Second Thirty Years War
Encyclopedia
The "Second Thirty Years War" is a periodization
sometimes used by historians to encompass the wars in Europe from 1914-1945 emphasizing the similarities of the period as an integral whole. Just as the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) was not a single war but a series of conflicts in varied times and locations, later organized and named by historians into a single period, the Second Thirty Years War has been seen as a "European civil war
" fought over the problem of Germany exacerbated by new ideologies such as fascism
, nazism
and communism
.
The concept of a "second Thirty Years War" originated in 1946 with Sigmund Neumann in his book The Future in Perspective (1946). In 1948 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
gave the idea a boost when, in the first paragraph of the Preface to The Gathering Storm
(1948), he says his books will "cover an account of another Thirty Years War".
Major European conflicts during this period include Balkan Wars
(1912-13), World War I
(1914-18), Russian Civil War
(1917–1923), Ukrainian–Soviet War (1917–21), Polish-Soviet War
(1919-1921), Spanish Civil War
(1936-39) and World War II
(1939-45).
Periodization
Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into named blocks. The result is a descriptive abstraction that provides a useful handle on periods of time with relatively stable characteristics...
sometimes used by historians to encompass the wars in Europe from 1914-1945 emphasizing the similarities of the period as an integral whole. Just as the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) was not a single war but a series of conflicts in varied times and locations, later organized and named by historians into a single period, the Second Thirty Years War has been seen as a "European civil war
European Civil War
The European Civil War is a term that is used to characterise both World War I and World War II and the inter-war period as a protracted civil war taking place in Europe. It is used in referring to the repeated confrontations that occurred during the first-half of the 20th century...
" fought over the problem of Germany exacerbated by new ideologies such as fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
The concept of a "second Thirty Years War" originated in 1946 with Sigmund Neumann in his book The Future in Perspective (1946). In 1948 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
gave the idea a boost when, in the first paragraph of the Preface to The Gathering Storm
The Second World War (Churchill)
The Second World War is a history, originally published in six volumes, of the period from the end of the First World War to July 1945, written by Winston Churchill. It was largely responsible for his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953...
(1948), he says his books will "cover an account of another Thirty Years War".
Major European conflicts during this period include Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
(1912-13), World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(1914-18), Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
(1917–1923), Ukrainian–Soviet War (1917–21), Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
(1919-1921), Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(1936-39) and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1939-45).