Aim: What were the causes of World War II?

1. What was World War II?

World War II lasted from 1939-1945. The war began in Europe on Sept. 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, and ended on Sept. 2, 1945, with the formal surrender of Japan aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The rival powers were the victorious Allies (Great Britain and the Commonwealth, France, the United States, the USSR, and China). The losing side consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan, as well as smaller nations.

World War II killed more people, destroyed more property, disrupted more lives, and probably had more far-reaching consequences than any other war in history. Casualties totaled about 17 million, civilian deaths numbered approximately 25 million. Expenditures for war materials (money spent) and armaments (equipment for war) totaled at least $1.154 trillion. The war brought about the downfall of Western Europe as the center of world power and led to the rise of the Soviet Union. The development of the atomic bomb during the war opened the nuclear age.

2. How did the Treaty of Versailles influenced WWII and the rise of Adolf Hitler?

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty that stripped Germany of its colonies, air force and navy. The Treaty allowed Germany to have an army of only 100,000 men. The treaty also stated that the Germans were to be blamed for starting WWI and had to pay huge reparations of $33 billion to repair damages. The lost of the land, huge reparations, and being solely responsible for WWI angered many Germans. These factors influenced the rise of the German dictator Adolf Hitler and Hitler's Nazis party, who contributed to the outbreak of WWII.

3. How did the Depression influence the rise of Adolf Hitler?

In 1922 and 1923, the German economy collapsed when inflation (when the government prints more money therefore causing the value to go down) ruined the value of German money. Then in 1929, a worldwide depression began due to the Wall Street stock market crash. The German economy was especially vulernable since it was built out of foreign capital. Germany took most loans from America and was very dependent on foreign trade. When those loans suddenly came due and when the demand for German exports fell, German businesses quickly came to a halt. As production levels declined, workers were laid off, causing massive unemployment. Along with this banks failed throughout the country, savings accounts were instantly wiped out. The Germans wanted a solution to bring them out of this poverty and turned to Adolf Hitler. People were attracted to his promises to improve the economy, defy the hated Treaty of Versailles and rebuild Germany's military force. All of this helped bring Hitler to power.

4. The rise of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was a psychopathic man, he rejected all conventional moral standards. In his book Mein Kampf and in later speeches, he had stated his strong hatred of such concepts as equality and majority rules. He also stated his hatred of Jews, his belief that "Aryans" were a "master race" entitled to dominate others, and his conviction that the state had a right to use any means to achieve it's ends.

At first his actions justified his opinions. While he carried out the domestic programs he had advocated, succeeding soon in abolishing all but the forms of democracy and constituting himself Fuhrer (leader) of the German people. Externally he followed the courses somewhat at odds with what he had said and written.

Until the summer of 1934 the only actions of Hitler that excited international apprehension were those concerning armaments. As part of the campaigning to revive German economy, he undertook to increase production by heavy industry, particularly those branches that would make the biggest contribution to a war effort. In May 1933, he asked the other league powers to Germany to move immediately toward the "equality" which had been promised for the distant future.

People from different parts of German society voted for Hitler. The middle-class was a key ingredient. More Protestants than Catholics voted for him, there were more rural voters than urban voters and even women who at first were skeptical began to support the Nazis by 1932. Why did they vote for him? Surprisingly, it was not so much the unhappy unemployed who backed Hitler as it was those who feared they might be the next to lose their jobs.

5. What is Nazism?

Nazism is a term used to define a group of people who are anti-communistic and anti-Semitic. The Nazis were extreme nationalists, who believed in the superiority of the Germans and other members of the "Aryan race" (Aryan is a non-Jewish Caucasian). The Nazis ruled Germany from 1933 until 1945. During those years, Hitler killed six million Jews, not counting those who he killed for standing up to him and not having the same belief as he did.

WWII was mainly caused because Hitler wanted to rule over more land and people. He wanted to do this to be able to get rid of the Jewish people. Hitler thought the Jews were the cause of the economic problems in Germany. He basically wanted to rule the world and make the world a Nazi world. But as soon WWII ended the Nazi Party was outlawed in Germany forever more.

6. What is Fascism?

Fascism is a strong nationalistic movement in favor of government control of industry and labor. Benito Mussolini named Fascism after the faces, a symbol of authority in ancient Rome. Fascism seized control of the Italian government in 1922 under the leadership of Mussolini and has appeared in other countries since then. A basic idea of Fascism was "Everyone shall work but no one shall work against the state." The government of Italy was a Fascist government so it controlled religious, political, social, and economical life of Italy.

In 1926, the Fascist dictatorship officially began. In 1939, the pact of steel in Germany, after an initially non-belligerent (not engaged in war or conflict) phase, inevitably dragged Italy into the tragic events of the Second World War (1939-1945).