The Causes

World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany's invasion of Poland. Although the outbreak of war was triggered by Germany's invasion of Poland, the causes of the war are more complex. They include but are not limited to: Germany’s Discontentment at the Versailles Treaty Germany’s Nationalism Germany’s Aggressive Expansion The Allied Appeasement Policy The Failure of the League of Nations

Treaty of Versailles

In 1919, the leaders of Britain, Italy, France and the US met to discuss how Germany was to be made to pay for the damage world war one had caused. Each of the countries advocated for something different with US pushing for tough yet fair treatment, France pushed for harsh punishments and revenge and Britain wanted something between the two extremes. Meanwhile Germany had not been allowed to take part in peace talks and were hoping to be treated with decency. By the time they saw the treaty it was already finalised. It imposed harsh terms on Germany and she had no choice but to sign the document. Many of the long term causes of WW2 would begin here.

Harsh Terms War Guilt Clause - Germany was forced to accept full responsibility for starting World War One Reparations - Germany had to pay £6.6 billion to the Allies for the damage caused by the war Disarmament - Germany was only allowed to have a small army and six naval ships. No tanks, no airforce and no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland area was to be de-militarised. Territorial Clauses – Land was taken away from Germany and given to neighbouring European countries. All overseas territories were given away as well. Union with Austria also was forbidden.

Discontentment leads to Rise of Hitler The German people were very unhappy about the treaty. They though it was too harsh and that they were being treated unfairly. During the 1920s Germany was suffering from widespread poverty and unemployment. Germany had lost industry and trading partners and could not afford to pay back the money. The German people had lost faith in their government and discontentment was at an all-time high. Upset at how things were going the German people voted to power a man who promised to overturn the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty and repair the damage it had done. His name was Adolf Hitler.

The Rise of Nationalism

Hitler’s nationalism was a short term cause of WW2 as he prepared Germany for aggressive expansion into neighbouring countries to reclaim lost land. He used ideas of a Greater Germany and the people’s discontentment at their treatment by the Allies and the Versailles Treaty to gain power. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany's army and weapons. In 1934 he increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German air force. Compulsory military service was also introduced.

Although Britain and France were aware of Hitler's actions, they were also concerned about the rise of Communism and believed that a stronger Germany might help to prevent the spread of Communism to the West. They decided to do nothing. In 1936 Hitler ordered German troops to enter the demilitarised Rhineland. Germany risked war with the Allies. But the risky move paid off. Neither France nor Britain was prepared to start another war. He would now start taking more aggressive steps. Hitler allied Germany with Italy and Japan during 1936, gaining the strength and protection of fellow militarist and nationalist nations.

Germany’s Aggression

Hitler's aggression was no doubt a cause of WW2. He used his new military to take back the land that had been taken away from Germany. In March 1938, German troops invaded Austria and forced her into a union (which was forbidden by the Versailles Treaty). Austria begs the Allies for help but they refused. They began practicing the policy of appeasement which became another cause of WW2. The Allies believe Hitler when he said this was the end of his aggressive expansion into other countries and to avoid war they did nothing. This did not last. Six months later Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia be handed over to Germany. British Prime Minister met with Hitler three times during September 1938 to try to reach an agreement that would prevent war. The Munich Agreement stated that Hitler could have the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia provided that he promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia. This was another examples of aggressive expansion by Hitler and appeasement by the Allies.

But by March 1939 invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovak begged the Allies for help but neither Britain nor France was prepared to take military action against Hitler. Appeasement allowed the aggression to occur yet again. Believing that Poland would be Hitler's next target, both Britain and France promised that they would take military action against Hitler if he invaded Poland. British Prime Minister Chamberlain believed that, faced with the prospect of war against Britain and France, Hitler would stop his aggression. Chamberlain was wrong. German troops invaded Poland on 1st September This was the immediate cause of WW2. Britain and France declared war on Germany and WW2 began.

Failure of the Allied Appeasement Policy

The Allied appeasement policy of allowing Germany aggression to go unchallenged in order to another avoid war was ultimately another short term cause of WW2. Germany violated the Versailles Treaty several times and violated her neighbours’ borders but the Allies refused to engage Germany in a conflict at all costs. Instead they believed that giving in to Hitler's demands would prevent another war. Germany’s re-arming and growing military in 1934, German troops being moved into the demilitarised Rhineland in 1936, The Munich Agreement that allowed Germany to seize the Czech Sudentenland in 1938, the invasion and fall of the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939; all of these are examples of the failure of the Allied appeasement policy.

Failure of the League of Nations

The League of Nations was an international organisation set up in 1919 to help keep world peace. It was intended that all countries would be members of the League and that if there were disputes between countries they could be settled by negotiation rather than by force. If this failed then countries would stop trading with the aggressive country and if that failed then countries would use their armies to fight. In theory the League of Nations was a good idea and did have some early successes. But ultimately it was a failure. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria in Chian and was ordered by the League to leave immediately. However, Japan ignored the League and conquered Manchuria.

The League then called for countries to stop trading with Japan but because of the depression many countries did not want to risk losing trade and did not agree to the request. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations. In1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia. The Abyssinians has little chance of defending against the attack and appealed to the League of Nations for help. The League condemned the attack and called on member states to impose trade restrictions with Italy. However, the trade restrictions were not carried out and Italy continued to trade with non-league states such as America. Ultimately, The League of Nations was powerless and its failure to maintain peace was a short term cause of WW2.