Causes of World War Ii
Causes of World War II
The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay the money and during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor. There were not many jobs and the price of food and basic goods was high. People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles. His name was Adolf Hitler.
The causes of World War Two can be divided into long term causes and short term causes. There can be little doubt that one of the long term causes of the war was the anger felt in Weimar Germany that was caused by the Treaty of Versailles. Another long term cause was the obvious inability of the League of Nations to deal with major international issues. In the 1930’s these would have been in Manchuria and Abyssinia. In both conflicts the League showed that it was unable to control those powers that worked outside of accepted international law. In the case of Manchuria it was Japan and in Abyssinia it was Mussolini’s Italy. Key events that led to the war included the 1939 invasion of Poland and the 1937 invasion of the Republic of China by the Empire of Japan. The U.S. entered the war when it was attacked by Japan on 7 December 1941.[1]
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany, without a declaration of war, invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, and all the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, except Ireland, rapidly followed suit. The fighting in Poland was brief. The German blitzkrieg, with its use of new techniques of mechanized and air warfare, crushed the Polish defenses, and the conquest was almost complete when Soviet forces entered on September, 17 in East Poland. While this campaign ended with the partition of Poland and while the USSR defeated Finland in the Finnish-Russian War, 1939–40, the British and the French spent an inactive winter behind the Maginot Line, content with
The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay the money and during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor. There were not many jobs and the price of food and basic goods was high. People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles. His name was Adolf Hitler.
The causes of World War Two can be divided into long term causes and short term causes. There can be little doubt that one of the long term causes of the war was the anger felt in Weimar Germany that was caused by the Treaty of Versailles. Another long term cause was the obvious inability of the League of Nations to deal with major international issues. In the 1930’s these would have been in Manchuria and Abyssinia. In both conflicts the League showed that it was unable to control those powers that worked outside of accepted international law. In the case of Manchuria it was Japan and in Abyssinia it was Mussolini’s Italy. Key events that led to the war included the 1939 invasion of Poland and the 1937 invasion of the Republic of China by the Empire of Japan. The U.S. entered the war when it was attacked by Japan on 7 December 1941.[1]
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany, without a declaration of war, invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, and all the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, except Ireland, rapidly followed suit. The fighting in Poland was brief. The German blitzkrieg, with its use of new techniques of mechanized and air warfare, crushed the Polish defenses, and the conquest was almost complete when Soviet forces entered on September, 17 in East Poland. While this campaign ended with the partition of Poland and while the USSR defeated Finland in the Finnish-Russian War, 1939–40, the British and the French spent an inactive winter behind the Maginot Line, content with