World War II - Causes

The Versailles Treaty signed at the end of World War I not only lay the moral blame of the conflict on Germany but also forced the Germans to make huge payments to the victors of the war. France and Britain needed these reparations payments in order to pay down their own debts. But they were highly onerous, arguably unjustifiably so, and were deeply unpopular in Germany. Hitler seized on this growing resentment and promised to "undo this injustice and tear up this treaty and restore Germany to its old greatness". In fact, the payments demanded were so large that Germany was able to repay the final installment of interest on this debt only on October 3, 2010. The following causes of World War II are generally acknowledged:

Treaty of Versailles

Germany felt that the treaty unfairly punished Germany since other parties such as the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary were also involved. They could not afford the amount of reparations (money) to pay for the damaged caused the Allied countries. The treaty limited the strength their military could be in the future. It also took territories and colonies gained during the Age of Imperialism.

Worldwide Depression

The economic depression felt worldwide from 1929 forward throughout Europe was severe, Germany although was facing a severe depression almost as soon as World War I came to a close in 1919 caused Germany severe economic hardship. They could not make the payments necessary under the Treaty of Versailles. Inflation (increase in the amount of goods & services without an increase in income) occurred and caused prices of items such as bread and milk to skyrocket and become unaffordable for most Germans without severe hardship.

Bitterness Over Treaty

Due to economic hardship, political instability occurred throughout Europe. Germany Political and economic instability in Germany, combined with bitterness over its defeat in World War I and the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles.

Rise of Fascism & Adolf Hitler

Fascism is a political system primarily consisting of dictatorship, extreme nationalism, extreme militarism, and totalitarianism. The major fascist leaders during the 1930s-40s included; Benito Mussolini (Italy), Adolf Hitler (Germany), Hideki Tōjō (Japan), and Francisco Franco (Spain), among others.

Rise of power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. In the mid-1930s Hitler began secretly to rearm Germany, in violation of the treaty. He used the treaty to show how unfair it was and to convince Germans that they were being treated too harsh. This coupled with the economic hardship made it easier for Hitler to gain power. He was voted into office democratically in a fair election. He then took more and more power and became a Fascist dictator. He eliminated all other political parties except the NAZI party (National Socialist German Workers Party abbreviated NSDAP or Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) He used a military buildup, as well as created extreme Nationalism, used secret police (Gestapo), and created a new empire called the "Third Reich" to hold onto power.

German Aggression

Germany continued to take over other territory, most notably; Austria (Anschluss), Sudetenland (parts of Czechoslovakia which has German speaking people in it), Alsace-Lorrain (taken from Germany after WWI), and eventually Poland which led directly to Britain declaring war on Germany.

Invasion of Poland

On September 1, 1939, Hitler and the German military invaded Poland. Hitler has signed a secret agreement with the Soviet Union for each of them to take 1/2 of Poland. Hitler had also signed agreements with Italy & Japan to go against the Soviet Union. He would fulfill the agreement by attacking the Soviet Union in 1941.