- Long-term, short-term, immediate causes
- Explain how the inter-war years influenced the outbreak of World War II.
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Carlos De León
Social Studies Department Chair
Luther Burbank High School
14 November 2011
World War II - Origins
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Carlos De León
Social Studies Department Chair
Luther Burbank High School
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Carlos De León
Social Studies Department Chair
Luther Burbank High School
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The attempted peace the Three tried to establish at the end of the first war only led to events that would become the causes of the Second World War. The Treaty of Versailles placed very harsh punishments on Germany. The large reparations they had to pay to Britain and France caused huge inflation to the German economy. “But this group lost its savings when a terrifying wave of hyperinflation-the worst ever recorded anywhere-destroyed the value of the Germany currency overnight in 1923. Soon one billion marks were worth only about twenty five cents, and many people blamed the republic.” (TCW 131) Germany’s unemployment rate spiked and everything was in total chaos. Without works the production of goods decreases further adding to the prices of food and supplies. Farms can’t be harvested which in response sparks hunger and starvation in German families. Though America had agreed to give financial aid back to Germany to pay reparations, when the American stock market crashed, nearly every power in the world was in economic turmoil. The only powerful nation that would not suffer nearly as much would be the Soviet Union. As a result communist leaders started to campaign for power in governments throughout the world. Terrified under a rule of extreme socialism, German citizens became desperate. The recent Nazi movement lead by Adolf Hitler influenced many Germans to vote for them in the seats of their Republic. The National Socialist German Worker’s Party became so popular that in 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Nazi Germany. From his rule, based on what he wrote in his book, Mein Kampf, Hitler would begin to mobilize troops to reunite and establish a Greater Germany. It was due to the economic terror that the Germans suffered from and the scare of a communist revolution that Germany decided to place Hitler into power that would drive them and the rest of the world into the Second World War.
The inter-war years directly contributed to the outbreak of World War II. This is because nations did not adhere to the decisions and agreements set out during the Paris Peace Conference (TCW 136). This is best shown with Hitler and his disregard of the Treaty of Versailles and its provisions. Hitler did not disarm his military initially and then continued too much greater violations. He took Austria, reoccupied the Rhineland, and mobilized the army and generals (TCW 137). While Hitler did violate the treaty, no other nations attempted to enforce the treaty. Instead, at the Munich conference, Hitler agreed to peace and to stop his conquest at the point he had reached. This example shows how, by not enforcing the post-World War I, the inter-war years moved toward World War II.
Long term causes of World War II that go hand in hand are nationalistic tensions between nations and resentment stemmed from the Versailles Treaty of 1919. Italy for example, received the “scrap of Africa” at Versailles despite being a victor nation. “The Versailles settlement gave Italy far less of the disputed territories on its border than Italians felt their country deserved.” (TCW, p. 126) Mussolini was able to establish a Fascist regime in Italy so as to enforce extreme nationalism at all costs. When Hitler rose as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and began dismantling Versailles, Mussolini came to the conclusion that he should ally himself with Hitler so as to gain rewards from a German victory if war broke out. Both Germany and Italy were expressing extreme nationalism for their nations and were also upset with the outcomes of Versailles, Germany sought to undo the “unjust measures taken against Germany” and Italy sought to benefit from Germany’s rising strength.
Japan was also expressing tenacious nationalism by invading Manchuria. Japan was infuriated by Roosevelt’s decision to cut off vital raw materials to Japan upon its invasion of Manchuria. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 in retaliation. Japan sought to destroy forces (the United States) that impeded its imperialistic goals. Germany and Japan would join in an alliance because of their similar goals and their similar nature, therefore establishing what would soon be The Axis Powers in WWII. Other European Powers could not afford to deal with Hitler and Mussolini during the interwar years because they were recovering from World War I and the U.S. was in the midst of a Depression. This would prove that extreme nationalism of Germany, Japan, and Italy would begin an inevitable world war.
