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Review
| The Origins of World War II, Third Edition, by Keith Eubank. Wheeling, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, Inc. 2004. 196 pages. $14.95, paper.
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| In this new edition of his respected book, The Origins of World War II, Keith Eubank presents a concise explanation of the causes of the Second World War in light of new publications and recent research. He identifies the changes in this third edition as: a reassessment of the policies of the Soviet Union as more duplicitous and opportunistic than some previously imagined, the incorporation of new evidence for Hitler's responsibility in starting the war that he craved in 1938 but did not get until 1939, the inclusion of new details that make this topic more complex, and an updating of the concluding bibliographic essay. These welcome modifications strengthen but do not significantly alter the central body of the work, which is at heart a scholarly narrative about how Germany, defeated in the First World War, could initiate the devastatingly destructive Second World War that other European powers feared and tried to avoid. |
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In response to his primary question, "why World War II?" (p. ix), Eubank recounts the major events and forces of the 1920s and 1930s that led to war, including the Treaty of Versailles. Interestingly, he provides a provocative teaching point by criticizing the treaty, but not for the familiar reasons. Far from being too harsh, Eubank argues, it was not harsh enough because it left Germany still unified, undamaged, and unoccupied. Eubank claims that allied military occupation would have conclusively demonstrated the reality of defeat to the Germans. But as it was, the Germans still nurtured their dream of victory. Defeated but not destroyed, Germany in fact, suffered less damage than the other European powers and still remained the largest nation in Central Europe. Thus, far from preventing future German domination of Europe, the Treaty of Versailles did not make Germany nearly weak enough or even stipulate penalties for German violation of the terms of the treaty. |
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The weakness of the Treaty was part of a larger failure of collective security that Eubank stresses as one of his main themes. He describes how the European powers deluded themselves into believing that a war like the First World War could never be repeated because sufficient security measures were in place to maintain a peace that would be guarded by the League of Nations. But the League of Nations was not a military alliance, and like the Versailles Treaty, it created only a false sense of security right up until the allies had to choose between surrendering to Hitler's aggression or fighting another war. Why were Britain and France so reluctant for so long to confront the Germany they had defeated in the last war? One of the strengths of this book is that it places the policy of appeasement within the context of its time. Reviled since 1945 as the cowardly acceding to bullies, appeasement as portrayed by Eubank could be seen as a strategy that aimed at reducing international tensions by removing causes of friction. Unprepared psychologically and militarily for another war, Britain and France viewed the avoidance of war as crucial to their national interests. Therefore, like the good businessman he had been educated to become, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain approached Hitler as a fellow businessman, offering him deals that would be mutually advantageous and that would alleviate grievances without sacrificing Britain's vital interests. Eubank offers students a different perspective when he argues that far from the naive man he is sometimes depicted to be, Chamberlain understood that the only alternative to going to war with Hitler was to make deals with him. Disputing the "tales told at the Nuremberg trials" (p. 61), Eubank rejects the notion that German aggression could have been thwarted by the collective use of even small-scale force earlier on. "Hitler could never have been checked without a war ultimately involving most of Europe," he claims. And "at that price, no one cared to stop him" (p. 30). Eubank, however, does not fully explore the moral issues raised by appeasement. He does not consider that the allies' initial failure to resist the rule of violence at the core of Nazism, and their yielding to coercion and injustice, only encouraged Hitler's further aggression. |
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The Origins of World War II is a useful volume for both high school and university students as a brief, well-researched and detailed narrative of the major steps leading to World War II. Because it does not engage in debate with or analysis of other interpretations of the war, it would be best supplemented with readings that offer different viewpoints. |
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| California College of the Arts |
Amy R. Sims |
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