

As the British got a larger foothold in the Middle East, it became clear that they wouldn’t allow an independent Arab State. As the war continued, Lawrence’s prestige and legend grew. He bragged about his victories and how he masterminded the ‘Aghaba Campaign’ which was really just a small attack on a very poorly defended town. In fact, the Ottomans and Germans didn’t know who he was at all. He told alternative facts, saying that the Turks had a bounty on his head. He was held in high prestige by the British, and was awarded several honors. He wrote about one time being caught while spying on an Ottoman garrison. After he was caught, he was stripped beaten, and sexually abused by the Ottoman governor. He was thrown into a cell where an Armenian doctor helped him to escape. It is still unknown whether this story is true, or fabricated. Personally, I believe it was made up by Lawrence just to firther himself. He was a very self-centered person. In mid 1918, the Palestine front collapses for the Ottomans. Arabia and the Middle East are carved up by Europe, disregarding cultures and religions. This is generally considered the prime reason for all the tension in the Middle Wast today. Lawrence was sent back to Britain, where his prestige only grew further. After illness and complications, he died in 1935, at age 46.