Causes of World War II

The Causes of World War II focus on Gemrany in Europe and Japan in the Pacific/Asia.

see also World War II

Causes: Europe

The war began with the German invasion of Poland on the 1st September 1939. Britain and France declared war on Germany in response.

1920s

The condition of Germany in the aftermath of World War I is also considered to be a contributing factor. The Weimar Republic that was founded at the end of WWI, was struggling from the beginning. One reason were the harsh terms of Versailles treaty. Although the terms of the treaty were never fully enforced, the psychological damage was immense, since they were perceived as a grave injustice. The republic was also struggling with the rejection by monarchist, who were still occupying important position in the state. Many WWI veterans believed that the German forces in WWI were not defeated, but that the social democratic leaders, who founded the Weimar republic to thwart a communist revolution, surrendered to the allies for political gains. It was known as the "stab-in-the-back myth", and was used to discredit the republic. [2] Although the Weimar Republic enjoyed a time of economic resurgence after the early years of hyper-inflation it failed to gain deep public support. The Weimar Republic was famously called a democracy without democrats.

Japanese Expansion in Asia, 1928 - 1941. [1]

1930s

In the early 1930 Germany was in a permanent political and constitutional crisis, caused by rising unemployment during the great depression. Germany was hit harder than most other countries. The National Socialists, known as the Hitler movement, promised to restore national pride and statue, by disbanding the Versailles treaty, and reverting the injustices imposed onto Germany by its international enemies. It was common to blame the "international Jewdom." Part of this ideology was that Germany deserved to be larger, and that in order to survive, it would have to conquer the East.

The Ethiopian War

In 1935, fascist Italy under the leadership of Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, the only uncolonized nation in Africa and a member state of the League of Nations. While Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie tried to get the League to help his country, his pleas in Geneva went unheard. Italy's colonial occupation of Ethiopia was marked by the aerial bombardment and use of poison gas against civilian populations.

Spanish Civil War

Main article: Spanish Civil War

Munich 1938

Main article Munich conference

The Locarno Pacts formed the background for the events of 1938 when Czechoslovakia was dismembered at Munich. When the guarantee of Locarno became due in 1936, Britain dishonored its agreement, the Rhineland was remilitarized and the way was open for Germany to move eastward. Poland protested vigorously at the refusal to guarantee her frontiers.

At Munich, Hitler, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Mussolini and French Premier Edouard Daladier carved up Czechoslovakia without consulting anyone, least of all the Czechs and Slovaks. The outlawry of war was relatively meaningless without some sanctions that could compel the use of peaceful methods. Efforts in this direction were nullified by Britain.