The Second World War began in September of 1939 and was between the Allies and the Axis. It began with Germany’s unprovoked attack and conquest of Poland, and involved Britain and France from the beginning. Its origins lay in German resentment at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the economic crisis of 1929-30, which favored the rise to power of Fascist dictators, the failure of the League of Nations to gain international acceptance for disarmament, and the policy of imperialism adopted by Germany, Italy and Japan as a means of acquiring raw materials and markets. As a part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for the First World War, which then led up to the outbreak of the Second. The …show more content…
However, France remained passive without Britain’s support. Britain was sympathetic towards Germany and even signed an Anglo-German naval Treaty (June 1935) allowing Germany’s navy to be 35% of the size of the Royal Navy.
In 1936, defying the Treaty of Versailles (1919), Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. He marched 30,000 troops into Cologne on March 7, 1936. France, with 250,000 troops mobilized, remained passive because Britain would not support her. Britain took the view that Germany was ‘marching into her own back yard.’ To show that his remilitarization was popular, Hitler held a plebiscite, which showed that 98% were in favor. He went on to build his own defensive fortification, the Siegfried Line.
Britain’s policy of Appeasement (May/June 1937 – March 1939) was also a cause of World War Two. Neville Chamberlain became the British Prime Minister on May 28, 1937, and followed the policy of appeasing Germany, believing that all Hitler wanted to do was unite German-speaking people. In doing so, Hitler would break the Treaty of Versailles but Chamberlain did not believe Hitler would cause war. Churchill disagreed, citing Mein Kampf (1924) where Hitler has written that Germany must regain lands ‘in the East… by the power of the sword.’ Little did Chamberlain know that he had misinterpreted Hitler’s aims.
World War I was the result of leaders' aggression towards other countries which was supported by the rising nationalism of the European nations. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war prompted military alliances and an arms race, which further escalated the tension contributing to the outbreak of war. One cause of the World War was militarism, which is a policy in which military preparedness is of primary significance to a situation. Another cause of the World War was nationalism. Nationalism is the pride and devotion form one towards his/her country. It played a great part in the causes of World War 1 because citizens wanted to stand up for their country, and fight for them. The third
On February 3, 1933 during a meeting with German military leaders Hitler said his foreign policy was the conquest of Eastern Europe (Weinberg, 1970), also in 1933 Germany withdrew from the League of Nations, which should have been a warning sign that they were planning something big. This along with the increase of the Wehrmacht (German Army) to 600,000 should have thrown up some red flags to Britain and France that Hitler was up to no go. This was another of Hitler’s direct violations of the Versailles Treaty, yet no one stopped him, instead they let him continue untouched. Then in March of 1936
If Britain and France had abandoned their policy of appeasement and retaliated against Hitler's aggression war could have been averted. Appeasement was deeply embedded into British foreign policy, even to the the extent were they would not honor their military commitments to France under the Treaty of Locarno, that if Germany were to remilitarise the Rhineland, Britain would offer them support. So, when Hitler ordered armed cars to enter the Rhineland in March 1936, France failed to retaliate. This was the ideal time to have halted Hitler as Allan Bullock quotes Hitler saying “If the French had then marched into the Rhineland we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs”, because Germany was still militarily weak and war would have lasted six weeks rather than six years. However, the appeasers were determined to stop any violence, that they failed to see, according to Keith Eubank, had they “retaliated against the remilitarisation with force, the German military units would have withdrawn and perhaps Hitler would have been overthrown; the drift to war would have been halted and World War II averted”.
Doomsday is defined as the day where the world will come to an end and people will face God on Judgment Day. Many people are fascinated by the notion that Doomsday will eventually happen soon, but there’s always a miscalculation when it comes to predicting as when the world will end. World War II is the most significant period in the twentieth century because technology, civil rights movement in the U.S, and the ability to explore outer space took a huge leap of fascination around the world. The two powerful allies emerged during World War II as to begin a Cold War with each other that defined the twentieth century. The idea that the world will come to an end by a nuclear war based on previous events from World War II that can potentially one day happen again because of historic evidence from the Cold War that wiped out two major cities in Japan, scientific evidence of a secret nuclear weapon written in India’s ancient epics, and the production of radiation smoke that builds up overtime can slowly kill humans. Zombies are dead corpse that is revived by a virus. The myth of zombies originated from Haiti in 1626 to 1800s, as an image of inhumanity where slaves were treated ruthlessly. In the Haitian religion, slaves believed that dying was a way for them to return to Guinea, where they are free from torture in the afterlife. Under the ruled by Saint-Domingue in France when African slaves to work for the sugar plantation. Slaves who worked under the French were treated
World War II changed the lives of many Americans overnight. Men, women, children, everyone was impacted by it in one way or another. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese, the United States made the decision to enter World War II and fight back. World War II gave those who were discriminated against better opportunities. World War II impacted many Americans especially Latinos, African Americans, and women. Even though they were all discriminated against equally before World War II, during World War II Latinos and African Americans had a more positive experience than women.
