1914–1945: Dresden

The age of world wars

The phantom rider at the beginning of the 1914–1945 section of the chronological exhibition.

The two world wars were events of global significance that both took place in the first half of the twentieth century. This section of the chronological exhibition focuses on the role played by Germany in these conflicts.

At the outbreak of the First World War, both the political and military leadership of Germany and many soldiers and civilians expected a quick victory.

Many young men volunteered for military service in August 1914 and marched enthusiastically to the front. But the initial war euphoria soon faded when the hoped-for victories failed to materialize and the brutal effects of modern weapons became apparent.

Mass destruction of human life

Machine-gun and artillery fire, as well as poison gas, were among the particular horrors of industrialized warfare. They killed countless young men and left many survivors with severe physical and psychological trauma. After four years of war, Germany finally requested an armistice in November 1918.

The Treaty of Versailles, signed the following year, imposed heavy concessions on the defeated powers – and created fertile ground for the rise of the extremist National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP). Driven by a nationalist and inhumane ideology, the regime plunged the world into the Second World War in 1939. This war deliberately targeted the civilian populations of conquered territories as well as minorities within Germany.

Exhibits and display cases in the 1914–1945 section of the chronological exhibition.

Germany’s role in two world wars

The exhibition examines Germany’s role in both world wars and asks why Germans were so willing to go to war on both occasions. It also explores military topics such as technology, tactics and prisoners of war.