Causes of the Second World War
Created | Updated May 13, 2003
Introduction
The Second World War begun in 1939. All the major powers of Europe were involved. Over 45 million people were killed. It was the most devastating war in history and lasted 6 years.
The aim of this entry is to look some at of the things that caused such a horrific war to begin. This entry will be looking at:
- The First World War
- The Treaty of Versailles
- The Dawes Plan
- The Great Depression
- The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
- The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia
- The League of Nations
- Hitler's Foreign Policy
- Appeasement
This entry will argue that a Second World War was inevitable from the end of the First World War, and that all other causes for the Second World War originated from the First.
Causes
The First World War
The First World War created many disputes between countries. When the war ended, many of these disputes were still unfinished, and needed to be settled. When Germany was forced to surrender, the German people didn't like it, and there was still great hatred between them and other countries. The hatred between Germany and other countries was so great that they weren't even invited to participate in the peace treaties made at the end of the war. The Treaty of Versailles that dealt with Germany was forced upon the Germans and they had no choice but to agree to it. The hatred Hitler had for other countries originated from the hatred of the First World War, as Hitler wanted revenge against the other countries for defeating them in the First World War, but he also wanted power in Germany and to get rid of the government that surrendered in the First World War, and replace it with his own organisation (the NAZI Party) so that he could have full control of Europe. In my opinion, the First World War was the main cause of the Second World War because it was the first event in the chain that led to a Second World War.
The Treaty of Versailles
One of the main causes of the Second World War was the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty angered the German people for many reasons. The first is that it was a 'Diktat' (Dictated Peace) as Germany had no say in the treaty. Germany was forced to agree to the terms of the treaty whether they liked them or not. The German people thought the treaty was unfair, and over time, most people in Europe thought it was unfair, and when Hitler broke the treaty many years later, he was appeased, since most people thought the treaty was wrong anyway. Another reason is that the treaty said that the Rhineland would become a demilitarised zone. This meant that Germany could not put any military troops into the Rhineland, which was bordering with France and Belgium. Germany were defenceless if France decided to invade them, something they did in 1923 when Germany couldn't pay the reparations they had to for that year. Reparations were another part of the Treaty of Versailles. At the end of the war, lots of land had been destroyed all over Europe, especially in France. The treaty said that Germany had to pay for the reparations by paying regular instalments. The war had damaged them and their economy, and they could not afford to pay the reparations. The problem of reparations was eventually solved by the Dawes plan, and Germany were able to pay France again. Another term of the treaty was that Germany had to disarm. This angered the German people, as they would have no army to defend themselves against attack. Their disarmament was supposed to be the first step to world disarmament, but no one else would disarm. The Treaty of Versailles was a large factor in causing the Second World War since it started many chain reactions that all went to war. It was the wrong end to a devastating war, and it didn't settle any disputes, only created more hatred between countries.
The Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was created so that Germany could afford the reparations they had to pay France. It seemed to solve the whole worlds money problems. America loaned money to Germany, Germany used it to pay for the reparations, France used it to pay Britain the money they owed, and Britain used it to pay America the money they owed. This seemed to be the perfect solution to everybody's problems, and countries started getting along with each other again. However, it had one major flaw. If anything went wrong, and one of the countries were no longer able to pay the other, then there would be hatred between countries again, and the situation could be worse then it was before. This happened in 1929 when the Great Depression came.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was when the stock markets crashed in America, which caused money problems all over the world. America could no longer loan Germany money for reparations, and they even wanted the money back. It was at this time that countries all over the world faced economic crisis, and hatred started form again between countries. Unemployment was caused all over the world, and countries solved this problem by creating large armies. This gave Germany an excuse to break the Treaty of Versailles as they also created large armies. One of the countries it had a big effect on was Japan. At this time, Japan had the problems of starvation, unemployment and lack of resources in their country, and to solve these problems, they invaded Manchuria. The League of Nations should have stopped this, but they didn't. Another thing the Great Depression did was send America into isolation. They didn't want to get involved with anyone else, as they believed that if they stayed in isolation, then they would not be dragged into another European war. The Great Depression was a cause of the Second World War because it was the Great Depression that damaged the economy of many different countries in Europe, and it was the Great Depression, that made America go into isolation, and to stay away from the problems in Europe, and allow the most devastating war in history to take place.
