What were the causes of World War II?

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What were the causes of

World War II?

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2004.03.16

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  Many reasons have been given why World War II started in September 1939. Some historians believe that the unfairness of the Treaty of Versailles made another war inevitable. Others argue that Hitler was solely responsible for the war and yet others believe that the policy of appeasement was the main cause. The weakness of the League of Nations certainly did not help and American isolationism and the Nazi-Soviet Pact mat also have plated an important role.

  The years of World War II were the times of the largest worldwide conflict. Every major power in the world was involved in this disagreement. The powers were split up into two sides; the Allies and the Axis.

  After losing World War I Germany was forced, by the Allies, to sign the Treaty of Versailles (ToV) in June 1919. This treaty consisted of all points about Germany’s new ‘rules’. As we know, not only Germany, that eventually lost the war, was destructed effectively during the war. The Allied countries were damaged even more.

  The treaty forced Germany to repay the countries. A plan was created for Germany, so that they could pay the debt as quickly as possible. Of course this did not happen. This was one of the reasons behind WWII. Germany couldn’t cope with the extreme costs, thus printing exceeded amounts of money. This eventually led to the devaluation of the German Mark. There has probably not been any depression as big as that one, hence the name The Great Depression. Just to buy a small amount of dairy products, when those were available, you’d need so much money, that you would have to carry it in a wheeler barrow. It was cheaper to hang wallpaper using the bills than to buy wallpaper and use it. The treaty itself did not mention the price of the repair costs. Germany wouldn’t like to sign it, as the Allies could ask for an imagined sum, but they had no choice.

  Germany’s army was to be reduced. The nation got a limit of troops they had permission to recruit. If Germany wouldn’t obey the rule, the Allies would put there military powers into action. Germany had no rights for a reserve army. It was not allowed to manufacture military equipment and vehicles as tanks, artillery, airplanes or poison gas. The nation could have no submarines not battleships larger than 10000 tons. The Allies imposed all of the measures to be confident about Germany being a peaceful country.

  The Treaty of Versailles made Germany lose a considerable amount of territory. This consisted areas along the northern, western and eastern borders, as well as all the overseas colonies. The country agreed not to fortify Rhineland, which was occupied by Allied troops for an unspecified amount of time. The Saar Valley was to fall under the administration of the League of Nations for approximately 15 years. That was because the land had a lot of the natural resource coal. The Allies did take control of this and the economical income went directly to France as partial reparation costs. After 15 years, the people from Saar Valley where to decide whether they want to join France or rejoin Germany.

  Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) in 1924. He was then in prison. Many historians believe that Hitler needed a war to allow his ideas in Mein Kampf to come true.

  The League of Nations (LoN) was an alliance of various countries. The international alliance’s goal was to preserve world peace and they were very confident about it. It was created after WWI.

  The league searched for a collective security against all criminal threats of war. Sadly the league was too passive and rarely used all the available resources, as they were slow in drawing immediate and concrete decisions. This was proven when Hitler was rising to power.

  Yet the League of Nations was a major power. The original membership of the League included the victorious Allies of World War I, with the exception of the United States, whose Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, and most of the neutral nations. This means that Britain and France were one of the original members.

  The league had, as stated before, in mission to preserve world peace. They had to supervise colonies. The colonies’ economical situation, geographical situation and stage of development varied; consequently the territories were given different degrees. The league had to fight against narcotics and prostitution as well as aid the refugees of WWI. They strived after better health care in hospitals and better labour conditions over the world.

  Even though this was a coalition of the Great Powers supposed to work together, they preferred to take care of there own business. Perhaps they did not see the league as very serious when the US wasn’t a member of it. Later on, before WWII, great powers of Europe joined up. Germany did however drop out, as the idea of the LoN was against Hitler’s thoughts.

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  Finally, the league became quite powerless when it came to prevent the bad events happening in Europe which eventually led to WWII.
 Adolf Hitler’s ideas were basically against the Treaty of Versailles. He hated the fact of the Treaty of Versailles, in fact, controlling his country. His main ideas were just the opposite of the ToV’s. He wanted to have a huge army and saw no reason why not to. He wanted the land of Rhineland to be protected with troops. He wanted to unite with Austria. He did not accept the fact that the people of his nation ...

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