THE VISIONARIES

Having written many books on World War II, including Victory ’45 (2025), veteran historian Holland steps back to look at the consequences of war.

Holland begins with the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which struck the defeated Germans and a few of the victors as far too harsh. A tiny splinter party during the prosperous late 1920s, Hitler’s Nazis exploded into the nation’s largest party and took power legally in 1933. That Hitler always intended to go to war is no secret, but Holland maintains that there was never any chance of victory: Wars are won by resources and persistence, not battlefield brilliance. Despite superior technology, German industry never adopted American-style mass production, so its armed forces were simply worn away. Holland devotes only five of 24 chapters to the postwar period, but these are his best, if only because most readers know more about war than economics. The Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 pegged all currencies to the dollar to ensure exchange rate stability and promote trade. It ruled for decades until other nations and currencies grew strong, and several of the conference’s institutions—the World Bank and International Monetary Fund—still operate. Although it owes its existence to the Soviet threat, the Marshall Plan gave titanic economic assistance to restore infrastructure and support democracy in postwar Europe. Holland’s conclusion was a no-brainer—until the 1990s: “Autocracies always result in greater poverty of the masses. While successful democracy leads to…growing wealth.” But this has been refuted by China’s spectacular growth. Democracies also peaked late in the century; since then, many voters around the world have preferred autocrats, electing hyper-patriotic leaders.

A lively history of a bygone era.