Section 6 The Most Recent Century

Chapter 20 I have never found current history, meaning WWII and forward interesting. But, reading chapter 20, made me realize that we are quite possibly in the same place we were at the start of the last century. Strayer talks about how WWI lead to WWII and though I knew that Hitler rose to power because Germans were very disenfranchised during the depression, I was unaware that much of that was driven on the extreme hardships the Allied Powers placed on Germany. Why hold 1 country responsible for everything that happened. Nothing in the reading led me to understand that Germany should have been held entirely responsible. I have to say, I also found it very disconcerting to read about the collapse of the global economy and the way different peoples in different countries Felt. It all felt extremely similar to the times we live in today. From the global economic melt down of 1930's (2008), to the ability of extreme right groups being able to take power (Donald Trump). How close are we all to the edge of the knife at this point? Another thing I found interesting was the fact that initially, Mussolini made fun of Hitler for his hatred of the Jews and Italy did not initially participate in the pogroms. That only came much later during the war. Chapter 21 For all of its problems communism as an ideal does make sense. I was amazed to read that communism truly fostered feminism and was ahead of the rest. Not because I had no idea that communist women were provided the appropriate educations and skills. But because prior to reading this chapter I had not thought about it. I also don't recall ever reading or hearing about the "people's communes" in China, again, I think the idea made have made sense. It was unfortunate to read that it was unsuccessful.