After the Paris Peace Conference, Germany was severely weak. Germany had never been this low before. They were under the inadequate Weimar Republic, and to make matters worse, they were weakened militarily and industrially as well. They needed serious revamping to become a country of power again. The people desperately wanted to relive the days of a powerful journey.
Hitler, a soldier who fought in World War I, joined the Nazi party in late 1919. After an unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing the republic, he was released from prison. Hitler's skills of oration allowed the Nazi party to rise slightly toward prominence. He didn't do it alone.
"It was the Depression that finally doomed the Weimar Republic and gave German fascism its opportunity." (TCW, p. 132) The Depression allowed the weak Weimar republic to fall even harder and pushed the people for a change. The Nazi party grew rapidly during depression years. "The Nazis had 12 seats in the 550-member Reichstag in 1929, 107 in 1930, and 230 in the summer of 1932." (TCW, p. 132) Rather than overthrowing the republic himself, he allowed the people to vote him into power.
Once Hitler rose to power, he slowly began to break Versailles and disobey the laws that bound Germany. These laws, 'agreed' upon by the countries at the Paris Peace Conference, were meant to stay concrete to prevent further German aggression. He didn't do away with Versailles at once but snuck around under the table, "[taking] advantage of opportunities as they arose, avoiding risks and accepting whatever successes circumstances gave him." (TCW, p. 137) As the other countries ignored his movement, Hitler continued to push, eventually invading Poland. Yet again, "the British and French did nothing" but declare war for Poland. (TCW, p. 224)
The weakness of Germany and the need to boost its power was a long-term cause that enabled Hitler to take power. His actions in office were short-term (in comparison) and helped him dismantle Versailles, build Germany, and ignite World War II. Perhaps if we had paid attention to Mein Kampf when it came out we would have been more wary of Germany. Even if Britain or France had acted upon Hitler's first breaking of Versailles, perhaps World War II would have never occurred. The appeasement and problematic end to World War I, coupled with the Depression and other factors, caused World War II and made it more devastating than any other war the world had yet seen.
Well the long term cause of the second world war would be the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty caused Germany to loose territory, pay reparations, Demilitarized their country, and set up a new type of Government.
1) Territory Loss: Germany must give up the Rhineland (Part XIV of Treaty of Versailles) Alsace Lorraine was given back to the french, and the treaties of St. Germane and Tianon broke down the ethnically German country of Austria Hungary. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Parts of Germany were separated to make individual countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia. This division of land gave Germany almost an incentive to go to war. In fact Hitler, when he came into power, promised to unite all the German lands.
2)Reparations: The reparations placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles completely destroyed Germany's Economy. "But the victors' bill of 132 billion gold marks was so high that Germany needed huge American loans to stretch out payment of its debt." (TCW p.77) This had left Germany scarred looking for the next person promising to bring them back to the glory days. The person they happened to listen to was Hitler
3)Demilitarization: Basically, the old system of government Germany had revolved around a strong military with all the country's services being centered around it. Essentially, when the Treaty took away Germany's military (Treaty of Versaille Part V) they took away away a lot of the jobs that revolved around it increasing unemployment.
4) Weimar Republic: The treaty of Versailles got rid of the Kaiser and placed a new republic to help stabilize the country. The only problem was that the new system of government was too slow to get anything done in the time it needed in the shattered country. This led to political upsets and eventually led to the fall of the republic and the rise of Hitler.
