Why were those who fought in World War I so upset when the second world was began?

Answer 1

They knew how terrible war is - and believed that they had fought the "War to end all wars". That a Second World War should start so soon after the Great War of 1914-1918 was a dreadful disappointment to all veterans - it meant that what they the peace that they had fought for was lost.

Answer 2

At the time, WWI was also known as "the war to end all wars".

However, the Treaty of Versailles, which was the treaty that formalized the end of the war, was called by France's Marshall Foche not as a treaty but as the beginning of a 20-year truce. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in late 1919, and WWII began in September 1939. He didn't live to see it, but he was right.

The books I'm listing below are great resources on WWI and it's aftermath.

Now, if you had fought in what was supposed to be the "war to end all wars" and twenty years later your sons were fighting largely the same enemies again, over the same problems again, wouldn't you be upset?

Answer 3

For several reasons, World War I was called the War to End All Wars but unfortunately, because of how Germany was handled at the end of WWI, they were ripe for Hitler and hence WWII. WWI was a horrible bloodly conflict and Canada, Germany, France and England as well as other countries basically lost an entire generation of men. WWI was also horribly mismanaged and if they had a general in charge more like McArthur or Patton, it might have ended much sooner. The memories of those that had served in WWI were fresh and they hated to see their children go through what they went through a scant 20 plus years earlier.