The nature of fascism itself was very aggressive and linked to the rise of dictatorships also increased the idea of revenge and violence. Germany and Italy also dealt with the economic crisis in 1929 in an aggressive way. And the fact that the League of Nations should ensure peace in the world and it was weak and failed facing Germany and Italy aggression let both countries became even more powerful and aggressive. One of the reasons for the German and Italian aggressive foreign policy was The Paris Peace Settlement, which was created to punish Germany. Nobody was happy with it and Italy and Germany wanted revenge.
The politicians, who signed the peace treaty on behalf of Germany, were named and shamed as ‘stabbing Germany in the back’. This notion was emphasised by opposing political parties who were egger to take any opportunity to make these politicians look bad to the people of Germany. Germany was a militaristic state which and the republic was not going to succeed with so many opposing forces such as ex-soldiers who were willing to fight any rivals. The treaty of Versailles caused a profound sense of injustice and resentment amongst the German people therefore this translated into hatred of democracy. The treaty was not the only reason for the failure of the Weimar Republic, issues such as the period time and the great depression contributed to this also.
To what extent were the dictators Hitler and Mussolini responsible for the outbreak of WW2 in Europe Dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are largely responsible for the outbreak of WW2. This is due to the aggressive and dangerous foreign policies. It aggravated tensions between European powers and the Western Allies. Even though these two dictators played a major role in the outbreak of war, the little resistance from the Allies gave the dictators breathing room to enforce such heavy foreign policies and ultimately create fear and tensions between nations. Other influences include the League of Nations which failed the principle of collective security and the enforcements of demilitarisation.
The most vital one with harsh rules was signed with Germany on June 28, 1919. The Germans were fury with article 231, the so called War Guilt Clause, which declared Germany responsible for starting the war and need to pay reparations. Furthermore, ‘Germany had to lower its army to 100,000 men, reduce its navy and eliminate its air force. German territorial losses included the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France. German land west and as far as 30 miles east of the Rhine was established as a demilitarized zone.’(Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010) The Germany government needed to accept the harsh treaty with no choice.
This made the new Weimar government, who signed the treaty, extremely unpopular and there was a lot of opposition to the government. Deep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler's viciousness and expansionism appealed, so they gave him support. Hitler promised to get rid of the Treaty. These examples show how the Germans turned to Hitler because they needed a new leader to restore its former glory. After the Stock Market Crash in the United States, much of Europe was suffering an economic depression just as the United States.
There long term causes were the Treaty of Versailles, The American policy of isolation etc. The mid term causes were the failure of the League of Nations and Hitler’s nationalism. The short term causes that led to war erupting in 1939 were Hitler’s imperialism and militarism. All these causes had a significant contribution to why war erupted in 1939. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June 1919 and played a very significant part to the eruption of war in 1939.
What were the causes of the Second World War? The causes of World War II were nationalistic tensions, unresolved issues, and resentments resulting from the First World War. The interwar period in Europe, plus the effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the culmination of events that led to the outbreak of war are generally understood to be the 1939 in September when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany's invasion of Poland. Although the outbreak of war was triggered by Germany's invasion of Poland, the causes of the war are more complex. The Treaty of Versailles was seen as particularly unfair by those Germans who accepted the myth that Germany was never defeated on the battlefield in World War I - a myth propagated by Field Marshals Hindenburg and Ludendorff, even though they were the two who told the government to seek an armistice.
Why did Britain go to war in 1914? There are many reasons as to why Britain went to war with Germany, some being more important than others, more often the long term causes but were not helped by the triggers and short term causes such as the invasion of Belgium by Germany in 1914. This could be argued to be an excuse by the British to declare war on Germany but a reason nonetheless. Other short term factors such as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand were another trigger which may have caused an outbreak of war in 1914. It can be argued that had these short term factors not come about, the outbreak of war would have been avoided regardless of the fact that these triggers were deemed to be less important than other long term factors such as Britain’s relationship with Germany.
Weltpolitik caused tensions and led to a naval race between Germany and Britain and created a naval scare in the world. The historian Fritz Fischer arguments that Germany was to blame for causing WW1, with presenting the ‘September Programme’ where Germany’s aims for the Domination of Europe is set, like their Weltpolitik was also about. The July crisis was the crisis, which pushed Europe in to war. Germany urged Austria-Hungary on to attack Serbia with the ‘’blank check’’, which also assured a full back up from Germany. Germany interpreted Russia’s mobilization as virtual equivalent to declaring war, and that meant that in order for the Schlieffen plan to succeed, Germanys army had to attack and defeat France before moving eastwards to fight Russian forces.
What nded World War 1 was the Treaty of Versailles passed by the Allied Powers, many believe this to also be the starting point of World War 2. Through research I plan on showing how World War 2 is a continuation of world war 1 and not a separate war all together. World War 1 would end with the defeat of the Central Powers which included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and The Ottoman Empire by the hand of Allied Powers including Great Britain, France and Russia. As a result of losing the war the allied victors planned to punish Germany by placing a strict set of restrictions and rules against them; named the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty placed blame solely on Germany resulting in loss of the Rhineland, also Germany had to demilitarize and pay back billions to allies as part of war reparations[1].