World War II was the deadliest conflict in history. The World War was fought between the Allies, Great Britain, Russia, United States, France and the Axis, Germany, Italy and Japan. World War II started on September the 1st in 1939, the war lasted until 1945. The war ended with Germany surrendering. 50-70 million lives were lost during World War II, it was a horrifying war. This essay will focus on the cause of World War II and its smaller contributing factors. What was the main cause of World War II? The main cause was the World War I Peace Treaty, the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles is responsible for World War II for a number of reasons including, providing false hope, pushing things too far, the cause of German reparations, redrawn boundaries, and the creation of weaker nations. Although the treaty was the main cause, the smaller contributing factors that will be mentioned are, Hitler and his leadership, revenge, and determination.
At the end of World War I all the nations had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace settlement to stop another World War occurring. The terms of this treaty was very harsh on Germany. By signing the treaty Germany had to take full responsibility for World War I, were forced to pay a massive reparations bill, part of German territory was given to their neighbouring countries- France, Denmark, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Their colonies were divided up between the allies, the German army was limited to only 100,000 men, conscription was put to an end, the air force was disbanded, and the manufacture of weapons and munitions in German factories was limited. These terms led to Germany having an unstable economy, with mass unemployment, and a whole lot of resentment and bitterness.
By making all these nations agree to terms such as this is going to make some countries mad, or like Germany, embarrassed. Hitler was greatly