First, Interwar and Second World Wars
(1914 to 1945)
What happened?
This period in the Late Modern Period contains three big events during 1914 and 1945: Word War I, the interwar period and World War II.
World War I (the First World War, WWI of WW1) was a global war originated in Europe. It lasted from 1914 to 1918. This war is known als the Great War or 'the war to end all wars'. It led to the mobilization of 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It resulted in one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with estimated 9 million combatants deaths and 13 million civilian deaths as a result of the war. The related 1918 Spanish flu pandemic caused another 17-100 million deaths worldwide, including 2,64 million flu deaths in Europe alone.
In context of the 20th century, the interwar period was the period between the end of WWI and the beginning of WWII. This period is also colloquially reffered as Between the Wars. In the United Kingdom was this a period of peace and relative stability. But there was an economic stagnation. Politically there were changes as the Liberal Party collapsed. The Great Depression in the world affected Britain less than other nations.
Word War II (the Second World War, WWII or WW2) was a global war that lasted from 1940-1945, but started in 1939. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries. In a state of war, more than 100 million military personnel from more than 30 countries were involved. The most of them threw their entire economic, industrial and scientific capabilities behind the war effort. The distinction between military and civilian resources was blurred. That war was the deadliest conflict in human history with 70 to 85 million deaths, and more civilians than military personnel killed. More than 10 million people died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, massacres and disease. The aircraft played a major role during the conflict, such as strategic bombing of population centres. Nuclear weapons were developped and two were used in war.
Book with 40 Extra Maps and Sketches. Found: Blankenfelde-Mahlow, Germany (JN0151)
Von Schlieffen Plan
± 1937
The German army summit considered various international conflict situations. In 1898 it was decided to build a German fleet. A strong German fleet was important not only to protect overseas interests, but also to enforce friendship with England. The fleet had to become so strong that England would not dare to face a sea battle.
As a result of the Franco-Russian Alliance, Germany feared a possible two-front war. General Alfred Von Schlieffen (1833-1913) developed an appropriate German response to this threat in 1905. According to the general, Russia needed 6 weeks for a full mobilization. France therefore had to be defeated within that time. After Paris fell, some of the troops were able to take the train to the Eastern Front to fight the Russians. To conquer France so quickly, according to his plan, the best thing to do was not to attack via Alsace-Lorraine, but via neutral Belgium (and in a first version also via the Netherlands).
The Schlieffen Plan was an aggressive mobilization plan. A conflict with Russia now always collided Germany with France. Probably also with Great Britain because the English guaranteed Belgian neutrality. The plan had a disastrous effect on the start of WWI.
The book describes Von Schlieffen's strategic and tactical considerations and contains very rare material. The appendix contains 40 service documents of large and small maps plus tactical strategy sketches in a deluxe edition from 1937 written in authentic German.
Licorice
± 1940
In the Ancient Near East, the licorice plant was already praised for its healing powers. In Egypt of the Pharaohs, the root was given to the dead as a burial gift. In China and India, the licorice root was also held in high regard.
The Greeks of the Classical Antiquity attributed the success of the Scythians to sweet wood. They would not get thirsty from chewing. For that same reason, the ancient Romans also gave the root to their legionaries.
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), abbess, in the Middle Ages, wrote that the licorice root gives the user ‘a clear voice’, softens the mind, clears the eyes and tenderizes the stomach for digestion. For the mentally ill, the root of was useful because it quenches the fury in the brain.
There was, since the 15th century, cultivation of imported licorice root by monks in Pontefract in England.
During the Modern Times, in Mechelen, Belgium, doctor and botanist Dodoens (1558-1617) was enthusiastic about the ‘galisse wood’, as it was called in the Southern Netherlands. If you chew them for a long time and hold them in the mouth, it ripens the cough and releases the phlegm. He knew that, in Dutch monasteries, root juice with ginger and other spices, as a remedy for severe coughs, cakes were baked. We still (2021) know the gingerbread cookies, but then with the coffee.
In 1695, In the ‘Courant’, a Dutch paper, there was an advertisement that pharmacist Jean de Caux sells a composition of licorice of sweet wood. That was a drink.
The Italian pharmacist Giorgio Amarelli of Rossano, was the first to process the licorice root into a candy pastille in 1731. He made the first licorice from the thickened juice of root.
We return to Pontefract, where pharmacist George Dunhill started making licorice candies, following Amarelli in the year 1760. The candy was known under the name ‘Pontefract Cakes’. The region developed into a real licorice center.
In the 20th century, licorice became the Dutch national sweet. How come? It remains a mystery. They knew early in the 20th century how to give the sweet the right taste. To market it with a sense of humor. The ball was also sometimes missed.
Dutch cartoonist Maarten Toonder used licorice as a topic in 1959. In a ‘Tom Puss’ story, the licorice gets a leading role. The evil wizard Hocus Pas manages to get the residents of Rommeldam to get his treacherous licorice. Toonder wanted to warn against the destructive nature of addictions. With licorice that is not too bad. However, a warning is given against fanatic intake. Sweet wood extract has a blood pressure increasing effect.
The news in 2001 that 7 g licorice could affect the male libido, scared many Dutch people. Fortunately, there was an incorrect interpretation of figures. In reality, this requires a pound of licorice every day.
In a commercial in a 1930s recording a magician, it is suggested that the magician makes licorice disappear, after which the audience unceremoniously chases him out of town. That magician was recognized in 2009 as Cornelis Hauer, who was known before WWII. He was a Jew who settled in Amsterdam in the 1920s. When the Gestapo came to get him in 1943, he shot himself in the head. The video was off the tube.
It is a fact that around 32 million kilos of licorice are consumed in the Netherlands every year. This makes the Dutch, the number one licorice consumers in the world. Northern Germany, England and Scandinavia are participating. Often salty variant is used by the rest of the world as grossly dirty. In Austria, licorice is called ‘Bährendreck’, meaning bear shit. In the Netherlands, licorice is synonymous with cute and sweet.
The story of licorice is a Dutch conversation. The Belgians hardly know licorice candy. A licorice candy in the form of Manneken Pis is made and eaten in the Netherlands.