[DoreenMichele]

I'm finding myself at a loss for how to engage your remark. I don't think I'm wrong, but it possibly isn't phrased that well.

In a nutshell, the seeds of WW2 were planted in WW1. This is a longstanding human tradition and is in part related to the historical practice of extracting war reparations, but there was other stuff as well that wouldn't, strictly speaking, be classified that way, yet still had a negative impact.

I've read a fair amount of history. I was a history major for a time. My ex was career military and particularly interested in military history and had an extensive book collection. We sometimes looked up the actual battles while watching movies.

The American Civil War is notable for being singular and not the beginning of a series of civil wars. Grant was an alcoholic and ne'er-do-well and this has been credited with his unprecedented choice to set very merciful terms of surrender. Not only were war reparations not extracted, he insisted that the South accept help for rebuilding.

This has been credited with being the roots of similar tactics post WW2 where America occupied and helped rebuild both Japan and Germany.

I hope that's a little clearer. I don't know that it is. I have a raging headache.