A short term cause was the depression. When the US's economy collapsed, they called upon Germany to repay their debt which caused further inflation towards their currency. Then a the immediate cause of the war would have been the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1 1939
After WWI, the League set up the new Weimar Republic which was to run Germany. This set up only worsened the conditions in the long run, leaving room for officials to control the government, this being a long-term cause. "The conditions imposed on Germany by the Versailles settlement were an enormous liability for the new Weimar Republic... On paper it was a model of democracy. Its bill of rights guaranteed freedoms never before recognized in Germany, including the vote for women... It faced a continuous Communist threat on its Left and also had to contend with a hostile Right that included many of its own officials." (TCW pp. 129 & 131)
The demilitarization of Germany was to help weaken and control them – keeping them from starting another war - a more short-term cause because of how quickly it fell through. When Hitler gained power, he challenged the articles of the Treaty of Versailles, so when he challenged the articles and succeeded without any interferences, it allowed Germany to remilitarize. "Arguing that the Versailles treaty had called for all countries to disarm, but only Germany had been forced to do so, Hitler withdrew Germany from international disarmament talks and the League of Nations... he announced the creation of a German air force, or Luftwaffe, forbidden by the Versailles treaty, and the expansion of the German army to five times its permitted size. Perhaps encouraged by the failure of Britain and France to counter these challenges… he 'remilitarized' the German Rhineland." (TCW p. 137)
An immediate cause can be seen with the attack on Pearl Harbor and pulling the United States out of their isolationism. The Japanese’s ‘surprise’ attack caused the United States to start their Lend-Lease policy and begin aiding other countries in the war. "Pearl Harbor unquestionably simplified Roosevelt's foreign policy problem, which arose from the clash between two enduring characteristics of American thinking about foreign relations… Thus step by step Roosevelt edged Americans toward war.” (TCW p. 229 & 231)
The Treaty of Versailles may have been the most influential long-term cause of the Second World War. "By accepting the Treaty of Versailles, Germany's new postwar democracy, the Weimar Republic, probably signed its own death warrant." (TCW pagina 78) The Weimar Republic would later prove to be an ill form of government for Germany. The weakness of the Weimar Republic led to the German population wanting a strong leader. They found this strong leader in a man named Adolf Hitler. Through Hitler's rule, Germany steadily began to break the chains that El Treaty of Versailles had bound to it. Nothing was done in attempt to hinder Hitler's progress. "...any failure to resist an aggressor nation, even in the remotest and most unimportant-seeming place, simply emboldens it to further aggression." (TCW pagina 136) The aggressor nation during the inter-years was Germany. Since nothing was being done to slow Hitler's aggressive actions, he began to become increasingly aggressive in what he did. Germany's invasion of Poland was what was needed for other countries to stop Germany in its tracks, which resulted in World War II.
After World War I some of the countries were obviously not happy with the conclusion. One of the countries was Germany. “The conditions imposed on Germany by the Versailles settlement were an enormous liability for the new Weimar Republic.” (TCW, p.129) Germany did not like the Treaty of Versailles because the treaty demilitarized Germany, made them pay reparations, and the way that Germany was broken up after the war put many ethnic groups in situations that were not good. The new government that was appointed to by the allied powers proved not to be very good either. The Weimar Republic caused hyperinflation in Germany because they printed a lot of money and borrowed a lot from the United States. “But this group lost its savings when a terrifying wave of hyperinflation- the worst ever recorded anywhere-destroyed the value of German currency overnight in 1923…few recalled that the imperial government had begun the imperial government had begun the inflation by printing floods of money to fight the war.” (TCW, p. 130) After this someone would come into power and that was Hitler, Germany was so low that the people needed a change in government. Hitler joined the Nazi party and eventually took it over (TCW, p. 130) He tried and failed to take over the government with the Beer Hall Putsch and after he was released from prison he restarted the group. When he finally came into power Hitler started little by little to do away or brake the rules laid out by the treaty. “He had no predetermined timetable for destroying Europe of the Versailles treaty, though this remained goal.”(TCW, p. 137) Because no one did anything to him when he broke the rules he got away with a lot of what he did. (TCW, p. 137) The Treaty of Versailles was a long-term cause on the outbreak of the war because Germany was unhappy with the Treaty but Hitler sped things up when he got into office.
