Why Had International Peace Collapsed by 1939

354 Words2 Pages
Hitler wanted to take the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and make it part of Germany. Therefore the Munich Conference was called in September of 1938, where Hitler met with representatives of France, Britain and Italy. They agreed that Hitler could take over the Sudetenland if he didn’t invade anywhere else. All four countries signed the agreement to avoid war and to meet the claims of Czech territory by Hungary and Poland. It was agreed that Czecoslovakia’s new frontiers would be guaranteed by the four leaders. The Nazi Soviet Pact allowed Hitler to invade Poland without having to worry about fighting Russia as well. The USSR realized that when Germany won over Poland, they were going to share it with the USSR. It also ended any hopes the Western Allies had of using Russia against Germany. Hitler became so over-confident as a result of this pact that he did not believe the Allies would honor their promise to protect Poland from Germany, he ignored all warnings from Britain and France and invaded Poland. The Nazi-Soviet Pact aided Hitler with his aims, such as regaining lost land. The Treaty of Versailles only provoked revenge from the German nation. The humiliation of the war guilt clause and the reparation charges were a bitter end to the Germans. A proud, military country which was ordered to disarm and hand back hard fought land. The fourteen points were unfair and instead of bringing peace, it caused tensions on both sides. The League of Nations was also a failure. Lack of support from important countries such as the USA, Germany and Russia, and their finances, caused it to collapse. Its actions and warnings were useless, the restriction of trade would affect innocent countries at the same time. The League took so long to make decisions that lead to the Japanese successfully invading Manchuria. Appeasement went exactly as Hitler planned, he
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