Why did war break out in Europe 1939

Authors Avatar

Why did war break out in Europe 1939?

  When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1939, he was not at all secretive about his plans for Germany. He had four main aims, which were:

  • Abolish the Treaty of Versailles
  • Expand German territory
  • Defeat communism
  • The creation of One Reich

   He, like many others, believed the Treaty of Versailles was unjust and planned to abolish it. He called the German leaders who signed the Treaty the “November Criminals”. The treat was a constant reminder of Germany’s defeat in the First World War and their mortification by the Allies.  The first step of getting revenge on the Treaty would be rearmament. When Hitler came into power thousands of unemployed workers were drafted into the army. He kept the rearmament secret at first, yet he soon withdrew from the League and openly staged a massive rally celebrating Germany’s armed forces in 1935. He managed to get away with the rearmament, which also boosted the Nazi support. Hitler planned on reintroducing conscription (which he did in 1936) and remilitarising the Rhineland. Hitler wanted to get back Germany’s territory as well as unite with Austria (Anschluss). He wanted German minorities in other countries, e.g. Czechoslovakia to rejoin Germany, and provide Lebensraum (living space) for the German people by taking over land in the east. This would help create One Reich and being back Germany’s self determination which was taken away from them at the end of World War 1. Hitler also hated Jews, communists and all other “sub humans”. He wanted to destroy Bolshevism, as he believed Bolsheviks helped defeat Germany in the First World War as well as had plans to take over Germany. After Hitler started rearming, his first real ‘action taken’, was remilitarising the Rhineland. This was a big gamble for Hitler for he did not know how the League would react. If he were told to withdraw he would have no choice, as his forces were still not that strong. This would have meant losing support of the German army and facing humiliation. The League however, had more pressing matters at hand (Abyssinian crisis) and so didn’t react. Before this, in 1935, Hitler also regained control over the Saarland. This was given to the League to supervise over a period of 15 years, after which a plebiscite would be handed out to see where the people wanted to belong (France or Germany). 90% voted for Germany, which was a big morale boost for Hitler. In 1938, Hitler managed to take over Austria, which yet again got him closer to his goal. Hitler encouraged the Nazi’s in Austria to make a riot and call for a union with Germany. Hitler told the Austrian chancellor Schuschnigg that only an Anschluss could sort these problems out. Britain and France refused to help and so Schuschnigg called for a plebiscite. Hitler however was not prepared to lose this and so sent troops in to make sure a “trouble-free” plebiscite. Hitler got his goal with a 99.75% support. This made him more powerful and closer to creating one Reich as well as unite all German speakers. After the Anschluss occurred, Hitler moved onto Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland (which I shall talk about later on).

Join now!

        In the 1930’s there were two incidents that really tested the League of Nations, both proving its malfunctioning. These incidents were the Manchurian Crisis in 1931 and the Abyssinian Crisis in 1935. Both incidents involved large, powerful countries invading weaker countries basically for excuses and small unnecessary reasons. In both cases, the League proved incapable and inadequate, as the countries in the League were more concerned about their own domestic problems. In the Manchuria incident Britain and France had excuses, as Japan was far away they didn’t want to lose Japan as a trading partner. Neither ...

This is a preview of the whole essay