A Comparison of World War I and World War II World War I and World War II, while started by much of the same
However, British and French military intervention in the Rhineland incident, 1936 could have been an alternative to appeasement. Their reluctance to take action permitted Germany to increase her power (within 18 months Germany’s rate of rearmament surpassed that of Britain and France), whilst also contributing to the burgeoning belief that the League of Nations was ineffective. Hitler himself stated that "If France had then marched into the Rhineland; we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs." Indeed, many historians concur as invading the
Moreover, while Jews in Germany were being tormented and war was approaching, Great Britain did not want to take part. Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister of the British from 1937-1940, decided to sign an appeasement “a peace treaty” with Hitler stating that the British only wanted peace (Neufeldt, 109). However, Hitler already had his plans, and the
In today’s digital age, development of new technology and weapons are at an alarming rate, hence arises the need to stay ahead of advancements in order to properly defend the nation, as well as coalition forces and allies. In this period of warfare, the number one threat comes in the form of air breathing and ballistic missiles. During World War II, this threat was present, but was not thought to be prevalent.
The first cause of World War II was Hitler’s ideas. Hitler was Germany’s dictator during World War II, who wanted an Aryan state, because he believed the the JEws being present in Germany during World War I caused them to lose the first world war. Hitler, in one of his speeches, said “One race needs one country” (1). This means that Hitler was willing to give up many other races, just to have a Aryans in Germany, no matter the cost. One way he tried to achieve this goal, in by putting in place the Nuremberg Laws, which distinguished the Germans from the Jews, by one being asked of their ancestors. He believed that by doing this that they would not “be able to compete in global politics and
In 1936, Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland by marching 30,000 troops[8] into Cologne on the 7th of March 1936. To prove that the remilitarisation was popular and warranted, a plebiscite was held and the results were 98.8%[9] in favor of the move. Hitler’s confidence was at an all time high by this time. Showing his power to Britain and France and discounting the Treaty of Versailles placed Germany in a commanding position. Also by 1936, the formation of the Axis occurred. It meant that the two fascist powers in Germany and Italy were to work together on matters of mutual interest.[10] The formation of the Axis later developed in May 1939 into a military cooperation which was named the
“The world must know what happened, and never forget.” (World War 2) General Eisenhower reflecting upon the world war II, and acknowledging it as a pertinent event in the history of the United States of America. War is war, it is not pretty or humane, but what it is, is a diplomatic way in which to settle disputes and aggressions between countries. By analyzing these wars of the past, the people of the country can learn many things, be it mistakes made by one side, strategy from someone else or battle field etiquette. And it is through this analysis that the human race is able to further itself to not repeat the mistakes made by their ancestors. There are many lessons to be learned from looking at the
As the League of Nations declined, Western Countries used appeasement, a policy of giving Hitler what he wished to maintain peace. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed that Hitler’s goals could be attainable without
Rearmament was a popular move in Germany. It boosted Nazi support. Hitler also knew that Britain had some sympathy for Germany on this issue, as Britain believed that the limits put on Germany’s armed forces by the Treaty of Versailles were too strict. It was clear that the permitted forces were not enough to defend Germany from attack. Also, Britain thought that Germany would be a good buffer against Communism.
In order to fully understand the role the Treaty of Versailles played in the initial upcoming of Adolf Hitler, we must first delve into the reasoning behind German involvement in World War One. Since the late 1800s, Germany was intent on expanding its borders, by any means necessary. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany, was obsessed with his desire to “create a German Empire out of the group of smaller German states” mainly under Austria-Hungary’s authority (Schmidt, 2006). In order to expel Austria as the primary influence over these smaller German states, war was inevitable. Subsequently following the war, also known as the Seven Weeks War, Bismarck extorted the small German states of “Schleswig, Holstein, Hanover, Hesse, Nassau, and Frankfurt, which created the North German Federation” (Schmidt, 2006). Even more importantly, Austria was successfully displaced as the major influence over those small German states. Bismarck’s next calculated move was to achieve the same unification in the southern parts of Germany.