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World War II was caused by a cocktail of events, the most commonly cited being
Germany's unchecked imperialistic policy, culminating with the invasion of Poland in 1939.
Although not incorrectly referenced as the catalyst that brought the world to war, Germany's
aggression should be viewed more as the result of a culmination of a shotgun spread of factors
that actually caused the war.
Not the least of these factors were the "politicians of France, Britain, and Italy"
(Unknown, Road to WWII, 2010) who, in 1919 following WW1, crafted policies that were
deleterious to any effort to rebuild Germany's fractured economy. The Treaty of Versailles
obliterated an already crushed Germany, asserting Germany as the main culprit in any guilt
surrounding the first World War, demanding Germany pay 6,600 million British pounds in
reparations, requiring the surrender of lands, and limiting their military to what essentially
amounted to a boy scout troop (Unknown, World War II Causes, 2010). The ensuing damage to
Germany's financial power and national psyche left the German people vulnerable to the
propaganda spread by a strong, well spoken leader such as they found in Adolf Hitler.
Hitler knew exactly what the German people wanted to hear, and used that knowledge to
deepen the rift between the impoverished German people and the perceived outside threats such
as communists and Jews ([email protected], 2010). Hitler further highlighted the preexisting
notion of a superior Aryan race, and the inferiority of subhuman races, the lesser being the Slavs
and the Jews. Hitler instilled a sense of national pride that energized and gave credence to
aggression on sovereign nations. Hitler tempered a sword in the fires of the German people's
poverty and national feeling of alienation from the rest of the world; but Hitler may have had his
own agenda.
Hitler served in the German army in World War I; some historians believe that he felt the
need to wage a vendetta for what he saw as an unfair victory against Germany (Unknown, Road
to WWII, 2010). Hitler was not alone in this; he was a part of a generation that lost their youth in
the trenches of WWI. This generation returned to Germany without discernable job skills, or
education, and like most of the rest of their countrymen, they were living in poverty
([email protected], 2010). This generation of killers identified with Hitler and, like the Fuehrer,
welcomed the opportunity for redemption. Germany would use force to restore itself to former
glory; or at least recover some semblance of an economy.
Japan used a similar strategy when it invaded China and liberated them of valuable
minerals and resources (Unknown, World War II Causes, 2010). The League of Nations, an
organization developed at the end of WWI to keep world peace, admonished the invasion, and
called upon the world to impose sanctions on Japan. Unfortunately, countries found it difficult to
heed this request as the economic depression had made nations dependent on trade. The situation
remained desperate, and when Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935, again the League of Nations
failed to keep the peace, and instead appeased Italy with two areas of land (Unknown, World
War II Causes, 2010). The league of Nations was too toothless and disjointed to put a tourniquet
on aggression anywhere in the world; this would in turn foreshadow a policy of appeasement
towards Germany, which would in turn embolden an already resolute Hitler and Germany.
A multitude of events, occurring over several decades, peaking during a decade of
worldwide fiscal ruin, caused WWII, and while nobody can point to one cause as being most
significant, certainly some were more glaring than others. For example, Hitler's charisma was
enough to rally the German people into a war against common enemies, but one could argue that
the regulations and demands imposed by the Treaty of Versailles resulted in the inevitability of
this war, regardless of who Germany's leader was. It could also be argued that the civilized
world's failure to create a unified force, that was able to make relatively quick decisions on world
affairs, and backed by a well equipped, mobile military, was the number one fault in the keeping
of world peace; this statement could very well also be relevant today. Couple a world unable to
do anything, with a time of economic disaster that did not lend itself to people wanting to do
anything, and you find a formula for indifference that was the primary cause of WWII.
Bibliography
[email protected]. (2010, March 13). A Summary of the Causes of World War II. Retrieved March 13,
2010, from http://www.angelfire.com/wy/wwi/summary.html
Unknown. (2010, March 13). Road to WWII. Retrieved March 13, 2010, from Road to WWII:
http://www.johndclare.net/RoadtoWWII7a.htm
Unknown. (2010, March 13). World War II Causes. Retrieved March 13, 2010, from History on the net:
http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/causes.htm