At the end of World War I (the Great War) the winning countries sent representatives to a convocation that redrew the map of Europe. In this redraw, old empires were carved up into small states containing collections of ethnic minorities. Natural resources were also divided in such a way as to insure that no single country thus created was totally self sufficient and capable of producing a war machine. Losing countries were also saddled with the requirement that they repay winners the cost of the war.When the Great Depression hit, Adolph Hitler was able to parlay the hard times and ...