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On 28 June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles effectively ended World War I. Germany was the big loser in the treaty, forced to conceed territory, pay reperations and have strict limitations enforced upon their military. Back in Germany, the economy was in shambles, the agriculture was heavily damaged, living conditions were poor and resentment was plentiful. In places such as France, Great Britain and the United States, the end of the war was welcomed news. The furthest thing from anyone's mind was rearming their militaries, instead content with the belief that no more great wars would be fought anytime in the near future. The governments and politicians instead shifted their focus to their respective economies, living conditions, industrial growth and other issues at home. In Germany, scientist and engineers would soon be back at work, developing the next age of weapons that would be tested soon enough. In 1934, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, and event that would eventually lead to the greatest conflict in the history of man kind. In 1935, Germany began a massive rearmament, increasing military spending under 2 billion reichsmarks in 1933, to 16 billion reichsmarks by 1938-1939. The developments and technological advances made between 1919 and 1945, turned the battlefields of Europe, Asia and Africa into killing fields. Submarines, tanks (armor), machine gun, naval vessels, aircraft and artillery were all taken to new levels during World War II. |
