before the war was replaced by disorder and individualism. People became disillusioned and began to turn from their own government because of defeat or lack of rewards for victory. The treaty of Versailles was considered unfair and an economic error even by France and Britain. After the war, Eastern Europe was completely changed and in confusion. Versailles changed all the borders and even created new states like Poland and Latvia in the place of the two empires that had collapsed. In these new states nationalist movements thrived, and the result was a set of territorial disputes that festered for the next 20 years. The stable European order had disintegrated and its replacement was inherently unstable. (Bell, Origins, 14-30)P.M.H. Bell takes this thesis and examines the underlying forces behind the process by which Europe drifted to war in 1939. The role of ideology in foreign policy and the origins of the war is important because Europe before the war was divided between fascism/nazism, parliamentary democracy and what it stood for, and communism, and this sometimes made it difficult for states to make decisions solely on the basis of power politics. The economic conditions that existed in the different countries in Europe throughout the years leading to the war are also important, since these conditions sometimes seemed to force countries to take a certain course. Along with the ideological and economic forces, military strategy also played an important role in foreign policy, since the actions of states are sometimes influenced by strategic considerations. (Bell, Origins, 46, 51-52,127,162)While German Nazism has its roots in the racial theories and Social Darwinism of the 19th century, it is usually identified with Hitler and his ideas. Hitler’s beliefs of racial superiority, perpetual struggle, and the need for Germany to have living space are important because they form the guidelines for his world picture, and are ...
