Major causes of world war II
World war II was fought between the axis consisting of Germany, Japan, and Italy and the Allies consisting of Great Britain, the United States, and USSR. France joined the allies on the very beginning day. The war was more widespread and devastating than world war I. This global war invited largest carnage and destruction in the world.
the primary cause of the world war II was the fret, humiliation and vengefulness of Germany. The league of Nations was established to prevent the further war but it could not. After 20 years of world war I, World war II commenced in 1939 AD and was fought for longer time till 1945 AD.
Major causes
Treaty of Versailles
The seeds of world war II were soon in the treaty of Versailles. Germany was extremely insulted by the treaty. Its empire was destroyed. Above all, Germany was not consulted in formulation of the treaty. The Germany feeling was never considered. When the French General read the terms, he said that there would be another war in twenty years. And it did happened so. Actually Germany was compelled to sign the treaty because foreign troops were present in Germany but it was vowed to take revenge.
Fanatical nationalism
After world war I, many European nations such as Germany had grown extreme sense of revenge on their enemies. The people became too much conscious of their nations and grew and extreme sense of patriotism. They gave unquestioning support to their rulers who exercised absolute power and tried to regain the glory and greatness of their nations through territorial expansion.
Rise of dictators
Admidst the situations of general dissatisfactions, economic hardship and unemployment, came Adolf Hitler to the power of Germany. He gave the slogan of extreme nationalism; the reunification of the pure German nation. He promised to regain the glory of Germany. The Germans, who had not forgotten the insult of the Treaty of Versailles, gave him tremendous support. They joined Nazi party. Hitler began to defy the treaty. Silencing opposition and spreading propaganda, he grabbed absolute power and started German militarization and armament. He began to reoccupy the lost territories. This brought confrontations with many European superpowers.
After the revolution of 1917 Ad, communists came to power in Russia and started influencing the world. In 1936 AD, Germany signed "Anti-communist pact" with Japan. The objective of this pact was to prevent the spread of communism in the world. In 1937 AD Italy joined the pact which was then called Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Alliance. Japan wanted to suppress the communist influence in China.
Japan was making rapid economic development and it needed market for its goods. So it also took the imperialistic policy. In 1931 AD it occupied Manchuria of China. By 1937 AD, it had won a very large part of China. As Germany and Italy had done, Japan also quitted the League of Nations leaving it all powerless and disarrayed.
Worldwide economic crisis
After world war I the whole world was seized with economic crisis. It was so because much had been wasted and most male youths had been killed in the war. So there was lack of labours to work in industries and agriculture. Starvation broke out in many war-ravaged areas. In this situation, the dictators such as Hitler and Mussolini could easily rise to power with their promises to give economic recovery through territorial expansions.
Failure of League of Nations
The aim of the League of Nations was to settle the disputes of the world and maintain peace and security. But it could do nothing if a country disobeyed it. Though the US President Woodrow Wilson was the main architect, his country never joined the League. Germany, Italy, and Jpan also started attacking small and weak nations. Japan took possession of Manchuria and Italy captured Abyssinia (Ethiopia), but the League of Nations could do nothing. This further encouraged Japan. Hitler suspended the constitution and violated the Treaty of Versailles. He also occupied Rhineland and other territories lost in the former war. In this way the League of Nations completely failed and the war could not be prevented.
Spanish Civil War
Spain had a government of Liberals, Socialists and Communities. In 1936 when it tried to reform the land ownership and Catholic Church many army soldiers protested as rebel nationalists. They elected G.F. Franco as the leader and started fighting violently against the loyalists that favoured the government. The nationalists got support from Hitler and Mussolini while the loyalists from the Soviet Union. Eventually the nationalists won the Spanish Civil war in1939 and G.F. Franco came to power. In this way the Spanish war provided the European superpowers to test their weapons and strategy and thus it was the rehearsal of world war II.Immediate cause
In 1939 AD Hitler demanded from Poland Danzig and the Polish Corridor which were given to Poland after the Treaty of Versailles but Poland refused. In the same year he signed a treaty with Russia. They agreed not to fight each other for ten years and to divide Poland between them. But on September 1, 1939 Hitler attacked Poland. It was 'blitzkrieg'-the lightning war. France and England demanded the withdrawal of Germany but in vain. Then declared war on Germany on behalf of Poland on September 3. This was the formal beginning of world war II.
