THE ASSASSINATION OF EUROPE

THE ASSASSINATION OF EUROPE      HOWARD M. SACHAR

Posted:  Feb. 11, 2015

In this fascinating volume, renowned historian Howard M. Sachar relates the tragedy of twentieth-century Europe through an innovative, riveting account of the continent's political assassinations between 1918 and 1939 and beyond. By tracing the violent deaths of key public figures during an exceptionally fraught time period--the aftermath of World War I--Sachar lays bare a much larger history: the gradual moral and political demise of European civilization and its descent into World War II. In his famously arresting prose, Sachar traces the assassinations of Rosa Luxemburg, Kurt Eisner, Matthias Erzberger, and Walther Rathenau in Germany--a lethal chain reaction that contributed to the Weimar Republic's eventual collapse and Hitler's rise to power. Sachar's exploration of political fragility in Italy, Austria, the successor states of Eastern Europe, and France completes a mordant yet intriguing exposure of the Old World's lethal vulnerability. The final chapter, which chronicles the deaths of Stefan and Lotte Zweig, serves as a thought-provoking metaphor for the assassination of the Old World itself.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

The Assassination of Europe, takes a look at the events after WWI and the treaty at Versailles. You also have the League of Nations which really never gets any support. The author looks at different assassinations in Europe and how when you add all of these events together you are looking at the next war, it is the only conclusion really you can come up with. You had the Bolsheviks Revolution in Russia and then the German Revolution November 1918 to August 1919, and then by 1923 the Nazi, party was in control in Germany. Some of the most powerful people had been assassinated, Rosa Luxemburg, Kurt Eisner, and then in 1921 and 1922, Matthias Erzberger, and Walter Rathenau. Same as what was happening for years in Russia was now going to happen in Germany, the hatred of Jews and they were the cause of the first war and the reason we were having to pay so much and give up land. Should be noted that France and Germany had been fighting for that land for years prior to the war and it always came up in any conversation they had when the leaders meet. While this was happening Mussolini, was taking power in Italy the same way as in other countries killing the opposition scaring the people to not say anything for fear of death. This was happening in Germany. And Russia as well it is just that Germany and Russia did not get along for centuries as well. This is a fascinating book and a truly in depth look into the beginnings of the Second World War a good book with a lot of information. I got this book from net galley.  4 Stars.