At the end of World War I, Germany was blamed for nearly everything and had the greatest punishment. "Hitler was a social darwinist who applied to human life the evolutionary vision of nature as a struggle among species for the survival of the fittest." (TCW 136) So Hitlers mentality was basically that germany needed to be united under one country and that germans were superior. This mentality was an immediate cause of war, but the reason war broke out was due to the lack of resistance by the great powers, like previously mentioned. "Hitler was the cause of World War II, the leaders of the democracies are often also blamed for giving into him." (TCW 136)
Once the First World War was concluded with and peace was being spoken of and settled, a time of peril and war was lurking in the mist. A peril which would be led by a German leader named Adolf Hitler who was backed by a Nazi party ready to gain back what their country had lost. To begin with there was the fact that Germany felt as if they were not defeated and the treaty of Versailles was as if adding salt to their open wound of defeat. The treaty of Versailles was created by the League of Nations in order to restrict Germany from doing what they had in world war one. Unfortunately for the league Hitler tested the waters by breaking the treaty slowly but surely in front of the allies without any type of resistance. The lack of opposition by the allied forces would eventually leave Hitler enough room to attack Poland, which in turn caused war due to allied defense of Poland. “…Hitler dismantled the Versailles treaty piece by piece, unresisted by the democracies, until they finally went reluctantly to war in defense of Poland.” (TCW, pg.136) It was not only Hitler’s complete disregard for the treaty of Versailles that led to World War two but democratic lack of action to stop such behavior. “Sometimes the suggestion is made that the democracies failure to resist Hitler in the 1930’s was the more inexcusable because his book, Mein Kampf, made no secret of his objectives.”(TCW, pg.136) The allies knew of his intentions but overlooked them and let his actions slip by without the serious notice they should have had. So throughout the inter war years Hitler was allowed to break the Versailles treaty and the allies did not take the appropriate action to stop him. These two reasons would allow for World War two to rise from the ashes of World War one.
World War II was born out of World War I. The mere fact that Germany never physically lost the war left the soldiers fighting at the time with a sense of hatred toward the people in charge of the German government at the time, the Jews and Bolsheviks. This, along with extreme view points from left and right wing parties slowly started to break down the failing Wiemar Republic. The final blow was the hyper-inflation which caused Germany to enter an all-time low in its history. This allowed one man, who shared the ideas of the right wing parties, the one who had the power to influence masses with his voice, to come into power and tear down the government from the inside. Adolf Hitler seized control and made himself dictator to push Germany forward and prepare for war.
All of this could of easily been prevented if and only if the people in power at the time told Hitler no to one of his demands. A perfect example of this is as follows - "Rhineland Crisis of 1936 was the one time when Hitler could have been stopped without much bloodshed. Armed resistance to re-militarization might have forced him to retreat, destroyed his prestige, and perhaps prompted the German generals to overthrow him." (TCW 137) No one did anything as France was to busy dealing with internal issues and Britain saw no problem with "Hitler moving German troops into German territory. So Hitler got away with it." (TCW 137)Giving way to his ever whim was a way to prevent war but in reality all they did was feed a monster who wanted more and more and would go as far as war if they told him no.
"Even Wilson, who had insisted during the war that his only quarrel was with the German ruling classes, now seemed to blame the whole of the German people. 'They would be shunned and avoided like lepers for generations to come,' he told his inmates in Paris, 'and so far most of them had no idea of what other nations felt and didn't realize the Coventry in which they would be put.'" (Paris 1919, pg. 161, Ch.13)
All of World War 1 was blamed on Germany. This definitely caused tension between Germany and the central powers.
"Everyone agreed that Germany must somehow be prevented from dragging Europe into war again." (Paris 1919, pg. 161, Ch.13)
Alot of punishments were also placed on Germany. With the treaty of Versailles, Germany was considerably weakened. This was the reason why Germany disobeyed the treaty of Versailles, and why Hitler sought out so much power. Those were some small causes of World War 2.
When Hitler started to disobey the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations would do nothing to stop him. The weakness of the League of Nations allowed Hitler to become so powerful, and that was a big cause of WW2.
one word Hitler
in my opinion hitler was the one to blame for the whole uproar of world warII. he caused the controversy that lead to war. but how was it that this occured, he broke the treaty of Versailles.
