World War II Dbq Essay

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.

World War I was caused by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914. However, World War II was caused by the political and economic instability in Germany, along with the bad conditions of the Treaty of Versailles . When the treaty of Versailles was put into affect, Germany acknowledged responsibility for the war, which also meant agreeing to pay enormous amounts of money for war reparations and losing land/territory to those who

The main reasons behind world war 2 World were land,fascism,and natural resources. World war 2 started off between Germany,Britain,France,Italy,and the Soviet Union later joined by America and Japan. World war 2 started September 2,1939 to September 2,1945 and was the most deadliest war in history with more than 30 countries resulting in more than 50 million military and civilian deaths. One main reason was land. After world war 1 Germany lost some of their land for war costs and it was used to make new countries. When Hitler came into office, he said he would get it back so Germany conquered Austria, Sudentanland, and started on Poland when Britain and France declared war. H-Hitler used his idea as dictator to take back land lost in world

The Treaty would do several things that would make once proud Germany a nation what was beat and would have to pay the price of war, both literally and figuratively. Woodrow Wilson, current President of the United States at the time of the war, had the philosophy that there should be no winners, as with winners there were losers. He had 14 points that would end the war, and leave little to no gunpowder to ignite another. However, they British and French did not heed these warnings, as they would go on the limit Germany’s army. Including officers, the army would be limited to 100,000 men (Document B). While it can be seen as rational, as a restricted army would limit Germany’s chance of wanting to cause another war, it could also be seen as embarrassing. As Belgium, a country that was one of the smallest at the time had 530,000 troops after Article 160 of the treaty was passed (Document B). Now if a country that is almost one-eighth the size of you, has an army that is 5 times larger than your it is quite embarrassing, especially at a time that the size of your army was almost representative of your power. The new country of Poland had 3.2 million troops, despite its young age, (Document B). All of this was just simply unbearable to the German population, but the fact that they had to agree to a guilt clause

In the Treaty of Versailles, Article 232 states that Germany must make monetary payments to the allies as the result of the damage Germany created during the battle (Hooper). This article creates a biased point of view since it was originally a peace treaty. The allies made such ridiculous requests relating forcing Germany pay for all the damages when everyone was at fault. Germany’s economy spiraled down due to the reparations they had to pay; they lost all of their money because they gave it away to the allies due to the damages they made in the war. As their economy quickly fell apart, their currency lost its value. The downfall of the economy affected the people because millions of people lost their jobs due to lack of money. In addition to the downfall of the German economy, Adolf Hitler gained power due to the promises he made to the German people (Smith 2). He promised to stop the reparation payments, to give jobs and food to the people, which make them forget the humiliation they had post-WWI making them proud to be a part of Germany again. Hitler was able to get the necessary attention due to the promises he made, which got him the power he

The origins of World War II could be dated back all the way to the end of World War I with the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was made by the leaders of the nations on the winning side such as United States, Britain, France, and Italy and the treaty crippled Germany making them take all of the blame for World War I which was one of the four main points that hurt Germany. The second main point in the Treaty of Versailles was that Germany had to pay repercussions for

The terms of the treaty included Germany accepting the “War Guilt Clause” in which they agreed to responsibility for “all the loss and damage to which the [Allies] have been subjected… as a result of the war imposed on them by the aggression of [Germany].” However the Germans were humiliated at being portrayed as solely responsible, and instead of dispelling the tension between the opposing sides, having to pay such heavy penance further provoked Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles was created in Versailles, Paris by ‘the big three’: the British Prime minister David Lloyd George, the French Premier George Clemenceau, and the US President-Woodrow Wilson. Many people, especially France felt the need to blame someone for the war since propaganda promised that their effort would be compensated by payments from the enemy. The ‘war guilt’ provision in article 231 held Germany responsible for the loss and damage that occurred to the Allies. Germany was forced to pay massive reparations that totaled to about thirty-three billion dollars in 1921.They also had to surrender the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France as well as give up other territories to Denmark and Poland. They were refused an air

The reparations that Germany were forced to pay were around $768 billion (in terms of todays money) to which some people at the time said would “cripple Germany’s economy”. The price was set high as a way to prevent her form being able to restart a war in the near future but this debilitating sum of money prevented her from recovering from war. The reparations presented a “handicap which even a firmly entrenched government, heir to a long democratic tradition, could scarcely have borne” which consequently lead to many issues with the German republic. The Treaty of Versailles and those who designed it were extremely unfair and it was cruel to Germany to have her pay such

This clause laid out that Germany was responsible for the advent of the First World War and that they should be culpable for the damages done to the allied nations, therefore, pay reparations. To have been singled out as solely morally and financially responsible, while there were many other countries involved enraged the German government and people. The Weimar government was now faced with the task of paying reparations, which amounted to nearly thirty-three billion USD. The Weimar government could not meet this demand without printing money, which naturally caused the value of the German Mark to inflate. This put many Germans into poverty and contribute largely to the hyperinflation that plagued Weimar in the early 1930s. The constant struggle of the Germans in Weimar left them greatly distressed and angry with the

The major cause of World War II was because Adolf Hitler was planning to invade Poland. 2 days after Hitler had invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Poland had been attacked from both east and west sides, so fell quickly under the control of Hitler. America had joined the battle by helping Britain defeat the Italians and Germans. the Allied began a massive invasion of Europe, landing 156,000 British, Canadian and American soldiers, meanwhile, Hitler was sending the rest of his remaining troops into the battle, ensuring Germanys defeat. World war II had been proven to be the most devastating international conflict in history.

Many people assume that Hitler and the Nazi party were the only cause of starting World War II, but there were many other events that took place before World War II. It mainly started at the end of World War I. Germany realized that they could not win the war against Allies and instead signed a treaty. With the peace treaty, Germany owed England and France over 10 billion dollars. This destoyed Germany’s economy. Unemployment rose 40% and there was anger and uprising all throughout the nation. The people of Germany were enraged and distraught with the state of things.

Germany had killed the Archduke and his duchess; causing the World War I. Germany also started World War II for attacking Poland. Which, as Adolf Hitler claimed, was a defensive action. World War II would not have happened, if the Treaty of Versailles had less excessive deprivation of German rights. In other words, if the Germans were not stripped of so many rights, there would have been a chance that WWII could have been avoided.

The Treaty of Versailles was not fair because Germany had to take responsibility for 100% of the war, although they weren’t the only country fighting. Article 231 found in the Treaty of Versailles, also known as the War Guilt Clause stated that “... Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage…” (Treaty of Versailles 1919). Germany shouldn’t of have taken the blame for all destruction when they weren’t the only country causing destruction.

However, the long term affects WWI had on Germany were even greater than the short term affects. At the end of the war and during the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, all the Allied Forces agreed that the cause of the war was Germany and their selfish plan and that was what led to one of the deadliest conflicts in the World. Nevertheless, Germany, who had no representation during the Treaty, was order to pay for all the damages during and after the War and they were also to give back Alsace- Lorraine to the French. The devaluation of currency also was one of the main arguments the Nazi's used to seize power in Germany to make it a prosperous nation, which automatically plunged Germany into another World War. The German State only