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
| Cause 1: | Japan was a poor and starving country and it wanted more by invading China. |
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| Cause 2: | Trade barriers between China and the USA against Japanese goods meant Japan's economy fell and they wanted to build an empire through force. |
| Cause 3: | Japan had no raw materials such as coal or iron as these were imported from China. |
| The Event: | In 1931, Japan claimed that China had sabotaged the Manchurian Railway and invaded Manchuria and threw out the Chinese forces. In 1932, they set up a 'puppet government' in Manchuria or Manchukuo as it was called - which obeyed the Japanese army. They then bombed Shanghai. The government in Japan ordered the army in Manchuria to leave, but they were ignored. China appealed to the League of Nations, but Japan was such a stronghold in the League that they had a tough decision. |
| What the League did: | The League did nothing until September 1932. Then they made a report on the Manchurian Crisis, saying Japan had acted unlawfully and manchuria must be returned to the Chinese. In 1933, Japan invaded nore of China. It then resigned from the League. The League became powerless. It was interested in keeping up good relationships with Japan rather than giving sanctions. |
| Consequence 1: | The League appeared weak and ineffective as it offered lame excuses and all the ideas that one country would have protection from all the others were completely shattered. China received little help from the League. |
| Consequence 2: | As the USA and USSR were not members of the League, their capability of removing the Japanese from Manchuria was lost and Japan got away with it. |
| Consequence 3: | Both Mussolini and Hitler follwed Japan's example and six years later the world erupted into war. |
The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia
| Cause 1: | In 1896 Italian troops had tried to invade Abyssinia but had been defeated by a poorly equipped army of tribesmen. Mussolini wanted revenge for this humiliatiing defeat. |
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| Cause 2: | Mussolini wanted the fertile land and mineral wealth of Abyssinia. |
| Cause 3: | Mussolini wanted glory and conquest. He wanted to restore the glory of the Roman Empire. |
| The Event: | In October 1935, Mussolini's army launched a full scale invasion of Abyssinia. The Abyssinians were no match for the modern Italian army, who were equipped with tanks, aeroplanes and poison gas. |
| What the League did: | In the months leading up to this, the League were supposedly negotiating with Mussolini. There was much talk but nothing happened. In the end the League put forward a plan that would give some of Abyssinia to Mussolini. He rejected it. After Italy invaded Abyssinia, a committee was set up to impose sanctions. Each week a decision was delayed Mussolini would be able to build up his stockpile of raw materials. The League banned arms sales, loans and exports of rubber, tin and metals to Italy, and imports from Italy. However, it took 2 months for them to decide whether to block oil exports to Italy. |
| Consequence 1: | In Britain, about 30,000 Coal Miners were about to lose their jobs because of the ban on Coal Exports to Italy. |
| Consequence 2: | The League of Nations didn't do much to stop Italy, and other countries like Germany thought they could invade other countries like Italy did. |
The League of Nations
The League of Nations was an organisation created by the Treaty of Versailles. The idea was that the League of Nations would become the world police force, and would keep peace in Europe. The idea was that when one country attacked another, the aggressing country would have sanctions against it. First there would be material sanctions, with trading with that country stopped, and this would be followed by military sanctions. This process is called collective security, as all the other countries were supposed to support the league and contribute to stopping the aggressive country. The League failed in 1931 when Japan invaded Manchuria. Japan was one of the main countries in the League, and Britain and France did not want to have bad relations with them. Italy saw how the League appeased Japan, and in 1935 Italy invaded Abyssinia. All the League did was talk with Italy, and they never got anything done. The only really cared about their own problems, and they did not want to get involved in other countries problems. Once again, the League of Nations appeased Italy, just like they did with Japan, and let them have what they want. Now nobody trusted the League to protect them, and it wasn't long until Hitler followed Japan and Italy's example. The League of Nations was a big cause of the Second World War because if it had worked, then there would have been peace within Europe, and there wouldn't have been a Second World War, however, because it failed, countries broke the rules to get what they wanted, and the League had no power to control them.
Hitler's Foreign Policy
Hitler was still full of hatred from the First World War, and wanted revenge for how Germany had been treated over the last two decades. To do this, he created his Foreign Policy aims. These were:
- To go back on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler hated the Treaty of Versailles, and thought it was an unfair treaty. Most people in Europe also thought the treaty was unfair at this time, so when Hitler began to break the terms of the treaty, he was appeased and allowed to do it. However, if Hitler was going to re-gain everything that Germany had lost because of the Treaty of Versailles, then he was going to have to invade other countries.
- To re-arm. Hitler wanted Germany to be a power in Europe again, and to do this he needed to re-arm. He was given an excuse in the early 1930s when there was great unemployment in Germany. It was the perfect solution to their problems.
- To unite all German-speaking people in one country: GrossDeutschland. The treaty of Versailles had given each race of people their own country, but this meant that there were many Germans spread all over Europe. If he were to unite them all in one country, he would start having to invade and take over other countries, which could quite easily turn into war.
- To win living space (Lebensraum) for Germany. The only way that Hitler could do this is to take control of the countries around Germany, which could quite easily start a war.
- To racially cleanse the Reich. Hitler thought that his race of people was perfect, and that other races were below them. If Hitler were to cleanse the Reich, then he would have to commit mass murder in Germany and the surrounding countries.
- To destroy Communism. To do this, Hitler would have to rage war with the USSR. To get to the USSR, they would have to go through Poland, which could quite easily start a war, however, Britain and France also hated Communism, and they would probably support a war between Germany and the USSR. The USSR became part of the League of Nations in 1934, but left in 1939 when they realised that the League of Nations would not protect them if they were attacked by Germany.