"between 1933 and 1939 is the story of how hitler dismantled the versailles treaty piece by piece unresisted by democracies until they finally went reluctantly towar in defense of poland. although one might conclude that hitler was the cause of world war II, the leaders of the democracies are often also blamed for giving in to him." (tcw pg.136)
so while hitler played the main part in wwII he did not play the only part. "democracies' failure to resist hitler in the 1930s"
but hitler played smart while breaking all rules but not breaking all rules he was able to get alot done such as "hitler withdrew germany from international disarmament talk and the league of nations in the fall of 1933..began moving troops in the spring of 1936..as well as took over the rhineland in 1936..democracies did not oppose his annexation of austria in the spring of 1938."(tcw pg.137) as we can see Hitler "destroying" the versailles system there were many short and long terms that came.
but hitler did declare peace "he signed an agreement with the soviet union that ensured germany would not fight on two fronts...but the poles refused to have surrender negotiated over their heads as had happened to the czechs. and so with the british and french declarations of war on september 3 europes second world war began." (tcw pg.139)
this is a perfect example of how the years in between wwI and wwII led to the second world war.
<3 MimoG!(;
With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles it was agreed by the 'winners' Germany, the 'loser', had to make many reparations for starting the war. This caused Germany to be put in a state of anger and weakness. Its citizens needed a way out and they were willing to accept anything. The alternatives that Hitler offered and the passion he spoke with is what first got Hitler his followers. "Films of his speeches show that he had an uncanny ability to rouse crowds to frenzy by expressing their rage and frustration." (TCW p.132) While Hitler rose to power he received much support from his followers and little opposition so Hitler was not only a long-term but a short-term cause of WWII.
Germany's invasion of Poland is a great example of a short term cause. Britain's prime minister, Neville Chamberlain,was trying his best to keep peace with Hitler. By signing the Munich agreement in 1938, which gave away part of Czechoslovakia to Germany, Chamberlain was giving Hitler more power. By trying to avoid war and appease Hitler Chamberlain gave him a more reason to go to war. "Chamberlain's error was to believe that Hitler, like most people, would prefer peace to war, especially if his grievances were satisfied." (TCW p.139) With Hitler gaining more power and done with appeasing him Chamberlain ,made the promise ti protect Poland if Germany invaded it. As soon as Hitler crossed the Polish border in September of 1939 war was declared.
After world war 1 was over Germany was severely weakened under the treaty of Versailles and only got weaker when the Wilmer republic became the new government of Germany.The Wilmer republic did not know how to run Germany and only made things worse for Germany. When the depression stuck the Wiemar republic collapsed and gave fascism the opportunity to run Germany. (TCW,p.132)
Once in power Hitler started to break the rule of Versailles because he knew that was the only was to get Germany back on its feet. Little by little he started to break the terms in the treaty and the allies did nothing to stop him because they wanted to keep peace with Germany. "Chamberlains error was to believe that Hitler, like most people, would prefer peace to war , especially if his grievances were satisfied." (TCW,p.139) The allies did nothing to stop Hitler because all they wanted was to avoid war at all cost.
As I see it, the allies where the ones who started world war 2 from the very start. They were only thinking about themselves at the Paris Peace conference and trying to weaken Germany to satisfy this protection but that did not work. They let Hitler do what he wanted just so they could avoid war but they ended up going into it in the end.
When the Paris Conference was over, Germany was left weak.The Rhineland was taken away yet was not given much support and governments established in the Rhineland, taken away from Germany, did not last. "The years between the world wars were not healthy ones for democratic government. Initially, the new states of eastern and southern-eastern Europe were created from the ruins of the German, Austrian, and Russian empires and all had democratic constituions.Within a few years, most of those governments were forcibly replaced by some form of authoritarian or dictatorial rule." (TCW, p. 123)Now this some form of dictatorial rule can be traced to Hitler! His nationalism, and pride of Germany was fuel to the flame. The weak democratic governments were not strong enough to stand for themselves. Thus nationalism can be considered a long term affect because it has always been present, the pride of a nation, the people believed to be superior. In Hitlers advancements violating all treaties ever made can be considered as the immediate cause.
