Interwar period

1918-1939 Also known as the interbellum. In western culture, the interwar period refers to the period between the First and the Second World War. It is often associated with economic depression and the rise of fascism as countries in Western Europe in particular struggled to recover from the devastation caused by the First World War.

In the United States the first half of the period, often referred to as the ‘Roaring Twenties’, was one of considerable prosperity; the situation changed, however, from 1929 onwards with the onset of the Great Depression. In the Weimar Republic in the 1920s, political and economic difficulties culminated in the 1923 hyperinflation and the failed Munich Putsch in the same year. But despite economic difficulties and the failure of the League of Nations to curb Japanese aggression in Manchuria in 1931, there was initially hope that world peace and stability could be maintained.

The situation changed, however, following Hitler’s accession to power in January 1933. The period after 1933 was marked by a series of international crises, which culminated in the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, and the legitimacy and effectiveness of the League of Nations was increasingly called into question. In March 1935, Hitler announced the reintroduction of conscription in Germany disregarding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. In October 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia and in March 1936 Hitler sent troops to the Rhineland, which had been demilitarised by the Treaty of Versailles. The Spanish Civil War broke out in the summer of 1936 and soon developed an international significance when Hitler and Mussolini sent help to Franco. In 1937, Japan embarked on a full-scale invasion of northern China, resulting in the Sino-Japanese War (1937-45). Austria was forcibly annexed to Nazi Germany in the Anschluss of March 1938. The Sudetenland was also annexed to Germany in September 1938. In March of the following year Hitler violated the Munich Agreement by sending troops to occupy Prague.