War was declared by Britain and France on Germany, September 1939. World War II lasted for six years killing millions; injuring and traumatising many more. Two decades earlier, World War I had taken place also killing, injuring and traumatising millions. How was it that even with the creation of the Treaty of Versailles aiming to limit Germany’s power and prevent another war; twenty years later Europe was once again plunged into chaos.
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party with their aggressive policies and actions, in my opinion, are to blame for the war. However, many others are responsible for allowing Hitler and Germany to be in this position and infact, the Treaty of Versailles, aiming to prevent another war, had a huge effect on Hitler coming to power in Germany and achieving a position of power from which a war could take place.
Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. In 1919 he joined and took over the party later to be known as the ‘Nazi’ party. By 1933, due to several reasons, Hitler was able to make his party the largest in Germany and also very cleverly change the German constitution so that he could become dictator of Germany. Hitler was fiercely patriotic and believed the German race to be far superior to any others especially those to the East. Like many others, Hitler was outraged with the Treaty of Versailles which he felt was extremely unfair and unjust. He aimed to completely overturn the Treaty which would restore German pride and make Germany strong once again; it would also unite all German people together in the then split up country of Germany. As a fascist Hitler despised the communism of Russia in the East and furthermore intended to ‘smash’ it and take land to the East for ‘lebensraum'(living space).
The Term Paper on Great Britain Hitler Germany War
Western Civilization Final Exam Tuesday, June 23, 1998 Question: What were the causes of the World War II Do you believe that the war could have been prevented Why or Why not After the fall of the Weimar government, and the rise to power of the National Socialists headed by Adolph Hitler, Germany underwent huge transformations. One of the largest of these was the change in foreign policy. Between ...
Hitler was a very aggressive leader who would turn to violence if he did not get what he wanted. He once said:
“Our motto shall be ‘if you will not be a German, I will bash your skull in'”!
His whole foreign policy from coming to power seems to be focused on preparing for a war. In October 1933, soon after coming to be dictator of Germany, Hitler showed his contempt for the Treaty of Versailles by withdrawing from the League of nations which also showed his lack of desire for peace. At the same time he also withdrew from the disarmament conference again showing peace was not a big priority for him. Infact he straight away, against the Treaty of Versailles, began to build up Germany’s army, navy and airforce (Luftwaffe), spending a huge proportion of Germany’s income on the military; in 1935 Hitler introduced conscription. Hitler also, chiefly through propaganda, attempted to increase Germany’s birth rate; perhaps preparing for a much later war or great losses. He also started the ‘Hitler Youth’ where young boys were indoctrinated with Nazi ideas and trained to fight and accept war. Hitler thought Germany had lost W.W.I as they had to rely on other countries for war materials and this is why he wanted to achieve autarky (self-sufficiency) in Germany. His introduction of the four year plan seems to us to be an obvious way of Hitler saying he wanted a war. The plan aimed to make Germany self-sufficient in war materials such as steel, rubber and oil.Infact, the amount of money invested into the industry and military meant Germany needed a war to stop its economy from collapsing (one can rape a country of its materials once it has been conquered).
Hitler taking the Rhineland and annexing of the Sudetenland, although aggressive, was reasonable as both contained mainly Germans. His ‘pressurised’ take over of Czechoslovakia however was a lot different as it contained few Germans. It was not a reversal of the Treaty of Versailles but Hitler’s first strive for Lebensraum. The final straw was Hitler’s ‘Blitzkrieg'(lightning war) of Poland. France and Britain thought that Hitler had overstepped the line in his take over of Czechoslovakia, so they stated that they would stand by Poland in case of war. Hitler wrongly thought that this was an idle threat so attacked, and thus, W.W.II was declared.
The Essay on Appeasement Hitler War Germany
... it. Hitler next turned to Czechoslovakia. France and Britain were preparing for war when Mussolini proposed the meeting of Italy, Germany, France ... signs of war were forming. Leaders arose in countries that were unsatisfied with the results of World War I. Germany, Italy, ... armed forces, which forbade the treaty. The League's failure to stop Germany from rearming convinced Hitler to take even greater ...
