Causes of World War II
Why did war erupt in 1939?
War erupted in 1939 for many of reasons. There is long-term cause which is the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty of Versailles had a significant effect on why war erupted in 1939; however there are also many mid-term causes that also helped lead to World War Two. These are; the Failure of the League of Nations and The Wall Street Crash. The short-term causes are The Appeasement and Hitler’s actions.
One of the short term causes of World War two was Hitler’s actions. Hitler started building up his army and air force merely days after being appointed leader in 1933. He had to do this in secret as rearmament was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler also defied the Treaty again and made his first aggressive move by sending troops to reoccupy the Rhineland; the Treaty of Versailles had ordered Germany to demilitarize the Rhineland as a punishment. Hitler justified his actions by claiming that German territory should be protected by German troops. Hitler also wanted to unite Austria and Germany. This was also forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. He sent troops into Austria and forced the Austrian leader to hold a vote to see if the Austrian people wanted to join forces with Germany. Hitler made sure the vote was rigged so that over 99% of the Austrian people voted for unification. Hitler then demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechlovakia join Germany. He stated that most of the people living in this region were German and therefore wanted them to unite with Germany and the rest of Czechlovakia was invaded shortly afterwards. Hitler and Stalin then signed a non-aggression pact called the Nazi-Soviet pact. They agreed not to fight each other and to divide up Poland between them. This meant that Hitler would not have to fight a war on two fronts. Hitler demasnded back the parts of Poland that had been taken away from Germany. By the Treaty of Versailles, Poland refused and on 1st September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. This
War erupted in 1939 for many of reasons. There is long-term cause which is the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty of Versailles had a significant effect on why war erupted in 1939; however there are also many mid-term causes that also helped lead to World War Two. These are; the Failure of the League of Nations and The Wall Street Crash. The short-term causes are The Appeasement and Hitler’s actions.
One of the short term causes of World War two was Hitler’s actions. Hitler started building up his army and air force merely days after being appointed leader in 1933. He had to do this in secret as rearmament was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler also defied the Treaty again and made his first aggressive move by sending troops to reoccupy the Rhineland; the Treaty of Versailles had ordered Germany to demilitarize the Rhineland as a punishment. Hitler justified his actions by claiming that German territory should be protected by German troops. Hitler also wanted to unite Austria and Germany. This was also forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. He sent troops into Austria and forced the Austrian leader to hold a vote to see if the Austrian people wanted to join forces with Germany. Hitler made sure the vote was rigged so that over 99% of the Austrian people voted for unification. Hitler then demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechlovakia join Germany. He stated that most of the people living in this region were German and therefore wanted them to unite with Germany and the rest of Czechlovakia was invaded shortly afterwards. Hitler and Stalin then signed a non-aggression pact called the Nazi-Soviet pact. They agreed not to fight each other and to divide up Poland between them. This meant that Hitler would not have to fight a war on two fronts. Hitler demasnded back the parts of Poland that had been taken away from Germany. By the Treaty of Versailles, Poland refused and on 1st September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland. This