Militarism And Imperialism: The Start Of World War II

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Majority of the world's nations, including all the countries described as the great powers, fought as part of two military coalitions commonly known as the Allied Powers and the Axis Alliance. The main powers of the Allied Powers were Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. The main aggressors, the Axis Alliance, included Germany, Italy, Japan and many smaller powers of eastern Europe. The war is described as a "total war", meaning all resources a country had were used in the war, even those that didn't belong to the army, with places such as factories being utilized as extensions solely for the building of weapons.
The start of the war is said to be the German invasion of Poland on 1st September 1939. However, the were numerous long term effects that led to the start of the war such as the Paris Peace Treaties, and the failure of the League of Nations. In addition, ideologies such as militarism and imperialism were predominantly favored by many countries in Europe.
Imperialism is described as "extending a country's power through military and diplomacy" (Oxford University, 2017). Imperialism is a policy that involves spreading a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means. It also said to allow for the rapid spread of technologies and ideas. The term imperialism has been applied to Western political and economic dominance especially in Asia and Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. This type of foreign policy was practiced by European nations and the Asian nation Japan throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. It mainly occurs when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region and controls its economic, political, or cultural life. In most cases, the imperialist nation would have to through the process of
Britain's imperialist ambitions can be seen as early as the sixteenth century. In the 19th century, during what known as the “Scramble for Africa”, Britain succeeded in seizing several parts of Eastern and Southern Africa. The main reason behind this scramble was that as European nations developed a competitive nature with one another, and therefore there was an increased pressure to practice imperialism in order to maintain a balance of power in Europe. The British system of self‐governing colonies and self-sufficient protectorates in a sense seemed to practically backfired as it condemned the British Empire. In the future, these protectorates would kick-start the decolonization process which Britain could not afford to handle. As a colony developed both social and economically, it would most likely also develop a sense of nationalism because a more developed colony would gain a national identity and this would be further encouraged by constructing a regional government and a constitutional system. So, in effect, this system urges colonies towards the concept of independence. In certain colonies, such as India, which was once described as the ‘Jewel of the British Empire,’ it’s movement towards