How Did the Versailles Treaty Help Cause World War 2? The most crucial event of twenty centuries is the World War 2. It started in 1939 and end in 1945. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were too harsh it helped cause WWII. Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I. it was very burdensome on the German economy.
The outbreak of World War II was sparked by the German war machine’s Blitzkrieg attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. This event was to plunge Europe and the world into the greatest conflict that the world has ever seen. The causes go back to the flaws in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 but begin in earnest with the Great Depression which provides the opportunity for Hitler and Germany to re-arm and then re-occupy the Rhineland. With the failure of the League of Nations, it was left to Britain and France to try to combat Hitler. Their policy of appeasement only seemed to encourage Hitler first in Austria and then at Munich.
And the U.S. and Germany could not agree upon what to do with Germany, so it ended up being divided: West Germany to U.S. and Great Britain and West Germany to the Soviets. I believe this was a major event that made the cold war inevitable. Both sides could not come to an agreement and this led to the Berlin Blockade. Russia was trying to starve the West Berliners and the U.S. responded by flying in supplies. The blockade was a devastating crisis that solved nothing.
4. Territorial Clauses - Land was taken away from Germany and given to other countries. Anschluss (union with Austria) was forbidden. Reactions of the germans: The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay the money and during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor.
Although the conditions of the agreement seemed extremely severe, the allied countries had no sympathy for the Germans. They were forced to pay excessive amounts of money as reparation fees to make up for all the damage and destruction that was caused during the war. 13% of German territory was given away and many important industrial areas were controlled by western allies. This caused a major impact on the economy and had many affects to not only the government, but German citizens as well. Many people became unemployed and were no longer able to support their families.
In turn this would destroy Britain commercially and their industrial economy allowing Napoleon to take over Britain however did not work and left Napoleon worse off then he was before. His next mistake was the Peninsular war and as a result weakened his empire even more by the Spanish guerrillas, Germans, and Italians turning against him. Lastly his third mistake lost him most of his soldiers and the tactic used to defeat him was the scorched-earth policy, by the Russians. These mistakes greatly weakened Napoleons Empire. The empire was then declared war on by Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria.
Underlying Causes Of WWI World War I, also known as “The Great War” was an extremely bloody war that immersed Europe with huge losses of life and little ground lost or won. There may have seemed like there was a chain of events that led to the fighting, but the underlying causes of WW1 were Nationalism, Alliances, Militarism, imperialism and the assignation of Arch Duke Ferdinand. America tried there hardest to remain neutral and stay out of the war, but they were dragged in by force. Several incidents built up tension between nations before the outbreak of the First World War. Nationalism was one of the underlying causes of WW1.
They also had guarantees of support from Britain and France. Hitler had initiated a crisis throughout Europe; there was a genuine fear that a war was coming. Chamberlain attempted to resolve the crisis by meeting with Hitler. Britain, France and Italy decided to agree to Hitler and give Germany the Sudetenland; this was known as the Munich conference. The three powers did not consult with Benes and the Czechs, nor with Russia.
The immediate cause of the Second World War was the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. Britain and France got involved by declaring war on Germany, and soon Europe and the wider world were involved in the War. However, the underlying causes of the war are much more complicated than what it seems to be. There were many factors that had contributed to the initiation of the war; the major ones were the Treaty of Versailles, the emergence of fascism and communism, the hatred of Jews, the Great Depression, the failure of the League of Nations, and the rise of dictators. The Treaty of Versailles was signed to make the Great War "the war to end all wars."
Why Nations go to War “Mortals made these decisions. They made them in fear and in trembling, but they made them nonetheless” (Stoessinger 4). This is something that Dr. John G. Stoessinger implies in his book Why Nations go to War. Stoessinger organized his book to look at the events that led to specific wars of the twentieth century. He discusses prime wars such as, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, and the wars in the Middle East.