To what extent was the Treaty of Versaillesthe cause of World War 2?
To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles the cause of World War 2? The harsh treaty of Versailles, was simply unjust, and conjured up within the once proud German nation, feelings of hate towards the allies. Germany was forced to sign, what was referred to as a "diktat". This huge conflict had left Europe devastated, claiming the lives of millions. Europe had become financially exhausted at the expense of weapons. Germany was compelled to accept full responsibility of the damage caused by the war, the "war guilt clause" it was called. Due to the war guilt clause full payments had to be made to the allies for the damage caused by the war. As if this wasn't enough, Germany's territory was literally chopped off. These clauses within the treaty that Germany was forced to ratify, would be considered harsh, even if it was set to an unaffected country, that had suffered no structural damage, wasn't completely bankrupt and didn't loose territory. How harsh would a person be if they not only unjustly asked huge amounts of compensation from you, but also took away your means of getting this money? This was certainly the case when the allies carved up Germany. Clemenceau wanted Germany to pay. Germany lost her main coal producing territories of Upper Silesia. Wilson had published his 14 points, one of which stating that all countries are equal. With this in mind Germany came
Cause of World War I
History Essay Causes of World War I "Why did World War I start in 1914 and not earlier?" Lauren Young Miss Mosher 11HL April.16/07 1320 Words The origins of World War I can be traced back from the 1870's up to 1914, the beginning of the war. Between these two dates there would be a chain of events that would lead Europe to the outbreak of war. Throughout the 40 years leading to war, Europe had survived continuous crises increasing the friction between powers but not enough to start what was soon to come, one of the greatest wars of all time. By 1914 these problems within Europe had become insoluble apart from resorting to war, shown by the outcome from the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Habsburg on the 28th of June, igniting the breakout of war. In 1914, there had already been conflict and tension building, what was needed was one event to set everything off. It was inevitable that a war was coming but it was in 1914 where everything would come together and World War I would be born. Leading up to war, the international atmosphere was calmer then it had been for a long time. The Balkan problems were threatening but many statesmen were devoted to peace. When Europe entered war in July of 1914, few were psychologically prepared for the catastrophe soon to occur. The events leading to war start with the outcome of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-1 causing the
Cause of the First World War
History assignment for Tuesday 6 October 2008. Cause of the First World War To what extend can Germany be held responsible for the outbreak of the First World War? In five days time we will reach the 11. of November 2008, which will be the date for the ninety anniversary for the armistice between the Triple Entente and the Triple Allied. And even though we soon will be reaching this ninety anniversary, the final cause of the First World War haven't been testified yet. So when we ask; to what extend can Germany be held responsible for the outbreak of the First World War, we have to consider that responsibility isn't always, as in the Treaty of Versailles, the one who had to surrender and therefore lost. The Treaty of Versailles was founded exactly five years after the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on the 28. of June 1914 in Sarajevo, this treaty is well known for its article 2.3.1; The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.1 The article implies that because Germany has the responsibility of the loss and damage, she is the one who is responsible for the outbreak of
Causes of World War 2
Throughout history various historians have looked into the roots and causes of World War 2 and ended up with many different conclusions and results depending on what sources they looked at, how they interpreted and analyzed them and their own personal opinions; whether biased or neutral. There is no doubt that the Second World War was one of the most devastating and most brutal wars of all time. It was a wakeup call to the human race. This war showed just how cruel people can be and the full extent of what modern warfare was capable of. Millions upon millions of people died across the various continents of the world. But what on earth could bring up such a merciless war and why did it happen? Throughout this essay, numerous sources will be analyzed to give a concise and informative conclusion to this question through the analysis of many different sources. First and foremost, it is widely believed by some people that World War II was not in fact an individual war of its own, but merely a continuation of World War I after its abrupt halting as a result of the German government at the time surrendering. Many soldiers and citizens of Germany were devastated and shocked both psychologically and morally as they believed that were going to be victorious no matter what happened. This meant that many blamed the current German government for this and were consequently put in a very
Cause of World War 1
Q: "Nationalistic fervour was responsible for the outbreak of war." Do you agree with this statement? Argue your case. Nationalistic fervour was indeed responsible for the outbreak of war, as all the main causes of the war stem from the ideals of nationalism. There are two notable definitions of what nationalism means that can help historians determine what nationalism is. The Macquarie Dictionary defines nationalism as "the desire for national advancement of independence" and the World Book 2001 defines it as "wanting the best for a nation one is affiliated with." From these two definitions, as historians, we can link all the main causes of World War One to nationalistic fervour. Colonialism of Africa and the crises in Morocco added to tensions between Germany, Britain and France. The tensions in the Balkans coupled with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand all came from the thoughts of Serbian nationalism. The countries that were part of the alliance system and the treaties that went with the balance of power also wanted the best for their nation. The arms race and German militarism was a competition between Germany and Britain to have the best military, trade and empire. All the main causes of the Great War are all linked to nationalistic fervour in some way. Colonialism in Africa and the crises of 1905 and 1911 in Morocco certainly added to the nationalistic fervour
World War 1 - the main cause
History assessment Introduction Why did WWI start and what was the main cause? There were about 5 main powers at the time all with their own ambitions and empires these were Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Britain. So the whole of Europe was set to a Great War for many reasons, nationalism in the Balkans, imperialism from Germany who wanted to rival Britain in her empire and navy, also militarism and the system of alliances (the triple entente and the triple alliance).I think the most important cause was the system of alliances because when something triggered one country brought another one in, so instead of 2 countries fighting you have all 6 having a great war. However the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June 1914 was the main trigger of WWI. This links on to nationalism because that assassination was because of friction between different groups in the Balkans. Reasons Nationalism in the Balkans was a problem for the Austro-Hungarian Empire who wanted to colonize the area along with Russia and Germany. The evidence of problem was that there were 17 nationalities in the Austro-Hungarian empire who all wanted independence which caused the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand to free Serbia and that led to the outbreak of world war one due to the system of alliances. But what caused nationalism was the imperialism from other countries and that
World War 2.
