The invasion by the German military into Poland on September 1, 1939 is frequently recognized as the legitimate beginning to World War II, as Britain and France formally declared war on Germany following Germany’s invasion into Poland. However, although Hitler’s hostile military action toward Poland triggered the outbreak of World War II, this does not necessarily mean that Hitler intended to start a world war in 1939. Indeed, historians debate whether Hitler planned to provoke a word war when he invaded Poland. In order to better understand Hitler’s motivations, it is necessary to gain a broader of understanding of the geopolitical and economic environment leading up to World War II. The events that led to World War II are closely connected to the roots of World War I. Germany and its leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and its allies, were defeated by the United Kingdom and France in World War I. Germany was the scapegoat of the war, and after the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to pay heavy war reparations ($30 billion) and to disarm. In addition, land was taken away from Germany and given to other countries. There were additional restrictions on Germany, i.e., it could not form a union with Austria. The Germans resented the Treaty, and the reparations had an impact on Germany’s economy which was struggling in the wake of the Great Depression of 1929, which led to high unemployment and general discontentment in the population. It is not surprising then that in the
From the Treaty of Versailles, to the rise of Hitler, and the failure of the League of Nations, there were many causes that lead up to World War II. World War I left Germany with many shortfalls, thus leaving them in the hands of the Treaty of Versailles. Rather unfair of a Treaty, this left Germany once again looking for another way out. A country resented by many had no other choice but to feel optimistic toward Adolph Hitlers empty promises… making it substantially simple for him to gain power so quick. Throw in the Great Depression, and you have a vastly unstable world, which the Germans believed Hitler would lead them out of.
Due to Germany taking back the colonies lost after World War I and forming an alliance with Austria, Germany’s actions against the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the cause of World War II. After Germany got slapped with a $33 Billion dollar war reparation bill and Kaiser Wilhelm was removed from power, Germany was a mess, which allowed the rise of Hitler. Hitler, being a former Iron Cross winning
World War I was a deadly war spurred on by a greed for economic and political power; violently effecting some twenty seven million people, it topped the charts of casualties. World War II, though, changed the playing field: it was even more deadly in more ways than one. At the end of World War I, the Versailles Treaty was drawn up by the victorious members of the war; this treaty burdened Germany with the fault of causing the war and implanted reparations in which Germany would repay others for damages done. This treaty ignited the spark that fueled World War II; Germany was forced to pay for World War I in land, gold, in giving up a majority of their military strength, and they suffered under the guilt of the war. By placing all of these reparations
Germany, after losing World War 1 encountered social and economic changes. The treaty of Versailles, which was one of the peace treaties created at the end of the war, made various restrictions to Germany. Consequently, the Nazi party, greatly affected by this punishment, tried to reestablish Germany prior wealth. Germany was blamed for the harm caused during World War I, and therefore, it placed total responsibility on the reparation payments, creating huge problems that disrupted their good economic development. Part of their territory had to be given to nations such as Belgium, France Poland and Denmark, how it is clearly stated in part II of the treaty 1.
Germany was responsible for a large portion of damage inflicted during WWI. This lead to the Versailles Treaty obligating Germany to pay reparations to repair the damage inflicted during the war. Articles 232 and 233 of the Versailles Treated required Germany to pay a $341 billion in a thirty-year period. At first, Germany felt angry and humiliated for having to pay these reparations, so they decided to pay an insignificant amount of money each time they made a payment. (Doc C) These reparation fees have upset Germany increased the rising tensions between Germany and the Allied
A third factor linking the Treaty of Versailles and the start of World War II was paying for reparations. Germany had to pay an enormous amount of money after the war as “compensation for all damage done” (Doc C). Told to pay what was worth 367 billion US dollars in 2010, the Germans were angry and humiliated. They payed very little, even after the amount was reduced. Once Hitler came to power all reparation payments stopped, and Germany only paid 2 billion marks in total (Doc C). The Germans were angry that they had to pay such reparations, and in economic trouble after paying so
The Tenth’s triumphs in Italy were demonstrative of the value of specialized forces. Their success both was very influential in the events of World War II and in proving the value of specialized forces. Once the government saw how effective the focused training of this division was, they realized that a new era had begun. The Tenth Mountain Division started the period of special forces.
