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Showing posts with the label Germany

Why Germany Lost World War I

  This is a summary of the reasons Germany lost World War I.   The  Entente  was the alliance of France, Russia, and England, later including the United States. Sometimes called the Allies.   German Planning (Schlieffen Plan) Germany’s strategy was based on the Schlieffen Plan, first developed by the head of the German General Staff in the 1890s. The essence was that most of the German Army would quickly attack France, before France could fully mobilize, and defeat France in six weeks. Then much of the army could be quickly transported on German’s superb railroad system to the east to defeat Russia. The Plan was reviewed and updated by the German General Staff every year up to 1914, first under Schlieffen and then under his successor, von Moltke. Helmut von Moltke was the nephew (and namesake) of the general that led German forces to victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.   The elder von Moltke, thinking about Germany’s future after his ...

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Beginning of the Great Depression

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Famous Headline Before You Begin If you don't know the background of this complicated story, you might want to first see a shorter version that introduces some of the key factors explaining the Crash and the Depression. Introduction to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Beginning of the Great Depression Before reading this essay, I strongly recommend you see the PBS video on YouTube. Type in Stock Market Crash 1929. Look for US – The Crash of 1929 (PBS), ALLHISTORIES – PLAYLIST.  Documentary broken into 6 parts to show commercials. Great documentary with wonderful photos, videos, and scenes from movies of the 1920s and the crash. Shows what a crazy time this was.  Introduction The usual reasons given for the Great Depression – the stock market crash of 1929 and the later collapse of the banking system – do not tell the whole story. Available economic data indicate (there were no national income accounts in 1929) that a recession had already begun before ...