After World War I, the allies acknowledge the need to keep Germany in chains and no let it become a threat to its European neighbors. They did so without mercy in the forms of reparations. Germany was drowned in payments that made it impossible for it to rise above existence. When the Weimar Republic failed to deal with the problems that plagued the nation like inflation, among others, it created a sort of power vacuum of which Hitler gladly took advantage. Power was handed to him and he quickly rose to power. As a fascist he, in his mind brought back Germany’s glory which it has always deserved. He did all this in violation of the Versailles treaty which was made to keep Hitler Germany down. Had the points of the Versailles treaty been enforced we could have seen a different recorded history. (TCW, 136)
It is an age-old question as to when the Second World War actually began. Historians often debate that the events of the war took place on 1939 when Hitler chose to invade Europe. Others say that America's entrance was in 1941 when the Japanese chose to bomb Pearl Harbor with their kamikaze soldiers. Although, the question that remains is what actually led to the events in the Second World War?
In terms of the start of the second world war for the United States, it all began with overzealous Japan and its pursuit for global dominance. It's focus on "empire building" (TCW, p.228) led it astray from the devoid raw materials it harbored, and Japan set its sight on a more resourceful territory: China. As Japan raped its way through China, the League of Nations recalled its condemnation of "Japanese aggression in invading China." (TCW, p.228) Therefore, in an attempt to castigate Japan for its aggression, the United States closed its doors on "the embargo on scrap irons and weapons for Japan." (TCW, p.228) Thereafter, the ban extended to oil and steel as Japan was further chastised for it's capture of French Indochina. (TCW, p.228) "The United States made it clear that the U.S. condition for lifting the ban was Japanese withdrawal from China." (TCW, p.228) From thereon, on a Sunday morning in Honolulu a Japanese airplane(in attempt to break open the doors of the chained embargo, and construct an empire that would supply Japan with adequate resources) dive-bombed into a U.S. Pacific fleet known as Pearl Harbor. This catastrophic event marked the beginnings of the entrance of the United States of America into the Second World War.
The interwar years influenced the outbreak of World War II because they were setting the path for the war to occur. All the events that happened after the Great War seemed to be surrounded by a vibe of fascism, and while Hitler was on the rise for power, nobody really wanted to intervene because they were too busy settling their country's own issues. The results of the First War led to the Second because everybody was attempting to get back on their feet and the League of Nations was a really inefficient group. Under no true leadership, Europe had to chose to either accept fascism or fall under its own weight. "It may be that the fascist revitalization of Germany, always potentially the strongest power on the European continent, forced the democracies to choose between was and submission." (TCW, pg.140)
The inter-war years influenced the outbreak of WWII because during this time alliances came together and joined their forces to become stronger opponents, and one of the alliances was the Italian and German alliance. When Italy decided on invading Ethiopia to settle an empire, it saw that since it had very little amounted of raw material it would be dependent on a bigger power to help sustain its needs. “instead of establishing an Italian empire however, this adventure began the undoing of Fascism. For a country as under industrialized and poor in raw materials as Italy, war would be eventually mean dependence on a more powerful ally. Hating the domineering democtracies, Britain and France, Mussolini eventually turned to his fascist neighbor, Nazi Germany… in the end, he would drag Mussolini with him to destruction”(TCW pg.129)
The "inner-war" years were the time period between WWI and WWII. It seems to me that this time served as the fuel to power and spark the second world war. You have to look at the events that took place. For example, "The story of European international relations between 1933 and 1939 is the story of how Hitler dismantled the Versailles Treaty piece by piece, unresisted by the democracies, until they finally went reluctantly to in defense of Poland." (TCW pp. 136) Hitler completely violated what had been proposed as a peace treaty to "unify germanic lands. As a result from World War I, a cause was created for World War II.