As Hitler started to try and achieve his aims, Britain and France appeased him, and allowed Germany to become more powerful. Hitler's Foreign Policy aims, which were made public, were a large cause of the Second World War, as they showed that Hitler was going to fight countries for what he wanted. It was obvious from the very beginning, that the only way to stop Hitler would be through war. His Foreign Policy aims became an even bigger cause of the war, when Hitler began achieving them. The table below shows how Hitler went at achieving his Foreign Policy Aims, and going against the Treaty of Versailles.
| Terms of the Treaty of Versailles | What Hitler did and when | The reasons he gave for his actions | The response from Britain and France |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany's armed forces to be severely limited | In 1933, Hitler increased Germany's armed forces. In 1935, he made an agreement with Britain to increase naval forces, and he introduced conscription in 1936. | He needed larger armies to protect Germany, and large armies also provided jobs and solved unemployment problems caused by The Great Depression. | Britain sympathised with germany, believing that the Treaty if Versailles had been too unfair on them. The French were angry with Britain, but there was little they could do. |
| The Rhineland to be a demilitarised zone | In March 1936, Hitler moved troops into the Rhineland, going against the Treaty of Versailles. | France and Russia had made a treaty to protect each other from Germany. Hitler said that he should be allowed to place troops on his own frontier. | Many British people felt that Hitler had a right to have troops in the Rhineland, and France wouldn't do anything without Britain's help, so nothing was done. |
| Germany forbidden to unite with Austria | The NAZI party stirred up trouble in Austria. In 1928, Austrians has a vote to decide whether they would unite with Germany. Germany sent troops into Austria to make sure the vote was fair. 99.75% of Austrians voted to unite with Germany. | There were lots of German people living in Austria and Hitler said the people of Austria wanted to unite with Germany. Austria was economically weak and Hitler promised to solve the problem. | France and Britain refused to help Austria. The British prime Minister Neville Chamberlain felt the Treaty of Versailles was wrong and that Austria and Germany should be united. |
| The Sudetenland taken into the new state of Czechoslovakia | In 1938, Hitler said that he was ready to fight Czechoslovakia. After meeting with Britain, France and Italy, Hitler was given the Sudetenland. | There were lots of germans living in the Sudetenland and Hitler wanted to unite them. he also claimed the Czech government were mistreating the Germans. | On September 29, after numerous meetings, britain and France made an agreement to give Hitler the Sudetenland. However, Britain and France also said that if Hitler invaded any other country, then they would delare war on Germany.1 |
| The Polish Cirridor given to Poland | On September 1, 1929, germany invaded Poland from the West. On September 17, Soviet forces invaded Poland from the East. They split Poland between them. | There were Germans living in Poland, and \Hitler wanted them to be united with Germany. Hitler also wanted more living space, as this was one of his Foreign Policy Aims. | On September 2, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Germany did not expect this, as Britain and France had appeased Hitler before and had not acted on their threats. |
Appeasement
When Hitler began to break the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations (that was mainly just Britain and France) appeased him, just as they had done with Japan and Italy. As Hitler broke more and more rules, Germany became more powerful, but Hitler was still appeased. In the end, there came a point where Britain and France realised that if they didn't attack now, Germany would be come too powerful for them to defeat, however, by this time, Germany had gained lots of land, soldiers and technology and were a powerful force in Europe. If Britain and France had attacked Germany in the beginning when they began to break the Treaty of Versailles, when Hitler sent German troops in the Rhineland, then, as Hitler himself said, the war would only have last 6 weeks, instead of 6 years. Appeasement was a large cause of the war as it allowed countries to get what they wanted, and in the end, allowed Germany to become such a powerful force in Europe. It was through appeasement that Germany got what they wanted, and it was only when appeasement stopped, that the most devastating war in history began.
How the Causes are Linked
There were many different things that caused the Second World War. In this entries opinion, the main cause of the Second World War was the First World War. From how the First World War ended, with Germany being forced to surrender when they wanted to carry on fighting, another war was inevitable. From the hatred countries had for Germany, the Treaty of Versailles was created. This led on to the Dawes Plan, which caused problems throughout Europe when the Great Depression came. The Treaty of Versailles also created the League of Nations, which ended up failing other countries when it should have protected them. The appeasement of the League led to Japan and Italy invading other countries, but still being appeased. This caused Germany, with Hitler's Foreign Policy aims, to follow their example. In the end their came a point when the League of Nations had to stop appeasing Hitler, and Britain and France declared war on Germany. However, by this time, Germany had become powerful, and the war was the most devastating in history. There were many different causes to the Second World War, however, if you take them back far enough, you will see that they all originate from the First World War, the war that created the problems in Europe, and it wasn't until the Second World War had ended, that these problems were solved. Hitler wasn't entirely to blame for the outbreak of the war in 1939, the whole world was, as almost every country had their part in causing the Second World War, whether it was doing something wrong like Britain and France did when they appeased Hitler, or not doing anything at all like America did when they went into isolation and let the war take place, they had their part in the events leading up to the Second World War, and they were all, to blame.
