Causes of World War II

National World War Two Memorial, Washington D. C.

We will study 4 aspects of WWII

• The war in Europe against Germany and Italy

• The war in Asia with Japan• Hitler’s rise to power• The Holocaust

Why do wars occur?

What caused WWII in Europe?

• Germany wanted back what she lost from WWI, and revenge (ToV)

• Depression and Dictators• Appeasement – Great Britain and

France gave Hitler land w/o fighting for it.

• Hitler and his hidden agenda - Holocaust

Treaty of Versailles – end of WWI• The main points of

the Treaty [BRAT]  

• Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war

• Germany paid Reparations for the damage done during the war.

Versailles cont. .• Germany was

forbidden to have submarines or an air force.  

• She could have a

navy of only six battleships, and an Army of just 100,000 men.  

Versailles

• Germany lost Territory (land) in Europe.

• Germany’s colonies were given to Britain and France.

Depression in 1920s Europe

• Economy was bad in Europe• WWI killed a lot of workers and

customers• After years of humiliation and

starvation, Germans looked for a strong leader.

NAZIs elected to power!• Nazis promised to

build up their army and get revenge for the WWI

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This concept, along with the

Great Depression, made it easy for dictators to rule

Dictators: The BIG FIVE• Hitler – Germany

• Mussolini - Italy

• Tojo - Japan

• Stalin – Russia

• Franco - Spain

Dictators Challenge World Peace

In the 1930s Spain, Germany, Italy, and Japan pursued aggressive goals for empire

Dictators Challenge World PeacePacifism and the memory of WWI caused the leaders of Britain, France, and the US to avoid conflict through diplomacy

Dictators Challenge World PeaceMussolini and Hitler viewed pacifism as weakness and responded with new acts of aggression

Aggression v Appeasement - What is:

• Aggression–  action of a state in v

iolating by force the rights of another

– particularly its  territorial rights

– unprovoked  attack, invasion, or the like

• Appeasement– to yield or concede to

the demands of a nation/group/person in an effort to avoid conflict

– sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles

Aggression vs. AppeasementJapan seized Manchuria in 1931; the League of Nations condemned the act so Japan withdrew from the League

Aggression vs. Appeasement1935 - Italy invaded Ethiopia; King Haile Selassie appealed in vain to the powerless League of Nations

Aggression vs. AppeasementHitler re-built the German military and sent troops into the Rhineland; in response, Western democracies adopted a policy of appeasement

Aggression vs. AppeasementMany in Britain and France saw Hitler and fascism as a defense against the spread of Soviet communism

Goering, Chamberlain, Mussolini, Daladier, Hitler in Munich

Aggression vs. AppeasementCongress passed Neutrality Acts with the goal of avoiding US involvement in a European war

Aggression vs. AppeasementGermany, Italy, and Japan formed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, agreeing to fight Soviet communism

Tojo, Hitler, and Mussolini

German Aggression Continues1938 - Hitler began the Anschluss, or union of Austria and Germany

German Aggression ContinuesAt the 1938 Munich Conference, Britain and France chose appeasement and allowed Germany to seize the Sudetenland

German Aggression ContinuesBritish prime minister Neville Chamberlain announced that he had achieved "peace for our time”

Chamberlain holds up the treaty with Hitler, which he

claimed would ensure "peace for our time."

Winston Churchill remarked of the treaty: “They had to choose between war and

dishonor. They chose dishonor; they will have

war."

German Aggression Continues

March 1939 - Hitler seized the rest of CZ. Britain and France realized appeasement had failed and promise to protect Poland

German Aggression ContinuesAugust 1939 - Hitler signed a nonaggression pact with Joseph Stalin, secretly dividing up Poland

Moscow, August 23, 1939 - Soviet Foreign Commissar, Vyacheslav Molotov, signs the German-Soviet nonaggression

pact. Joachim von Ribbentrop and Josef Stalin stand behind him

German Aggression ContinuesSept. 1 1939 - Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun