The pact was the final cause of war as Hitler could now invade Poland without any interference from Stalin. Britain and France had declared war on Germany as they guaranteed Poland’s independence. However, the policy of appeasement in the 1930’s also played a big role in causing the Second World War. Appeasement had led Hitler to believe that Britain and France were weak. Britain and France gave Germany the Rhineland, the Sudetenland and they were allowed to have an Anschluss with Austria.
An example of this was the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936. Britain and France allowed him to do this and the British released a statement saying Hitler was simply, ‘marching into his back yard.’ This policy taught Hitler that aggression paid off. More importantly, Appeasement scared Stalin. Stalin was the dictator in the U.S.S.R. His army were not advanced enough to stand a chance against even a small German army and he feared Britain and France would not help the Soviets if the Germans invaded them. This therefore led to him signing the Nazi-Soviet pact.
Despite some initial efforts by local prosecutors to take legal action against those who carried out the murders, which the regime rapidly quashed, it appeared that no law would constrain Hitler in his use of power. The Night of the Long Knives also sent a clear message to the public that even the most prominent Germans were not immune to arrest or even summary execution should the Nazi regime perceive them as a threat. In this manner, the purge established a pattern of violence that would characterise the Nazi regime: the use of force to establish an empire. Almost unanimously, the army applauded the Night of the Long Knives, even though the generals Kurt von Schleicher and Ferdinand von Bredow were among the victims. The ailing President Hindenburg, Germany's highly-revered military hero, sent a telegram expressing his "profoundly felt gratitude" and he congratulated Hitler for 'nipping treason in the bud'.
This was against the treaty of Versailles meaning he had abolished a term of the treaty bringing Hitler closer to achieving his aim of abolishing the whole treaty. Overall this was important for Hitler moving closer towards his aims because it broke up other countries trust with each other meaning it was easier for Hitler to complete his other aims as the countries didn’t have the same power against him. Also it was an important reason because Britain thought that when Germany signed the agreement they were showing peace so the countries would trust Germany so would be less harsh about the treaty meaning it would be easier for Hitler to fully complete the aim of abolishing the treaty. Another one of Hitler’s aims was to expand their territory as the treaty of Versailles meant many territorial
The peace treaty did not satisfy France as it was not harsh enough in the eyes of France. After suffered badly from WWI with umpteen casualties, France was determined to cripple Germany completely as a form of revenge as well as an assurance against future German revival. Some provisions of the treaty did meet French demands, such as the return of Alsace-Lorraine from Germany; the German disarmament which set a maximum strength of 100000 soldiers together with the dissolution of the air force and the reduction of navy to 6 batttleships; and a whopping reparation of 132 billion gold marks to be paid over 42 years. These clauses would severely weaken Germany economically and militarily which certainly catered to French aim. However, French felt these punishments were not harsh enough to eliminate the chance of future German revival.
The League did nothing except protest against Germany’s past aggressive behavior and Japan and Mussolini’s invasion. All this caused Hitler to be more confident that nothing will happen if they were to invade Poland. Britain and France were also at fault for appeasing Germany. When Germany had started its rearmament and invaded Czechoslovakia, they did nothing as they wanted to appease Hitler as they believe they were not strong enough to defeat Hitler and they fear setting economic embargo on Germany would affect their own economy as they have not recovered from World War 1 and the Great Depression. Hitler was a gambler rather than a planner.
It is commonly accepted that Germany were eager for a war, however in 1914 they were only responding to events in Sarajevo by agreeing to back Austria, as opposed to starting a war with no origin. The Germans also felt cheated by this treaty, because virtually none of Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ had been included in it. On the 5th November 1918, Germany had accepted the Fourteen Points as the basis for peace and an armistice, however when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the Fourteen Points had been largely forgotten. This shows Clemenceau’s’ and Frances’ determination to crush Germany as they were largely forced to accept charges that they knew would greatly weaken and inhibit them in the future as they tried to rebuild. Germany understood that they would have to ‘reduce weapon numbers’, however they did not expect to
The Treaty of Versailles was a compromise, and it completely satisfied nobody. Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France, did not get everything he wanted out of the Treaty. He was satisfied with clause 231 (which blamed Germany for the war), the disarmament clauses of the Treaty (reducing the army to 100,000, only 6 battleships, no air force or submarines), getting back Alsace-Lorraine, and being given German colonies as mandates on behalf of the League of Nations. But even this did not go far enough. Clemenceau had wanted Germany weakened to the point where it would never be a danger to France ever again.
Furthermore, for many centuries, European nations had been building empires, slowly extending their economic and political control over various peoples of the world and practicing imperialism. Colonies supplied the European imperial powers with raw materials and provided markets for manufactured goods. As Germany industrialized, it competed with France and Britain in the contest for colonies. In continuation, because each nation wanted stronger armed forces than those of any potential enemy, the imperial powers followed a policy of militarism—the development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy. Empires were expensive to build and to defend, and the growth of nationalism and imperialism led to increased military spending.
The League of Nations, were an organization to create global peace after the World War 1 which caused continental scale destruction in Europe from 28th January 1914 till 11th November 1918. It was a war where total 37 million people were wounded or dead. After this deadly war, The League was set up to settle international conflicts and prevents war through the collective security. Although the League was set up to settle conflicts around the world in a fair and peaceful solution, it soon failed its job due to the greed of the member states. The League of Nations was an organization thought of by Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of United States.