Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Causes of World War II

Many historians believe that the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, helped create the perfect environment to generate World War II twenty years later. Under the treaty, full blame for World War I was placed on Germany, which itself had lost about two million soldiers in the war. In addition, Germany lost its colonies and about fifteen percent of its European territory, was required to greatly reduce its military (including a requirement to delete its air force), and Germany was required to pay heavy reparations to the winning countries. Germany was also forbidden to annex new territories. After World War I, Germany’s economy was in shambles, and the country ultimately couldn’t fulfill its obligations to pay reparations.

Many Germans had held the mistaken belief that the end of World War I was based on President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, which served as the foundation of the peace talks that resulted in the Treaty of Versailles. The Fourteen Points were much more lenient than the Treaty of Versailles. This mistaken assumption caused resentment and distrust in Germany of its post World War I government, the Weimar Republic. The post war environment created conditions for extreme nationalism in Germany. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, which took control of Germany in 1933, demanded that the German people take vengeance on the rest of the world. Hitler built up the German military, and convinced the German people that conflict was the only way to re-establish Germany as a political power in the world. In 1936, Hitler blatantly ignored the Treaty of Versailles by taking over the Rhineland, which had been a demilitarized zone since World War I. European nations objected, but took no action.

In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He believed that Germany had been treated badly under the Treaty of Versailles, and thought that Hitler should be allowed to proceed with rearming Germany. This was known as a policy of appeasement, and only strengthened Nazi control in Germany, and hastened the war.

The League of Nations, which was established in 1919 to keep world peace, was a failure. The United States never joined the League, and it really never had much power. It’s failure as a peacekeeping body is thought to have contributed to the war as well.

While it can never be said with certainty that World War II could have been prevented, some believe that if the Treaty of Versailles had not been so harsh against Germany that World War II could have been avoided. Also, some believe that if the United States and others had intervened early to stop the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany, that World War II would not have happened.



World War Two Causes, http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/causes.htm

Alan Brinkley, American History, A Survey, Volume II. New York. McGraw-Hill 2007.

Kennedy Hickman, World War II in Europe: The Road to War.

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiieurcauses.htm

Robert W. Strayer, Ways of the World, A Brief Global History. New York. Bedford/St. Martins 2009.

John S. Tulp, Essentials of American History. Sanwich, MA. Wayside Publishing 2002.

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