After World War I legacy the Great Depression brought isolationism. The best work produced by President Roosevelt was the Four Freedoms; freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. President Roosevelt was the leader of the Allies, he used this statement as part of his Allies aim. The Soviet Union joined the Allies after being invaded by Germany. Millions of art were sold and reprinted as it publicizes the Four Freedom in 1943. In 1940s after tension between the United States and Japan over East Asia, on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. There was no warning of this attack happening as a result United States declared war on Japan. The Good neighbors policy was, brought into place by President Roosevelt and Hoover in 1930s. This was a policy that would help the relationship between Latin American countries and the Unites States. The good neighbors policy would not only help the Latin countries but also the United States with trade and military.
Helga Arthur was born January 16,1943 right in the middle of the second World War II in Berlin Germany. When I was interviewing Helga she discussed how her parents were originally from Estonia and had lost everything which lead them to fled to Germany. But then Germany became unsafe when her father hear the communist were moving in and that there was the potential for Germany to be divided between the U.S , Britain and Russian. So Helga’s father got them forged german red cross papers and they escaped in the middle of the night through farm lands and keep going in the directions of where the Americans were. There was a tremendous amount of hunger along the way and the farmers that didn 't really want to help the people escaping the city because they did not want to get in trouble but Helga informed me that they could not say no to a hunger child so her parents and her got sheltering along their journey. After a perilous trip they mange to get themselves to Hesse Germany where there was a big American base. Helga mentioned at this time that her parents were both university educated and spoke multiple languages which was very good because her father ended up going to work for the American army and they hired him because he spoke English, Russian, Estonian, German, and a little bit of French which allowed him to support his family. The American soldiers were also extremely good to Helga’s family in terms of her father was able to bring home extra food at night which
"The era of anxiety and economic depression was also a time of growing strength for political dictatorship. Popularity elected governments and basic civil liberties declined drastically in Europe"(McKay 967). Most say the start of the second World War was due to the depression across the world. Others, like Monetarists, believe that the second World War was no accident. The worldwide depression left countries with dictatorship that seemed to be the wave of the future and therefore the start of World War II.
Of all the years the human race has occupied this planet, we have not come face to face with many events that could bring so many people together while simultaneously tearing them apart-- World War II is one of those events. While the beginning is not set in stone, many will argue that the war all started with the unwarranted German attack on Poland in September of 1939. As tensions rose between countries, conflict began to swell. Over 20 countries were involved, and alliances were established. The war was fought between two major alliances; the Allied powers and the Axis powers. The Allied powers consisted of the following major countries: France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. The Axis powers were Italy, Japan, and Germany. World War II involved more nations, cost more money, and killed more people than any war before its time.
For quite a number of reasons, World War II was largely inevitable. In this text, I will take into consideration some arguments that have been presented in the past in an attempt to demonstrate the inevitability of the Second World War. These arguments range from the creation of the Treaty of Versailles to the conditions imposed on Germany to nationalistic issues. Many historians consider German's invasion into Poland the official commencement date of the Second World War.
“It was the intervention of the United States which decided the war in favor of the Entente, because of America’s immense military potential and its fresh troops.”
As a result of World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, made to pay for the war, and had to disarm themselves, which directly led into World War II. Germany went down the tubes after they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. There economy crashed and there money had just about no value. Many people that World War II was just a 20 year break from World War I. They were right because just about 20 years later World War II started. There are many things that could contribute to starting the war but these are the main point and the most recognized.
From Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor on January 30 1933 to the beginning of WWII on Sept 3 1939, the Nazi state pursued an aggressive foreign policy that contributed largely to the outbreak of war. This foreign policy was largely reflective of the goals Hitler had set out in his 1924 autobiography “Mein Kampf”, particularly Germany’s easterly moving aggressions. However, although Nazi ideology played a dominant role in structuring foreign policy to 1939, it was also greatly influenced by the response of the Allies to aggressions and therefore Hitler’s perception of which foreign policies could be most successful. Hence, whilst Nazi ideology surmises the