Causes of World War 2

“Today we rule Germany, tomorrow, the world. “ Adolf Hitler spoke with the

truest of his intentions about taking control of the four corners of the World. World War II was like a balloon, expanding from appeasement, the Treaty of Versailles, The Great depression, extreme nationalism and the Failure of the League of Nations. From each pump of air, the causes of WWII forced expansion to straining levels. The only outcome to completely release the pressure built up was the breaking of the balloon and allowing the air to escape in a chaotic frenzy, known as World War II.

With the dominos of causes lined up to start the Second World War, there was a factor that had the promise to put a stop to the chaos about to start. The League of Nations showed promise in the beginning, that if under a utopian idealology it would be an aiding feature. The USA failed to show its support by not joining the League because of its inner demands from the Great depression. The objection from the Senate rose with the resistance of signing a blank cheque on issues that didn’t directly affect the US. The lack of support from the US had a big impact since the UK and France were not enough to impose strength or aid. Standstills would often occur in the League on the regulation that any working papers required unanimous support to be passed; this

ensured that any action taken would be long and strenuous. Since the Great depression, countries put issues outside of their direct country out of their head and focused on building their own problems. With the self interested focus in mind, the members of the League were not as willing to help as needed. Japan left the League since it couldn’t provide aid and Italy left since it was not being heard. Once the League started to fail, the less people believed in its ability to solve and bring peace, leading to it’s loss of power and soon after, its defeat.

A large portion of the causes behind WWII was the extreme Nationalism felt through out the world. Many countries were left out of the Treaty of Versailles or didn’t receive a large enough piece of the Treaty pie. This led to self interest within countries to prove their power and ability to rules as top leaders. One of the most common examples was The German Workers party, more commonly known as the Nazis. They grew and expanded from one single catalytic seed into a blooming party. Nationalism was in the minds of Germans after the end World War 1, budding and taking nutriment from the steely resentment that covered German opinions. It was from the common ground of extreme nationalism that the Nazis were able to build their empire. The party started out as the Free Committee for a German Workers’ Peace in 1918. The party was built under opposition of the Treaty of Versailles, anti-Semitic, anti-Monarchist, anti-Marxist opinions and the solid belief that German nationalists were a superior race. It was from the basis of extreme nationalism that the Nazis were able to be a factor in the causes of WWII.

Black Tuesday, October 29 1929 was a panic stricken day that caused enormous economic depressions affecting many nations. The stock market crash brought terrible conditions that made people furious with the ineffective government letting the weight press down. Dictatorships rose in 25 countries from 1929-1939, promising complete stability and control as opposed to democracies that believed in letting the depression solve itself. The global unemployment rates soared to 25-33%, along with poverty becoming a regular occurrence. The US in tern called in the debts that WW2 left many European countries with. The loans Germany had with the US buckled Germany’s industry, creating the rubble in which a heroic leader could emerge from to save the poor. France and Britain also had debt that submerged them deeper in economic depression. In order to protect their economy from future failures and enforce their supplies of raw materials, Italy, Japan and Germany went to building empires. Many countries turned away from international associations, such as the League of Nations to focus on the self interest of building their economy again. The aftermath of the Great Depression left the international economy frigid and reserved.

The Treaty of Versailles was supposed to cut Germany at the knees and prevent any trouble from the nation in the foreseeable future. “The Big Three” George Clemenceau the Prime Minister of France, Woodrow Wilson the President of America and David Lloyd George the Prime Minister of Britian wrote out the terms of restraint to keep the German monster in shackles. Each cold clasp and lock was greedily built around one country’s needs, not as a group but one by one connected to make a chain to restrain the power of Germany. The main terms of the treaty were: Article 231- forcing Germany to take blame for the war, enormous sums of reparations (226 million Reichsmarks), Part V- stripping Germany of all arms and war heads and Part XIV- the loss of territorial and colonial possessions along with the occupation of the Rhineland for fifteen years. German Emperor, Wilhelm II was charged in Article 227 with ‘Supreme offence against international morality.’ Many Germans were tried as war criminals in Article 228-230. These legal restrictions were of great embarrassment to the German population. The deep scorn left by the Treaty was felt throughout, stinging directly to the nationalistic heart of ever German. It was referred to as a ‘Diktat,’ (Imposed settlement) since no Germans were allowed to be involved in the making of the Treaty. When the results of ‘The Big Three’s work was announced to Germany on May 7 1919, Count Brockdorff-Rantzau gave a long speech directed at

tarnishing the Treaty. Many upset Germans were against signing anything produced by the Treaty’s delegates. They suggested starting up another war but Germany was left in such a wreck after WW2 that they could not finance it. The President forced the opposing Reichstag into agreeing to sign; this did not sit well with any of the German representatives. The Treaty was supposed to calm the water by crippling German’s economic recourses to ensure they would never forget the devastating loss of WW2.

Appeasement was a frantic attempt to contain Hitler’s power and give the other countries involved a momentarily peace of mind. The new Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain dealt heavily with foreign policy known as appeasement with Nazi Germany. Chamberlain’s impression was that the Allies had given Germany too heavy of restraints that caused unnecessary damage to the country. Chamberlain

was under the impression that by appeasing to Hitler’s demands he could aid in avoiding another outburst of German fury. Hitler, Chamberlain, the French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier and the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini came together to sign an agreement that allowed Germany to have unrestrained control over the Sudetenland. Even though the Head of State for Czechoslovakia, Eduard Benes showed heavy protest over the Munich agreement, it was passed under the intention of protection for Europe. Most people inhabiting Britain were very fond of the agreement since it seemed to be a reasonable way to prevent further disturbances. The agreement, consequently lost support from the Czech Army that at the time was one for the finest in Europe. Czechoslovakia was apprehended by the German army in March 1939, bringing a drastic end to the Munich agreement that wasn’t able to provide more then a years worth of protection.WW2 blazed a trail though history, not giving any regard to the policy of appeasement. Directly showing that appeasement wasn’t a good tactic to use against the prevention of a global war and that those who stood by it were aiding destruction.

World War II was a war of many aspects, transcending many complications and

events that built up a balloon of terrible intentions. In comparison, WWI was built on one catalyst causing a domino effect allowing resentment to be released in the form of war. Where as,WWII had many catalysts that were not big enough to cause a war alone. For instance, the Great Depression was not enough to start a war by any means. It was however, enough to lay the groundwork for a dictatorship to bring the economy back to what it had been previously. The causes leading to World War were: Appeasement, The Treaty of Versailles, The Great Depression, extreme nationalism, and the failure of the League of Nations. These problems and events came together in such a perfect timing that they set off World War 2.