What caused world war 2??

Question

was it the treaty of versailles??

Answer 1

The Treaty of Versaille was the treaty signed at the end of World War One. It detailed the reparations that Germany would have to pay to France and England and others as compensation for the war.

These payments were huge, and severely hampered the German economy. It also restricted the size of Germany's armed forces and forbade them to build certain weapons.

The German government made some economic blunders trying to pay these reparations. As a result Germany was hit very hard by the great Depression. This hardship, coupled with the resentment of the German people provided a political atmosphere that was ripe for a strong leader.

Into this came Adolf Hitler, and his Nazi party. Through careful manipulation of the people's emotions and casting the blame on others Hitler was elected into power as Chancellor. Once he took power Hitler largely ignored the Versaille treaty and saved the German economy. He also built large warships and a large army with tanks as it's center point.

Then, he started expanding Germany. He annexed Austria, but the Austrians were willing and happy to become part of Germany. Then he annexed Czechaslovakia, and the world powers decided they weren't up for another war just yet and said that Hitler could have the Czechs if he promised not to take any more territory. Of course, this didn't last long. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This forced England and France to join the war because they had treaties with Poland.

In the Pacific, Japan was trying to expand their own empire, and secure more natural resources. The US had enacted trade embargoes to protest their invasion of China. Japan was planning to conquer the Phillipines, but it was a US territory at the time and they knew they would have to deal with the US. So they decided to attack the US Pacific fleet at Pear Harbor, and try to force the US out of the war with one quick stroke. Of course, all this did was anger the entire US population and awaken a sleeping dragon.

Answer 2

1. Have you checked WikiPedia for Treaty of Versailles, WWI, WWII? This should give you quite a bit to work with.
2. Social psychology provides addition answers. Hitler came from relative obscurity with promises of a bright future for the peoples of Germany who had been beaten down and humiliated. Versailles was in 1919, a full new generation came of age from 1919 to 1939, young and strong. With Hitler fomenting nationalism, blaming the outside world and controlling the media (common political propaganda tools) this new generation absorbed a biased view of the 'truth' and would eventually follow Hitler without asking serious questions. [you can see this same temporary blindness happen in virtually all warring nations - you don't have to look far... sad to say]
3. Note that there were small and medium sized 'wars' throughout the period between WWI and WWII so Europe was not a safe place at that time. People wanted security and Hitler promised this in his rhetoric.

Answer 3

The Treaty of Versailles was only one of the many catalysts that helped trigger the Second World War. There were others such as the Great Depression , the appeasement of the Allies not to take more decisive action as Germany went against the Treaty of Versalles and expanded their army and its armaments. the complete lack of regard by Hitler to stay out of Poland and even made a secret agreement with Stalin to go to Poland. Let us not forget the Japanese started before the Germans by taking Manchuria in 1931 and eventually would get China in 1937 and the South Pacific in 1940-1942.

Answer 4

The Nazi Party came to power in Germany by democratic means, although after acquiring power they eliminated most vestiges of Germany's democratic system.
The reasons for their popularity included their renouncement of the Treaty of Versailles (particularly Article 231, known as the "Guilt Clause"), which had placed many restrictions on Germany since the end of the World War I, staunch anti-communism, the Dolchstosslegende and promises of stability and economic reconstruction.

The immediate Causes of World War II are generally held to be the German invasion of Poland, and the Japanese attacks on China, the United States, and the British and Dutch colonies.
In each of these cases, the attacks were the result of a decision made by authoritarian ruling elites in Germany and Japan.
World War II started after these aggressive actions were met with an official declaration of war, armed resistance or both.

Answer 5

yes it was due to the harsh punishment germany received. it causes a political vacuum that allowed hitler and the s.a to come into power, and preach a purest rhetoric. the idea of a german reich was there before ww1 but there was to much opposition. however the treaty of versailles demoralized germany to the point the nazis were able to not only come into power, but to also give them the notion they could take over all of europe. which as history shows was not that hard. french arrogance, polish ignorance {no pun intended}, and the rest of the worlds decision to not take action allowed germany to bring about ww2. it goes to show that when world leaders allow rogue countries to defy the rest of the world by stock piling weapons, and preaching hate and death what can happen. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it, or something like that.

Answer 6

The Treaty was only a small part of it, German revenge (short example is WWI was humiliating), Russian Communism wanting to spread, Italy's desire to relive Roman Empire, Japanese Imperialism, and French and British problems (were not able to do much about Hitler when he first into power), and America's Great Depression. So, wouldn't a better question be "What didn't cause WWII?"

Answer 7

Well, yes. But I think more in Germany's intention to rule Europe, and part of the world, by force. Let us not forget who started it: Adolf Hitler. In Asia: a little more complicated: Japan wanted a larger share of the continent and kick out the British empire and USA from Philippines. But I also believe that Japan was provoked to aggression by Britain and USA's spheres of influences in Asia. [Yes, some will not like my answers about Japan]

Answer 8

Yes, Versailles left the Germans hot under the collar and ripe for revenge.

Also, hitler's thirst for land and power moved things right along.

Finally, Europe's attempts to appease Hitler at first made him bolder. "Okay, Adolf, don't cross this line!" So he'd cross that line, "Okay, but you better not cross this line!" and so on. Chamberlain was way off on that one, and they BELIEVED MUSSOLINI when he said that hitler was trustworthy!

Japan's imperial thirst also helped start WWII.

Answer 9

Two causes:

The spread of Hitler's war machine and the spread of the Japanese empire.