The Gear Up to WarThe Causes of WWII: They All Relate To Each Other

1.Appeasement and it’s subsequent failure2.German Nationalism and Hitler’s Actions3.Failure of the League Of Nations4.The Treaty of Versailles5.Germany Invades Poland

1. Appeasement

• Allies give in to Hitler because they do not want to deal with another war

• Appeasement was the idea of British PM Neville Chamberlain

• They wanted to recover from WWI and not have to deal with something new

• Ultimately it fails as Hitler expands and expands until war is inevitable

• Granting concessions to avoid conflict.

2. Appeasement

2. German Nationalism• Convinced they needed

more Lebensraum• Many wanted to return

to the glory and strength that Germany had before WWI• Make up for the

territorial losses of WWI and the Treaty of Versailles

2. German Nationalism: Hitler’s Pacts• With growing support, Hitler makes the following pacts

to secure allies for Nazi Germany. These pacts ultimately lead to war:– Anti-Comintern Pact: November 1936: Pact by Germany,

Japan and later Italy. The Pact meant that these countries would support each other to whatever lengths to defend their imperialistic interests

– Pact Of Steel: May 1939: The Pact between Germany and Italy was meant to solidify trust and their alliance. From this we have the Rome-Berlin Axis

– Nazi-Soviet Pact: August 1939: Germany agrees with the Soviet Union that neither party would act aggressively to each other. This meant that if Germany were to invade Poland, they would not have to deal with the USSR.

2. German Nationalism- Hitler’s Territorial Expansion: Entering the Rhineland and

Saarland

• In January 1935: The Saarland rejoins being part of Germany

• In March 1936: Hitler sends troops and remilitarizes the Rhineland. This area was no longer Germany’s after the Treaty of Versailles. Nothing is done because people do not want war

• Hitler begins to realize that he might be able to get away with a lot more

2. German Nationalism- Hitler’s Territorial Expansion- Anschluss

• In March 1938: Hitler marches troops in Austria

• Anschluss “Union with Austria” was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles

• A fixed election was held that showed Austrians wanted to join Germany and so Anschluss was completed

• Hitler promised it was the last of his land-grabs

2. German Nationalism- Hitler’s Territorial Expansion- Sudetenland

• March 1938: Hitler claims that all Ethnic Germans living in an area known as the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia should be part of Germany

• He begins to annex the Sudetenland (NW Czechoslovakia) (Czech for short)

• A Munich Conference is held before he goes further where once again GB and France say Hitler is justified for taking control of this territory

• Chamberlain in particular thinks the Agreement has brought peace to Europe… But he is wrong

• Czech becomes weak w/o Sudetenland and a year later in March 1939, Hitler takes over the rest of Czech

3. Failure of the LON: Isolationism & Pacifism • After the League Of Nations was created, one of the

major forces behind it’s creation (the USA) did not join• How might these developments be different if the USA

was directly involved in these affairs?• The LON was also pacifistic which did not help. No

armed forces to actually fight if it came down to it

3. Failure of the LON: Japan• In 1932: Japan invaded the

Chinese territory of Manchuria because it too was imperialistic and wanted territory

• The LON then orders Japan to leave Manchuria. Japan does not listen to the LON and instead leaves the LON

• This made the LON look weak to the world and showed that you could disobey the League’s orders and get away with it

3. Failure of the LON: Italy Invades Ethiopia

• In October 1935: Italy under Mussolini invades Ethiopia The LON once again does not act

• They want to impose trade sanctions on Italy but feel they would have no real effect

• There is no army to actually go in and kick Italy out

• The LON fails the people of Ethiopia and once again the aggressor has their way with the LON

3. Failure of the LON- Spanish Civil War

• From 1939-1939: There is Civil War in Spain where Fascist leader Francisco Franco is trying to gain power by overthrowing the govt

• The fascist Franco was being supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy

• The democratic Republicans however were not receiving any support from the LON

• This showed that the LON did not have any military strength and was not willing to sacrifice itself for democracy... And no army to help fight.

A New Dictator• Franco served as an

ally for the Axis powers during the War

4. The Treaty Of Versailles• As we know: Germans despised the Treaty Of

Versailles• Hitler blamed it and the Jews for all of Germany’s

problems• Many Germans saw the Treaty as the sole cause of

all problems in Germany• It consisted of:– Major reparations from Germany for WWI– Germany also has to accept full responsibility for WWI– Mass limitations to German military

4. The Treaty Of Versailles• If the Treaty was

created to more reasonable to Germans than maybe the Nazis would not have gained power and Hitler would not have gained the support and invincibility that he did

5. Germany Invades Poland• On September 1st, 1939 after all the various pacts,

annexations, and failures in diplomacy, Hitler invades Poland from the West and on September 17th the Soviet Union invades Poland from the East

• GB, France the LON had stated before that Czechoslovakia was the last territorial gain for Hitler, anything else and they would declare war on Germany

• They thought this threat would have made him stop (they didn’t know who they were dealing with) and so with the Nazi invasion, they declare war on Germany. And so WWII begins.