From one war to another: disaster

This new exhibit, focused on Germany from 1919 to 1939, takes you through the different local and international stages leading up to the renewed outbreak of war. The objects and photographs displayed illustrate the growing power of Nazism in Germany.

World War I was an unprecedented disaster that left 10 million dead and 21 million wounded. Europe emerged from this conflict in tatters and ruins. For Germany, the Treaty of Versailles, dominated by French demands, was a humiliation. It changed the map of Europe that had been in place since the Congress of Vienna.

In 1923, Adolf Hitler failed to take power by force in Bavaria. The economic crisis, triggered by the New York stock market crash of 1929, spread throughout the world and hit Germany particularly hard, financially dependent as it was on the United States.
In November 1932, the Nazis came first in the legislative elections. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. Following the Reichstag fire, Hitler obtained full power and became the “Führer”.

In 1936, the Third Reich exploited the Berlin Olympic Games for propaganda purposes, masking the racist, antisemitic, and militarist aspects of its policy.
The 1938 Munich Conference marked an important diplomatic victory for Hitler. In the name of peace, England and France allowed him to annex Czechoslovakia, their ally.
From November 9 to 10, 1938, violent and murderous acts, the pillaging of homes and stores, and the burning of synagogues took place throughout German territory, designed to terrorize the Jewish population.
In September 1939, Germany’s invasion of Poland marked the start of the world war in Europe.

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