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There were seven main things that caused World War II: the Treaty of Versailles, world wide economic depression, the rise of totalitarian governments, expansionist policies of totalitarian governments, appeasement, the invasion of Poland, and Adolf Hitler.
In the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was blamed for World War I. Germany was required to pay back a total of $32 billion in reparations. However, this was unfair to German people and it caused resentment and tension. The country’s military was also reduced to a mere 100,000 troops and 6 warships.
World wide economic depression began in 1929. The stock market collapsed and came to be known as Black Tuesday. Due to the collapse of the stock market businesses failed, unemployment rates increased, banks closed, and savings were lost.
Many totalitarian governments rose throughout the world. In Russia, Lenin came to power (1922). After Lenin, Stalin brought Communism to Russia (1924). In Italy, Mussolini brought Fascism to his country (1922). In Germany, Hitler developed Nazism (1933). Finally, General Tojo brought militarism to Japan (1932).
When these totalitarian leaders came to power they wanted to expand their borders. In Germany, Hitler gained the Rhineland, Austria, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and most of Europe. In Italy, Mussolini gained Albania, Ethiopia, and Somalia. In Japan, Korea, Manchuria, and Southeast Asia were gained. Everyone’s main goal was to take over the world.
Appeasement was one of the main reasons that World War II happened. Appeasement means to give into a bully to stop aggression. Hitler was given land on the promise that there would be no more aggression. This agreement was called the Munich Agreement: Hitler was given the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia. Once, Hitler had what he wanted though, he broke his promise and continued invading and destroying.
Germany made a non-aggression pact with Russia; for a while it seemed that...