1931 Debt, Crisis and the Rise of Hitler

 

Title: 1931 Debt, Crisis and the Rise of Hitler

Author: Tobias Straumann

Publisher: Oxford University Press

PP: 240 including notes, credits and index

Price: £16.99

ISBN: 9780198816188

I opened this relatively short book with a touch of excitement, as the various components of the title are all subjects in which I have a continuing interest. I closed it with a touch of trepidation as the very last sentence, on page 208, sounds very much like a description of the current international situation in the so-called developed world.

At times, the book is a right rollicking read as it narrates the events from 1929 to 1931, paving the way for the political rise of Hitler. I had always had a vague idea that the WWI reparations imposed as part of the Versailles Treaty had a part to play in the prelude to WWII, but Tobias Straumann explains exactly why.