On 3rd September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. Just two days earlier on 1st of that same month, Germany had invaded Poland, having been explicitly warned not to do so. Was this the only factor leading up to WWII? Or was there a string of events, occurring in cannon, waiting to be sparked by this final act? – Was it just the last straw? In this essay I will be explaining the four main causes of the war before analysing them and identifying their order of importance to answer these intriguing questions. One factor which contributed to the outbreak of war in 1939 was the Treaty of Versailles. It stated that Germany had to give up large areas of land such as ‘Alsace-Lorraine’ to surrounding countries and pay huge sums of money to the allies (mainly France) as reparations for WWI. It also made sure that they took full responsibility for starting the First World War, and placed restraints on their maximum army size and possible military actions - which was meant to abolish any chance of a ‘weakened’ Germany rising to power again to spark another war. As great as the attempt was, it failed drastically bringing another war upon the then, very unstable continent. This treaty upset and angered the German citizens, hurting them and their families. Germany had been in a great depression since the end of the war, and the money which they had to pay to France hindered the chances of them ever recovering from it. There was hunger and famine in the streets, people were poor, and in need of a great leader to guide them through. When Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1933, it was due to his strong feelings about overturning the treaty, and making Germany ‘great’ again. The Treaty of Versailles did a good job of casting a shadow of revenge ove... ... middle of paper ... ...ue to this intimidation and fear, and mistrusted Britain and France so he signed the ‘Nazi-Soviet pact’ with Hitler – the final major reason that WWII broke out. Also, as the allies started to realise the scale of wrongs Hitler was committing, after letting them grow – they couldn’t just stop him in his tracks like it was possible to do had they not appeased, he was too strong, and they let him gain strength. Appeasement meant that attacking with force would make for a full scale war –with two strong sides. The Nazi-Soviet Pact meant that he had an ally. Because of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Germany not only had an ally, but had the chance to invade Poland without fear of being attacked by Russia. Hitler took his chance, and invaded Poland because of his – and had it not been for the Nazi-Soviet Pact, he may not have taken this action, and the war may have never started.
There is no excuse for the horrible things Nazi Germany did during World War II. But one can get a better idea how that war started by learning about how World War I ended. The Treaty of Versailles was created by the winners of World War I, like France, Great Britain, and the United States, to make peace. So how did it help contribute to an even worse war less than twenty years later? It was mainly because it was too hard on Germany’s territory, military, economy, and national pride.
In order to stop the fighting between countries, Europe needed to put some actions into effect because appeasement was not working. Germany proved that by disregarding the Versailles Treaty. According to Hitler after disregarding the Versailles Treaty, “I look upon this day as marking the close of the struggle for German equality status…the path is now clear for Germany’s return to European collective cooperation” (Document 3, 1936) This quote explains a vast difference between Hitler’s and the other European countries' views. With Hitler’s affirmation to make Germany equal and even more powerful than the other European countries, the other European countries would have to set up collective security because they would have very little insight on what Hitler would be planning; leading to more destruction. Now, Europe would be more prepared if Hitler decided to attack. A quote from Winston Churchill explaining why collective security is the right answer is, “…I think all of the opportunities to stop the growth of Nazi power which have been thrown away. The responsibility must rest with those who have control of our political affairs. They neither prevented Germany from rearming, nor did they rearm us in time…Thus they left us in the hour of trial without a strong national defense or system of international security” (Churchill). That quote explains how collective security is the best answer to stop war and the destruction Hitler is
Germany and her allies were blamed for the war. The Treaty of Versailles said that they had to pay for the cost of the war. The Treaty of Versailles is what caused World War II. If it had been less harsh on Germany, the Weimar Republic would have been stronger and would not have faced as much economic and social turmoil. Had the treaty been harsher, Germany would not have had the power to make war.
Overall the most important cause of WWII was the Failure of Appeasement. This is because after Poland was invaded by Germany, the war started and lasted 6 years until Germany surrendered and Britain
Germany was economically frail subsequent to World War I. The Treaty of Versailles had held them accountable for the cause, and the Great Depression further deteriorated their condition. Germany was ambitious for power and resources. Envisioning world domination, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany, led his Nazi Party to invade Poland in 1939. France and Britain guaranteed to offer military support if Poland were to become attacked; they declared war, initiating World War II.
The 1940’s was a time of great conflict between the United States and Europe. This led to World War II, which began on June 14th, 1940 when German troops were sent to France to occupy Paris (Nash 500). Before the United States entered World War II many conflicts erupted throughout Europe such as the advancement of German troops into various countries (Nash 501-502). The main source of these conflicts was a man by the name of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a power hungry man who had the drive to become a political leader (Nash 492). But, the ways by which he obtained leadership were repulsive. He struck fear into the eyes of those in which opposed his teaching and killed whoever stood in his way (Nash 493). Germany faced troubling times after World War I. Hitler looked at this as the perfect opportunity to rise to power. He turned a party that consisted of a small amount of workers into the National Socialist German Workers’ party, which later became known as the Nazi party. During the 1920s, Hitler performed many speeches in order to make the Nazi party better known. In his speeches he talked about eliminating the differences between the rich and poor in order to prevent divided social classes. This made his party strong, attractive, and it quickly gained many supporters (Nash 494). By August 1934, Hitler became the Dictator of Germany and began mass takeover of Europe and World War II began (Nash 495). It was at this point when he began mass takeover of Europe and World War II began (Nash 500). He sent Nazi troops to take over nearby land, which made neighboring countries nervous. One of these countries, Russia, made a non-aggression pact with Hitler as a way to try to protect their country. Even though H...
