[ad_1]
In the villages and towns of many places in Europe, Sunday will be of particular importance. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War.
This war has touched almost all of Europe and many places in the world. This led to the collapse of three European countries. empires and cost tens of millions of lives. The conflict was so important that people at the time could not imagine another war. They called it "The war to end all wars".
The area called The Shafted Oak is deep in the Argonne Forest. It still shows fights. German soldiers dug long, narrow holes in a last-ditch effort against allied forces, including the Americans.
Randy Gaulke studied the American military history of the First World War. He studied how American forces helped end the war. It reports many remains found in the Argonne Forest from that time.
"The Americans would have come from the other side, the 28th Division, the Pennsylvanians, would have risen to try to gain a foothold on this ground. tray. "
On the heights of the region, there is a burial place for German soldiers. The conflict caused a huge loss of life. More than eight million armed forces have been killed. However, unlike France, the German territory was not damaged during the First World War.
William Philpott is a professor of military history at Kings College London. He added that Germany had not received the heavy bombing it would face during World War II.
The Allied Powers negotiated several peace treaties after the war, but they left Europe dangerously unbalanced.
Philpott notes that Europe has lost the ruling families of three main regions: the Romanovs in Russia, the Hapsburgs in Austria-Hungary and the Hohenzollerns in Germany.
Under the peace treaties, Germany was forced to make huge payments to France, its colonies had been removed and its territory divided. The result caused an economic crisis and anger that contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Philpott said that when the Nazi party came to power in Germany, he stopped making payments to France. He also refused to comply with disarmament requirements under the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War.
The loss of life is even greater than during the Second World War and the destruction of a large part of the German industrial zones. The country was divided in West Germany, controlled by the allies, and in East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union.
German historian Markus Klauer said that West Germany was working to overcome its problems after the war.
"We had the chance to rebuild everything from stripe. So in the 1960s and 1970s we had the big advantage to have a powerful industry once again ".
Philpott said that over time, Germany had become an important force bringing Europe together. In 1989, the two Germans united to form the largest country in Europe. The country also worked closely with France and other countries to develop what would become the European Union.
"L & # 39; International the institutions created since the 1950s that led to the European Union, have allowed Germany must exercise its influence, its financial power, its economic power, in a much more economical way. benign way, he says.
Klauer said the country had learned a lot from conflict experiences.
"We have learned from these two world wars: no country in Europe can be isolated," he said.
I am Mario Ritter.
Henry Ridgewell reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter has adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the publisher.
_________________________________________________________________
Words in this story
Empire -NOT. a group of countries or regions controlled by a sovereign or a government
tray -NOT. a large area of flat land higher than other surrounding lands
from scratch –expression a point where nothing has been done yet
advantage -NOT. something that helps to do something or someone better
to permit -V. allowed
institution -NOT. an established organization
benign -ADJ. do not cause damage or damage
We want your news. Write to us in the Comments section and visit our Facebook page.
