What Were The Causes Of The Second World War?

In this essay I will highlight and expand on each of the causes of the Second World War. These causes are The Depression, Hitler's Actions, Appeasement, The Peace Treaties, The Nazi-Soviet Pact and The Failure of the League.

Each one of these causes is very important in the start of WWII but I think that the most important reason is The Depression. I think this is because the lack of employment and the low circulation of money made the people of Germany vulnerable and so they looked to someone 'politicians' for what they needed. What they needed was someone to lead them out of the Depression and that person was Hitler. Unemployment was the main reason that the people of Germany had found his ideology so appealing. Like most political leaders Hitler promised to do everything for the people.

The Treaty of Versailles was important in making Hitler speak out and try to get into power quickly because he felt that Germany had been crippled by what had been taken away from what used to be such a strong country and society. Germany had a problem with each point of the treaty for example; reparations of £6.6 Billion, but Germany felt that this was far too much for them to pay and this made them bitter. Germany also felt that only being allowed 100,000 volunteer only troops was unfair; they also thought that if they felt threatened or were attacked they would not be able to defend themselves.

The next cause is Hitler's actions; I think that his actions caused the rest of the causes to either occur or they aggravated either the League or the USSR. Firstly when Hitler took Germany out of the League, then when he re-armed Germany, next he re-introduced conscri ption into Germany, after that he re-militarized the Rhineland, followed by an anti-communist alliance with Japan, then he tested his new weapons in the Spanish Civil War, then an anti-communist alliance with Italy, then he took over Austria, then he took over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, after that he invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and finally he invaded Poland. All of these actions each added tension onto the League and whether they should stop him or not. Hitler knew the risks he took each time that he went against the higher authorities and each point of the treaty he went against. When he made the alliances with both Japan and Italy against communism the League thought they could use Hitler as a 'buffer' against the USSR and the spread of communism to the Western fronts.

Appeasement is very important because when the League did not try to stop Hitler it made him more aggressive; it made him want more, when he knew that the league were unlikely to stop him from doing anything then they allowed him to get a little too confident and that let him try something even more difficult like taking over Czechoslovakia. What the League first appeased to was re-militarizing the Rhineland; although it was on the border of France, Hitler did seem like he was threatening them the League tried to sympathize with Germany saying that that point in the treaty was 'unfair' and that they'd of 'done the same thing' if that was them. This made it harder for anyone in the League of Nations that disagreed with this as it was the main controlling countries that had this mind-set such as; Britain and France. I think that appeasement is to a lot to blame for Hitler getting so far into his plan before the way to stop him was war. If the League had stood up to Hitler then he would have lost the German army's backing and would lack the help he needed to continue his monstrous plan.

The Nazi-Soviet Pact was not as important as it was just a result of appeasement and when the USSR approached Britain in hope that an alliance could be made to prevent Hitler from attacking the USSR but when Britain refused Stalin had no other choice but to form an alliance with Germany instead either way he would guarantee his countries safety even if it was less reliable with his alliance with Hitler.

The Failure of The League is due to its lack of teamwork; as it was mostly the two countries Britain and France that made most of the decisions. Although this is true the League did work in some places, but when it came to Hitler the League was unable to step up to the mark and say enough is enough. This resulted in Hitler being able to do what he wanted because without the League as a barrier he became unstoppable.

In conclusion I think that each cause is just as important as the other but after careful deliberation; I think that appeasement is the most important because even if Hitler had still done everything he had planned to do, appeasement was the only reason that Hitler had a chance to continue his work including invading both Czechoslovakia and Poland. So finally, every one of these causes are linked in some way or another this means that even if one or two of them have been stopped then the rest are unlikely to have resulted.