This course will examine what events led to the Second World War. Time restraints permit looking only at Europe and not at Asia. We will begin after the end of World War I in 1918 and move fairly quickly through the 15 years until Hitler took power in Germany in 1933. Then we will slow down and examine the events from 1933 until Hitler plunged Europe (and eventually the whole world including the United States) into the worst war ever by invading Poland in 1939. Many interesting characters to look at — Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Chamberlin, etc. The biggest question: Why did it happen?