The age of modernism

Philosophy (Modernism)

In the age of modernism, two world wars consequently occurred, which were primarily motivated by a main aggressor: Germany. World War I occurred under circumstances that are somewhat different from the motivations behind World War II. Although the main reason for the eventual occurrence of both world wars were due to the aggressive and offensive actions by the Germany, World War I happened as a result of Germany's need to emerge as the main European power. It sought to become a major political force in Europe in order to eventually reinforce and assume world power, which, when challenged by other strong nations, both in European and North American regions, the First World War broke out.

The Second World War broke out under different reasons, although still motivated by the fact that Germany wanted to establish itself as the world's superpower. World War II emerged due to the offensive attacks of Germany to other European nations, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and his genocide project of curbing a world filled with Jews, famously called anti-Semitism. While in the First World War, the main objective was to gain control over all European nations, Germany re-envisioned itself after World War I, and in its attempt to redeem its glory after losing to the First World War, promoted anti-Semitism and offensive attacks, prompting a declaration of the Second World War. Thus, in effect, Germany's objective remained similar between the First and Second World Wars, but the means through which this objective was achieved differed.

The reason why Germany, Italy, and Japan became more powerful due to the nationalistic movements that emerged in between the First and Second World Wars. Germany remained powerful because of its nationalists, and the reason for the sustainability of this nationalistic movement was that leaders such as Hitler served as 'inspiration' to the demoralized Germans, who are experiencing financial and social strife as a result of the country's defeat in the First World War. A similar pattern can be observed in Italian and Japanese societies during the same period that Germany was recovering from the world war. Japan was experiencing not only the effects of the Sino-Japanese conflict, but was also experiencing difficulties with an ongoing conflict with Russia. Because of these political conflicts, Japanese society was also in economic strife, but the political will and ambition of the Meiji leaders strengthened nationalism among the Japanese, which in effect led to a stronger nation that helped it become a dominant member of the Axis Power. Lastly, Italy was also recovering from the First World War, and the need to re-establish a stronger and economically prosperous nation became possible for the Italians under the leadership of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. These circumstances helped these three countries establish strong nationalist movements that will eventually be the reason for the formation of the Axis Power.