Hitler was a very aggressive leader who would turn to violence if he did not get what he wanted. He once said:
"Our motto shall be 'if you will not be a German, I will bash your skull in'"!
His whole foreign policy from coming to power seems to be focused on preparing for a war. In October 1933, soon after coming to be dictator of Germany, Hitler showed his contempt for the Treaty of Versailles by withdrawing from the League of nations which also showed his lack of desire for peace. At the same time he also withdrew from the disarmament conference again showing peace was not a big priority for him. Infact he straight away, against the Treaty of Versailles, began to build up Germany's army, navy and airforce (Luftwaffe), spending a huge proportion of Germany's income on the military; in 1935 Hitler introduced conscription. Hitler also, chiefly through propaganda, attempted to increase Germany's birth rate; perhaps preparing for a much later war or great losses. He also started the 'Hitler Youth' where young boys were indoctrinated with Nazi ideas and trained to fight and accept war. Hitler thought Germany had lost W.W.I as they had to rely on other countries for war materials and this is why he wanted to achieve autarky (self-sufficiency) in Germany. His introduction of the four year plan seems to us to be an obvious way of Hitler saying he wanted a war. The plan aimed to make Germany self-sufficient in war materials such as steel, rubber and oil.Infact, the amount of money invested into the industry and military meant Germany needed a war to stop its economy from collapsing (one can rape a country of its materials once it has been conquered). Hitler taking the Rhineland and annexing of the Sudetenland, although aggressive, was reasonable as both contained mainly Germans. His 'pressurised' take over of Czechoslovakia however was a lot different as it contained few Germans. It was not a reversal of the Treaty of Versailles but Hitler's first strive for Lebensraum. The final straw was Hitler's 'Blitzkrieg'(lightning war) of Poland. France and Britain thought that Hitler had overstepped the line in his take over of Czechoslovakia, so they stated that they would stand by Poland in case of war. Hitler wrongly thought that this was an idle threat so attacked, and thus, W.W.II was declared.
Although France and Britain declared war I think we can blame Hitler. He was the aggressor who at all times seemed to be preparing and encouraging a war. However, Hitler never wanted a war with Britain and France and we must, as well as blame, address the issue of responsibility which many hold.
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Britain, France, America and Italy in 1919; Germany was only invited to listen to their fate being discussed. In the treaty Germany:
• lost lots of land including West Prussia, North Schleswig and Danzig as well as the Saarland for 15 years and the Rhineland demilitarised.
• had their army limited to 100,000 men no tanks or aircraft and only 6 battleships
• had to accept responsibility and blame for the war and thus:
• had to pay 6,600 million dollars in reparations
Germany as the losers of the war had to accept the Treaty. It made their once strong country weak and responsible for a war which seemed to have killed millions of their own men in vain. It made the Germans angry and without pride. From anger comes retaliation and revenge which of course was not possible then. Their resentment made Hitler's aim of reversing the Treaty much more appealing as it was what many German's wanted to restore their country's strength and national pride. The harshness of the Treaty later led to other countries feeling guilty so they were more lenient with appeasement and giving 'weak' Germany the benefit of the doubt. However this is really bad because Germany started to disobey more of the conditions of the treaty of Versailles this led to Hitler regaining land and creating a bigger army.
Britain and France hold some responsibility for World War 2 as their policy of appeasement allowed Germany to be in a position of strength. However, Hitler's early demands were reasonable and he didn't begin to make unreasonable demands until he was in a position of strength, when Britain and France could not easily refuse. Germany had been spending a quarter of her budget on the military, whilst Britain and France had been spending much less as they were not preparing for a war and they had also spent more on trying to sort out the depression. They had to let Germany get away with things so that they could get stronger. When they were strong enough to resist Germany, they declared war.
As we can see there are lots of reasons why Hitler was able to get into a position to start World War II, but it was Hitler who was the aggressor who had prepared his country for war and this is why he is to blame for the war. However, is it actually possible for one man to be responsible for pulling the whole world into disarray? Hitler only wanted a war with the East. We must remember there are many others responsible for allowing the war to happen. The Treaty of Versailles stabbed the new Weimar Republic and democracy itself in the back setting up their demise (soon to be followed by Hitler) just over a decade later. The treaty, through reparations made the depression so much worse in Germany which made people support the radical extremist parties. The Depression, although no-ones responsibility allowed Hitler to get into power. It caused the failure of the League of Nations and weakened many countries as they limited their military spending. Perhaps it was the responsibility of Britain and France for following such a loose policy of appeasement. It was definitely blind of them for not accepting Russia's offer of alliance as that would surely have stopped Hitler; at this point they should have realised how much of a threat Hitler was and combined with Russia to stop him. Little has been said about America whos presence in the League may well have saved it; however they followed an isolationist policy and preferred not to get involved in important world affairs. Their added support may well have prevented the war. So concluding although Hitler was to blame for the war, there are many others responsible for allowing him to become strong. Luckily for Hitler the Depression happened, without which he would never have got into power and become so much stronger militarily in comparison to other countries. I believe those responsible helped to cause the war as they should not have allowed Hitler to be in such a strong position and the whole international naivity in not being prepared to react, was a cause for the war.
