This changed the shape of the world, of course, but the change was less the result of the world's resistance to Europe than a result of Europe's exhaustion. After half-hearted and doomed attempts to resist, these countries willingly participated in the dismantling of what they had once thought of as their birthright. By the end of the war they had lost the will, the energy and the wealth to maintain their power.

A handful of European nations had dominated the world. Within 15 years of the end of the war, Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands lost their empires. The first outcome, obviously, was that he destroyed Europe's hegemony over much of the world and its influence over the rest.

The question is how the world changed as a result of Hitler's decision to invade Poland. We humans have always sensed what is beneath our surface. But truly, we didn't have to have Hitler to learn that. It is hard to dismiss those, but in a sense they left little legacy to the world except for the realization that civilization is a thin layer over humanity's beastly savagery. This is not an easy question, because to arrive at an answer I had to dismiss from my mind the many acts of gratuitous evil that he committed. 1 of any year since 1939, and at a place like this, there is a sense of urgency to extract the real meaning of the man who lived in a house on the mountain I am looking at.Īfter 76 years, it seems appropriate to try to figure out what Hitler and the war he initiated genuinely changed in the world. There is a patina of mind, but not of place. It always feels as if towns like this should have a patina of extraordinariness sticking to everything. There is a sense of history present here, but it is mostly a sense of the mind, since Berchtesgaden is an attractive but ordinary place. It is always a strange feeling to be here. As it happens, today is the 76th anniversary of the start of World War II in Europe.

Had an effect on me