Germany after World War I was weakened and as time went on it just kept weakening, through the Versailles Treaty and as it changed to Weimar Republic.
Germany went through so much and it just kept getting worse each time. Weimar Republic did no good to it and well what could they do? Nothing that’s what it looked like. This then left the door open for Hitler to rise.
Hitler was in “power” and began to break the rule’s, he knew he couldn’t be touched. “It should not be forgotten that Hitler could claim power because so many Germans backed him” (TCW, pg. 133) Hitler was right, no one stopped him and he just kept doing things as he pleased. Allies did nothing they just stood there and let it all happen all because they didn’t want to have to face war; they avoided it as much as they could. Hitler went against the Treaty and broke the rules slowly piece after piece (TCW, pg. 136) and was NOT stopped.
In my opinion Hitler knew what he was doing and took all advantage of it, took every opportunity and bent all the rules. He played everyone and in the end after trying to avoid war that is exactly what happened a new war began.
I'm not entirely sure if this comment is to late or not, but in any case:
A lot of the responsibility for the beginning of the second world war lies with the actions of the countries involved in World War I. Or rather, the inaction of the counties involved. Not only was the League of Nations ineffectual (long-term cause), as seen in the failure to give consequences to Japan after its invasion of Manchuria ("...Japan had been condemned by the League of Nations, had withdrawn from it, AND HAD MOVED BEYOND..." [TCW p.216]),but the countries had been unable to come to a financial situation that would sustain a lasing future world economy. This led to the depression, a short-term cause, which gave Hitler an 'in' into the hearts and minds of the German people.
And speaking of Hitler, the acquiescing to him by other nations hoping to avoid war was what enabled him to start the whole mess in the first place (short-term cause). "...Hitler dismantled the Versailes treaty piece by piece, unresisted by the democracies, until they finally went reluctantly to war in defense of Poland." (TCW p.136)
So in short, the inaction of democratic countries, the depression, and the lack of consequences for wrong doing helped to start WWII.
The interwar years would influence the breaking out of World War II significantly. Take for example, Japan a member of the Axis alliance who would force the United States into the war and open the Asian and Pacific fronts while Italy, Germany and the other European members would fight in Europe, Africa and parts of Western Asia (Middle East and Russia) during the war itself.
Japan was a world power and an ally of the Europeans during World War I, it contributed to the capture of Germany’s colonies in Asia, helping to defend the interests of its European allies by ending the threat to their own territories and the like in Asia.
During the Paris Peace Conferences during the actual decision making Japan, was to be ignored, and when the Supreme Council “she the foreign ministers and the Japanese” (Paris 1919, 54) they were marked to be less significant than their peers on the Council of Five.
Japan would later receive similar treatment during the Naval Treaties, always receiving the smallest allowance of ships (Ex. The Washington Naval Conference ended with the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan having a ratio of 5:5:3; the London Naval Conference of 1930 ended with a radio of 10:10:7. Japan having the smallest number out of the three nations. (Source: Naval Conferences Packet))
Eventually the Japanese government, hungry for its own empire and not receiving fair treatment from their former allies would tire and ally itself with Germany, switching sides from where it had stood during the first World War.
The inter war years officially began once the treaty of Versailles was put into place, with this Germany was humiliated and was in a real tight spot with its economy. It also didn't help that the Weimar Republic wasn't doing any favors for the people, especially the middle class, "But the group lost its savings when a terrifying wave of hyperinflation, the worst ever recorded anywhere, destroyed the value of the German currency overnight in 1923” (TCW pg131). So this gave rise to Hitler’s plan to take over, since anything was better than being at the bottom Hitler gave hope to the German’s that had lost faith in the Weimer republic, “In Bavaria, Adolf Hitler led his Nazi storm troopers from a Munich beer hall in an attempt to overthrow the Bavarian state” (TCW pg131). As a result Hitler soon took over the government, and this gave rise to WWII.
