Why war broke out in 1939 In 1939, Germany, after signing the German-Soviet Pact, attacked Poland. Much to Hitler’s surprise, Britain and France, who had both seemed unwilling to go to war responded to his actions by declaring war against Germany on the 3rd of September. The events leading to this war can be traced back to the end of World War I, or more specifically, the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was famous for it’s harshness and cruelty against Germany, forcing them to pay huge amounts of reparations and took away some of Germany lands, while demilitarizing some. It also severely restricted Germany’s military power.
Question; What reasons did the Germans have to feel that they had been conquered by the Allies? After World War One, the leaders of the three major allied countries, Britain, America and France, decided upon several terms which aimed to maintain peace. These were compiled together, after much negotiation and compromise, into a treaty which was signed at Versailles. Many of the terms centred on the punishment of Germany, mainly to ensure that it couldn’t cause another war and to make it pay for all of the damage. Germany was treated in this way because, by invading Belgium, it was seen as starting the war by the Allies, as it had unnecessarily marched through a neutral country to invade a country with which it wasn’t yet at war.
Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I. it was very burdensome on the German economy. Germany was just a devastated by the war as anyone else, but they were very hard pressed to rebuild with the massive reparation payments they were required to make. But the reason why they did soo debt on them is because of Germany made a great destruction on countries, especially on French. I think the reasons for WW2 were: Treaty of Versailles, Hitler’s rise to power and Militarism. Treaty
In this essay I will discuss the title question and come to a conclusion on whether or not I agree. For me, one of the main causes of ww2 was the fact that The Treaty of Versailles was extremely harsh on Germany; this created a build up of anger and resentment from Germans, and also put them in a financial depression. Although Hitler had no control over this, he played on their poverty to receive votes and gain power. He also built up Germany’s resentment against the United Nations, which made his people pro war. Many people believe another fault of the League of Nations that contributed to war was; how they appeased Hitler by letting him have Czechoslovakia.
Lend-Lease allowed the United States to supply military hardware to its allies. This was done, in theory, as a way to protect US neutrality. By strengthening the European powers and China, those countries could stop the spread of armed conflict, preventing it from involving the United States. If you are supporting one side of a conflict, especially by providing war materials, you are no longer a neutral party. Roosevelt had no intention of remaining neutral.
To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles fair to Germany? The Treaty of Versailles was created to cripple Germany so that they could not start another war. One side of the argument is that the Treaty was extremely unfair to Germany, as it took away some of her most valuable assets and fuelled nationalism. However, the other side of the argument is that as Germany caused a lot of damage, she deserved to be punished and prevented from stirring up more trouble. The military clause was the harshest and most damaging clause, and was greatly disapproved of by Germany.
The Weimar republic was created in 1919 with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm ll, it was created at a time of confusion and chaos after Germany had lost the First World War. Between 1919 and 1923 it had to deal with many problems such as extremists’ attacks, the treaty of Versailles and the reparations crisis. Firstly Germany had no tradition of democracy and had always had strong leaders; Germans weren't ready for democracy and did not agree to it. With Germany suffering very badly because of the war it added onto the hatred the democracy had made. The new government was the body that signed the treaty of Versailles, and to many it was a betrayal and most Germans referred to it as the ‘stab in the back theory’.
Later in 1919 the Weimar government signed the treaty of Versailles. The treaty had some appalling things in it such as the war guilt Claus, which meant that Germany had to accept that the war was all their fault and huge reparations also had to be paid. The German people hated the Weimar Republic even more after this because they were disgusted that their government accepted the awful terms of the treaty. They especially did not like the bit that said
1. As war raged in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson argued that the United States should remain neutral in this conflict. Despite attempts by both the Allied and Central Powers to persuade U.S. opinion, President Wilson and the American people remained firmly neutral. Most Americans thought that getting involved in the war was a waste of time and wanted nothing to do with Europe. The American entry into WW1 grew out of the navel conflict between Germany and Great Britain.
The Republic was weak from the beginning. Treaty of Versailles The Weimar republic was associated with failure in WWI since it had signed the Treaty of Versailles that had ended the war. Many nationalists believed the republic had sold Germany out to its enemies by ending the war too early. The treaty took territory from Germany and left the country facing crippling compensation claims. The limitations it placed on Germany's armed forces, and especially the War Guilt Clause that blamed Germany and her allies for starting the war, left many Germans feeling humiliated.