ABSTRACT
The first half of the twentieth century, and in particular the 30 years from 1914 to 1945, was an age of military, political, economic, social, and cultural conflict, a period of disenchantment, disillusion, discord, and despair, in which hatred flourished and the humanitarian impulse was scarce. Economically, there was a substantial level of integration, with large flows of goods, capital, and labor that were largely unaffected by national control and regulation. The First World War started after a terrorist incident escalated into a conflict that sucked in the major European powers. They had locked themselves into a system of alliances that entailed security commitments and preemptive strikes. The German Treasury Secretary, Karl Helfferich, talked about hanging the “lead weight of the billions” of war expenditure around the necks of the losers. Such a strategy required dramatic victory, rather than compromise peace. As more and more was invested in war, the chance of any compromise was thus reduced.
