Europe 1885-1945

The telegram Germany sent to Austria is of huge importance in the history of World War I, as after the Serbs assassinated archduke Franz Ferdinand. Germany gave Austria a "blank check" meaning that they gave them their full support in the terms of war they would start with Serbia and ultimately which would start the World War I. (Documents of German History, 310)

World War I was a war between two opposing alliances, The Allies (UK, FR and RU) and the Central Powers (GE and AUS-HUN). Most notably it resulted in the end of German, Russian, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, as as well as formation of new countries in Erope and the Middle east.

The president of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson wrote a document called "The Fourteen Points" where he explained his ideas which would help end the conflicts in Europe in 1918, help keep the peace and spread democracy. (Sources for Western Society, 416)

Benito Mussolini started the March on Rome with his Fascist party. Over 30,000 men marched on Rome as Mussolini basically overthrew the government and appointed fascism as the new government.

Second world war which started with Germany invading Poland in 1939 and ended with Japan signing the surrender documents in 1945. It successfully ended the Third Reich and with it United States of America and the Soviet Union officially became known as superpowers.

Uncle Sam is a very popular figure that every American has heard of. Even in Croatia, we became educated about the Uncle Sam's posters which were used to promote recruiting of soldiers for both World War I and II. The painting of Uncle Sam, pointing at the person who is looking at it is very important culturally because I feel like it is one of the first where the painting "communicates" with the person looking at it.

Adolf Hitler writes an autobiography and calls it Mein Kampf. In it he explained his views on politics and society. As this book has shaped the views of many, as a literature, it is a very important part of the European cultural history. (Sources for Western Society, 445)

Guernica is the most famous painting by the arguably most famous artist ever the have lived, Pablo Picasso. Guernica as a painting shows the tragedies of war and the results of bombing of a Spanish village Guernica, by German and Italian warplanes. It has incredible symbolism and it as a painting provides a voice which tells the world about the horrors of war.

World War II was the first conflict that took place in the times when music was electronically distributed, thus was available to the majority of the citizens. Music has an incredibly important role in human culture, so I must mention the role of music during the World War II. As the troops had access to radio, music had an important role of raising morale and bringing hope. Furthermore, those songs, sang by soldiers of opposing forces will be remembered forever and will serve as cultural education for everyone interested in the topic.

After the German invasion of 1941, the Soviet Union used propaganda mainly depicted on posters, which promote nationalism and which expect emotional reactions from the citizens of the Soviet Union. As a form of art, these posters are a very important part of European cultural history in many ways. (Sources for Western Society, 446)