Every decade after the end of World War II offered us an opportunity to reflect on the unusual circumstances that led to a war that overshadowed even the losses of the Great War that preceded it. The temptation to imagine significant causes for such a monumental conflict was great, and undoubtedly there were weaknesses in the post-war global order, the capitalist system, or the national geography of Europe that contributed to the future conflict. There was also a pervasive sense of impending destruction that threatened the continent as it tried to reconcile with the grim reality that it could seemingly plunge into the abyss of a new barbarism.

The goal of this book is to narrate a brief but significant history that unfolds precisely at the end of the twenty years of uncertainty and crisis that followed the Great War. However great or long-term the forces that led to war may have been, there came a moment when these forces had to be confronted courageously. In those dramatic days, just before the outbreak of war, many things were still at stake. The strange dialogue between the system and the players lies at the heart of the historical narrative. The events themselves can simultaneously be both cause and effect, especially the events that seventy years ago led Europe into war.