Main Causes of WW2

• Declared Sept 3, 1939 / broke out Sept 1, 1939
• Treaty of Versailles

  • The final humiliation was the guilt clause where Germany had to accept responsibility for all the loss and damage of WW1 (i.e admitting the war was their fault)
  • Since it was so harsh on Germany it may have caused them to want revenge because of the conditions
• Economic Conditions

  • Germany was forced to pay reparation payments to help rebuild Europe
  • They also relied on overseas payments so the great depression also hit them hard
  • Germany borrowed money to finance their part in the Great War and were unable to pay their loans back

  • A lot of people became unemployed and little help was available
• Rise of Fascism

  • Many countries after WW1 had been taken over by Fascism (Russia, Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy)
  • Leaders took power with military support and demanded complete obedience from their people
• Failure of the League of Nations

  • Developed to solve disagreements between countries peacefully
  • USA believed that Britain and France would control the League and decided towards an attitude of Isolationism (minding their own business)
  • Since the USA did not join there was no real power. Germany, Italy, and Japan tested the league through many aggressive actions and the League failed to respond in a decisive or effective manner, these three dropped out and deemed it powerless
• Rise of the Nazi Party

  • Hitler made Germany a dictatorship through controlling the army
  • When they rose to power in 1933 they crushed and eliminated all other political rivals
  • When Hitler broke the treaty it caused him to become a lot more popular and he became more powerful
  • Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a pact to help each other expand their territories
• Failure of Appeasement

  • Many people wanted to avoid another world war at any cost
  • The great depression had created problems at home and little energy was left for other people’s problems
  • Anti-Semitism was very common at the time