Causes+of+World+War+2



These are the major causes of World War 2. When we look back at World War 1, it seemed as though it was merely a battle amongst imperial powers. By the late 1930's, World War 2 was unavoidable. It is often considered to be the "Good War", in that it was a fight between good (us) and evil (Germany, Japan, Italy). This is fairly accurate, though, as we'll see, we aren't as good as we'd like to think.

1. The Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Germany resented the terms of the Treaty. They felt that it was the reason for their struggles as a nation. They wanted to avenge the Treaty in order to return to ‘greatness’.

2. The Devastation of the Depression
The Depression forced the allied countries to focus on getting themselves out of economic trouble. As a result, Germany was able to recover from WWI because countries were distracted with their own problems

3. Failures of the League of Nations
The League was unable to prevent international conflicts in Manchuria, Abyssinia and Spain. The major powers in the world did not support the League. Nations refused to impose economic sanctions against aggressive nations because they didn’t want to lose the trade. Many nations believed in isolationism at this time and did not get involved in foreign conflicts.

4. The Rise of Fascism
Fascism became popular in Italy and Germany during the 1920’s. It was characterized by a strong central government that completely controlled politics, the economy, religion and social activities. Fascism was supported by the people who felt that the government was the only body capable of returning these countries to greatness. Fascism led to militarism, nationalism and the persecution of minorities

5. German Violation of the Treaty of Versailles
Between 1933 and 1935 Hitler began to re-arm the German military. In 1935 he regained the Saar Valley on the French border and in 1936 Germany occupied the Rhineland. Both areas had populations of German speaking people. This was a part of ‘Lebensraum’, Hitler’s plan to gain ‘living space’ for Germany. These actions were not punished because it was believed by Britain that Hitler had a ‘right’ to do so. But, by 1936 France & Britain began to build up their armed forces.

Check out this student project about the causes of WW2. A Grade 10 student did this!

Watch this video to see how Germany under Hitler challenged the Treaty.