World War 2 The War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in our lifetime. In the 20th century alone we have already had two huge wars. These wars were call the World Wars simply because they involved most of the big countries of the world. Many people have died in these wars.. especially the second World War. That is my focus for this essay. The leader of Germany at the time of WW2 and the person who most think started WW2 was a man named Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. By the time that World War 1 started in 1914, he was living in Germany. He served well in the German Army and for that he earned a medal for bravery. At the end of the war Hitler decided to take up politics. By 1921 he was already the founding leader of the Nazi party. Hitler was an incredibly racist man and he had a great hate for Jews. By 1933, Hitler gained political power by winning the election. Soon after he made himself absolute dictator, calling himself the Fuhrer which means "Leader". By the end of the 30's he was already sending Jews off too concentration camps to meet a horrible death. I believe that Hitler was one of the greatest causes of World War 2. Although there are many other reasons, he was definitely one of them. Another reason was the Treaty of Versailles. This
World War 2
How significant was the British Contribution to World War 2? There were many different events that had major contributions from the British. Some were contributed more to than other events. The contribution changes over time, and we must also look at the contribution of other countries as well. I think that the most significant contribution of Britain in the 2nd World War was the Battle of Britain, while second to it were the Battles of the Atlantic, and the contribution of other countries. Britain's contribution to the war at the beginning was not much. The Phoney War, bought time for the other powers, to prepare to fight Germany, which agrees with Stalin's phrase: Britain gave time, America gave money, and Russia gave blood. They sent troops to Norway after this, and they learnt what type of tactics they should use in the future such as how effective air superiority was, and that it should be used. However there were no major battles for the British and they find themselves alone, after the disaster of Dunkirk. The significance is very little compared to times like the Battle of Britain and D-Day. The most significant contribution to the war from Britain was the Battle of Britain. The British faced 2500 planes that were going to attack the British aerodromes and cities while the British could only use 660 planes. Control of air superiority in Britain would make the
The 'cause' of the First World War.
The 'cause' of the First World War has always been a subject of intense debate. There are many explanations on offer and it is easy to conform to one of the crude views expressed by the warring governments that it was one power or a group of powers that provoked war. We must look at the wider picture; from the cometh of war in 1914 all the major powers had some military plans drawn up for the eventuality of conflict, be it a war of attrition or a war that had been forced upon them, they all had plans which would defeat at least one major adversary. Early in the war Lenin a Russian Marxist, living in Switzerland offered an explanation that the war was the product of large economic forces embedded in the capitalist system. This view argues it was militant imperialism which capitalism had created, rather than mismanagement of the July Crisis of 1914. Alternatively, Geiss argued that German was aggressive by its very 'nature' as it defined her role based on the theory of Social Darwinism; that is the belief in the survival of the fittest. With the 'concentric circles' of Joll we can identify such a link with capitalism and militant imperialism. Especially when we look at the roles of Walther Ratheneau head of the industrial giant A.E.G. and Deutsche Bank's Von Guwinner both men supported a war as it would result in huge profit. This was indeed the fact as the German Air
Hitler's actions were the only cause of World War 2. How far do you agree with this statement?
History Essay for 16/9/11 By Benjamin Bloch Topic: Hitlers actions were the only cause of World War 2. How far do you agree with this statement? It is very easy to place the entire blame for starting World War 2 on Hitler's foreign policy. In this essay, I will show that Hitler's foreign policy was a major factor in causing the war, but that other reasons contributed as well. The first, and possibly the root cause, is the Treaty of Versailles, of 1919. The harshness of the Treaty and the way in which it blamed Germany for World War 1 humiliated and crippled Germany. Much of its territory was taken away, as well as 100,000 troops, ban on armored vehicles, ban on airplanes, ban on conscription, Rhineland demilitarization and only 6 battleships were allowed. The Treaty also forced harsh reparation payments (£6,6 billion) resulting in a great deal of the German public resenting Britain, France and America. Later, Hitler used the publicly bitter memories of the Treaty of Versailles to gain public support. Another factor in causing World War II was the Wall Street Crash of 1929 resulting in a worldwide economic depression. Not only did these cause countries such as Britain and France to take a less active foreign policy, but also it destroyed the newly found prosperity in Germany ('Golden Age'/'Roaring 20's') and left many people unemployed. The USA demanded their loans to
