Events preceding World War II in Europe France through Belgium. France had, in 1871, suffered a defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, and demanded compensation for financial devastation during the First World War, which ensured that the various peace treaties, specifically the Treaty of Versailles would impose tough financial war reparations and restrictions on Germany in the aftermath of World War I. The British naval blockade of Germany was not lifted until the treaty was signed at the end of June 1919. After several liberal governments failed to rein in these threats, and the fascists had increased their public profile by highly visible punishment expeditions to supposedly crush
Opposition to World War I Royden, Kathleen Courtney and Chrystal Macmillan. and Sylvia Pankhurst. It was an early coalition of women's campaigning with pacifism that led to the formation of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1915. Although the onset of the First World War was generally greeted with enthusiastic patriotism across Europe, peace groups were still active in condemning the war. In Britain, the prominent peace activist Stephen Henry Hobhouse went to prison for refusing military service, citing his convictions as an "International Socialist and a Christian" Many socialist groups and movements were antimilitarist, arguing that war by its nature was a