The League of Nations, developed at the Paris peace conference, proved to be a main cause of war. Instead of achieving peace, as they had planned, tension was the only thing to come out of the conference. With Wilson, George, and Clemenceau on different pages, they knew that "there had to be a compromise at Paris, or there would be no agreement." (AP, pg. 722) Gernamy had to be punished for starting the war and an agreement had to be created. The result was the Treaty of Versailles.
While Hitler began to rise up in power, he began to invade several countries based on his idea to unite the German countries. These invasions had broke the treaty that was created in Paris. The league would prove their weakness by continuing to appease Germany for the invasions. ""Appeasement" of the dictators...turned out to be merely surrender on the installment plan. It was like giving a cannibal a finger in the hope of saving an arm." (AP, pg. 813) With Hitler out of reach for punishment, he made his final move to invade Poland which prompted Britain and France to declare war, "honoring their commitments to Poland." (AP, pg. 816) "Long dreaded World War II was now filly launched, and the truce of 1919-1939 had come to an end." (AP, pg. 816)
The interwar years greatly influenced the outbreak of wwII. For Europe, one of the main causes was the treatment of Germany in the post WWI Treaty of Versailles. Germany was severly crippled economically and unfairly punished for all of the events of WWI. "The conditions imposed on Germany by the Versailles settlement were an enormous liability for the new Weimar Republic." (TCW p. 129) The state of depression coupled with the failed Weimar republic allowed for radical groups like the Nazi party to take power. "It was the depression that finally doomed the Weimar Republic..." (TCW p. 132)
A relatively shorter cause of WWII is the stock market crash of 1929. This threw the world into a state of severe depression. For Germany, it was catastrophic. This also helped in getting radical leaders into leadership roles. It also weakened the democracies of europe which prompted them to ignore the acts of several countries leading up to the war. One example is when Japan and Germany left the League of Nations. Another is the slow buildup of military arms and Hitlers military mobilization. To each of these acts, the free democracies of Europe appeased to Hitler to avoid a confrontation that would further strain their respective countries. (Paraphrased TCW p. 137 Hitler's destruction of the Versailles System)
In addition, the U.S. had adopted a policy of Isolationism that excluded it from European affairs. During most of this time, the U.S. was better off and equiped to stop Germany from taking advantage of the weakened nations. However, because the U.S. was not getting involved, nothing stood in Axis powers' way.
All this led up to the immediate cause of WWII, Hitler's invasion of Poland.The interwar years greatly influenced the outbreak of wwII. For Europe, one of the main causes was the treatment of Germany in the post WWI Treaty of Versailles. Germany was severly crippled economically and unfairly punished for all of the events of WWI. "The conditions imposed on Germany by the Versailles settlement were an enormous liability for the new Weimar Republic." (TCW p. 129) The state of depression coupled with the failed Weimar republic allowed for radical groups like the Nazi party to take power. "It was the depression that finally doomed the Weimar Republic..." (TCW p. 132)
A relatively shorter cause of WWII is the stock market crash of 1929. This threw the world into a state of severe depression. For Germany, it was catastrophic. This also helped in getting radical leaders into leadership roles. It also weakened the democracies of europe which prompted them to ignore the acts of several countries leading up to the war. One example is when Japan and Germany left the League of Nations. Another is the slow buildup of military arms and Hitlers military mobilization. To each of these acts, the free democracies of Europe appeased to Hitler to avoid a confrontation that would further strain their respective countries. (Paraphrased TCW p. 137 Hitler's destruction of the Versailles System)
In addition, the U.S. had adopted a policy of Isolationism that excluded it from European affairs. During most of this time, the U.S. was better off and equiped to stop Germany from taking advantage of the weakened nations. However, because the U.S. was not getting involved, nothing stood in Axis powers' way.
All this led up to the immediate cause of WWII, Hitler's invasion of Poland.
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