Germany also signed another pact because Hitler believed that Germany had lost World War I due to the fact that Germany had to fight on two sides. The pact was a ten-year, non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany. The pact was later abolished when the USSR began to help the Allied Powers fight Germany.
In 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union signed a pact, known as the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression pact (Evans; “German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact”; “The Hitler Stalin Pact”: Woolf). This pact was shortly made before the beginning of World War II, which made half of eastern Europe into the territory of both the Soviet and Germans (“German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact”). Although Stalin was trying to make agreements with France and Britain, he chose to compromise with Germany (Woolf). In doing this, Stalin believed this would keep Germany and the Red Army at peace (“German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact”).
At the start of WWII, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler signed a nonaggression pact that benefitted both countries. The pact meant that neither country could take military actions against the other, however, both dictators knew that they would break the pact when they signed it. The pact benefitted Stalin because it allowed him time to prepare his attack against Germany and turn the capitalist nations against each other. It also benefitted Hitler because he didn't have to worry about the Russians attacking Germany so he was able to focus on becoming a world power and attacking other countries. Before the pact was broken the USSR annexed many parts of Eastern Europe to expand his power. In June 1941, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet pact when they
After the First World War that led to death of millions of people, many countries decided to put measures to avoid any future conflict. The League of Nations in the 1920s came up with the idea of collective security where countries acting together would discourage aggression and act to stop the aggressor. This did not work out well as countries failed to agree on common policies. As a result, appeasement was considered. It was a policy that was adopted by the British government in the1930s. It was formulated from the belief that some countries such as Germany were unfairly treated in the Versailles treaty of 1918-1919. Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany on January 1933 after exploiting the depression-afflicted economy and the vehement popular resentment against Versailles treaty. The Nazi leader started by alarming the diplomats on his hatred towards the parliamentary system of governance and democratic government. The policy of appeasement had good intentions, but failed to put measures against aggression by the Germany government, which eventually led to World War 2.
The causes of World War II can be attributed to the following ideas or events: the mentality of power is strength by Heinrich von Treitschke, the Treaty of Versailles, the global depression following the end of World War I, and Nazi Imperialism.
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the factors that led to the inevitability of World War Two. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty that occurred as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that was held after Germany was defeated in World War One. The Treaty was put into action and required that Germany should accept responsibility for the war; of course Germany was humiliated by this. They were required to pay colossal war reparation payments. This was one of the main reasons the treaty had a severe impact on Germany; it crippled the German economy and critically reduced the living standards of the people. This made it virtually impossible for the German economy to function productively. The effects that the treaty had on Germany directly led to the rise of Hitler who he capitalised on German resentment at their treatment. He provided a focus for the German people and their desire to take back what they once had, and to restore their pride once again becoming a glorious nation.
Adolf Hitler conquest began with the takeover of Austria, so the state can become part of Germany once more. Hitler’s policy was to unite the German people into a world power Germany and to transform the nation to an economic self-sufficiency for the German race. As time ran out, Hitler used military action to begin his conquest of Europe before other countries become too powerful to overtake. There was also appeasement all over Europe as countries cannot afford another war which led to Hitler demanding everything he wanted to keep the peace. As he expanded across Europe, France and Britain noticed Hitler's intent and sign a pact to aid Poland if Germany invaded. Hitler then formed an alliance with Italy called the Pact of Steel
World War Two was the most devastating conflict in the history of humanity. It crippled many nations and caused millions of people to die. One of the major causes of this disastrous war was the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War. This treaty was destructive towards the Germans. Germany had to pay large amounts of reparations to the Allied nations at the end of World War One resulting in a Great Depression in Germany. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles’ war guilt clause forced Germans to admit full responsibility for starting the war. Furthermore, to gain the support of the German populace, Adolf Hitler adopted an effective propaganda campaign. Adolf Hitler employed a successful propaganda campaign to gain the support of the German people combined with the Treaty of Versailles harsh economic and political sanctions ignited World War Two.
The Treaty of Versailles, initially created to keep peace in Europe and ensure that another war like World War I wouldn’t happen again, had in fact, backfired and spiraled the world down into a deeper, bloodier battle. The treaty discriminated strongly against Germany, with the loss of territories, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the War Guilt Clause. It caused humiliation and anger within Germany, and led to Hitler and the Nazi Party coming to power. World War II was not only started by Adolf Hitler and Germany, but had a lot to do with the humiliation that Germany felt when the terms for the Treaty of Versailles were laid down. The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles may be indirectly related to the cause of World War II, but nonetheless was a huge factor in starting the war.