Although France and Britain declared war I think we can blame Hitler. He was the aggressor who at all times seemed to be preparing and encouraging a war. However, Hitler never wanted a war with Britain and France and we must, as well as blame, address the issue of responsibility which many hold.
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Britain, France, America and Italy in 1919; Germany was only invited to listen to their fate being discussed. In the treaty Germany:
• lost lots of land including West Prussia, North Schleswig and Danzig as well as the Saarland for 15 years and the Rhineland demilitarised.
• had their army limited to 100,000 men no tanks or aircraft and only 6 battleships
• had to accept responsibility and blame for the war and thus:
• had to pay 6,600 million dollars in reparations
Germany as the losers of the war had to accept the Treaty. It made their once strong country weak and responsible for a war which seemed to have killed millions of their own men in vain. It made the Germans angry and without pride. From anger comes retaliation and revenge which of course was not possible then. Their resentment made Hitler’s aim of reversing the Treaty much more appealing as it was what many German’s wanted to restore their country’s strength and national pride. The harshness of the Treaty later led to other countries feeling guilty so they were more lenient with appeasement and giving ‘weak’ Germany the benefit of the doubt.
The allies demanded a democratic government (the Weimar Republic) be set up in Germany, but forcing it to sign the Treaty was in effect ‘stabbing it in the back’. It meant people resented the democracy which had signed the Treaty. It also gave Hitler a good subject for antidemocratic propaganda which helped to get him elected. Finally, the reparations caused a BIG international problem to be even worse in Germany… Germany couldn’t keep up with her reparation payments to France so France invaded the Ruhr. Germany called a policy of passive resistance (no one works!).
The Essay on Germany Lost Hitler France Italy
... of the Versailles Treaty After the First World War, Germany signed a peace treaty with France and Britain. Among the 440 Articles were: Germany lost Posen, the ... second turning point in the war. Germany had lost the war. Conclusion Hitler didn't care about the Versailles Peace Treaty. As soon as he got ...
So with this loss of her workers’ income the only way Germany could pay its workers was by printing more money. This caused hyperinflation which led to ‘the paper the money was made of being worth more than its face value’. America offered the ‘Dawes and Young Plan’ to help stabilise Germany’s economy. This was lots of short-term loans that could be withdrawn at any time. The problem for Germany came with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929…..
America; Thousands of companies lost millions and there was a sudden rush of people trying to withdraw their savings. The banks, who couldn’t cope with this, withdrew their German loans which caused thousands of new and vulnerable German businesses to go bankrupt, 30% unemployment, poverty, homelessness and starvation. In Germany’s abysmal position, people began to look for someone to blame and Nazi propaganda helped to direct the blame at those that had signed the Treaty (the democrats).
This is why there was a sudden increase in votes for the antidemocratic parties (Communist and Nazi) as people had lost faith in democracy. People were attracted to the Nazis as they wanted to overthrow the thing that had caused all the problems (the treaty).
The Depression is the main reason how a politician with such radical views was able to come to power as those in trouble (the Germans), became selfish and they felt Hitler could revolutionise and ‘restore’ Germany. They needed a ‘strong’ leader and Hitler was felt to conform to this need.
The League of Nations was set up soon after the Treaty of Versailles and it was meant to keep peace within Europe. It had several problems from the start, namely America not joining and a conflict between France and Britain over what the league should be doing. In the 1920’s it was quite successful settling many minor disagreements. However, in the 1930’s it came across the problem of having to deal with two strong countries. The League had no successful way of punishing or dealing with countries; it had no army of its own and had to rely on trade sanctions. Due to the Depression Italy turned to aggression to aid its economic situation and also to take the hardships off its peoples’ minds. When Italy attacked Abyssinia no one felt compelled to help as they had economic problems from the depression at home. Sending troops would have been too costly whilst economic sanctions would not have worked as America would not have supported the sanctions as they had been hit hard by the depression (Wall Street is the American stock exchange).
The Essay on Justice After War Germany Revenge Britain
Justice after War History - Wars - Writing Task Wartime is definitely a time of much violence and many things happen during this time, but what about after war... ." The just war tradition is typically evoked when discussing the decision to launch a war (justice of war) and when evaluating the conduct of forces during war (justice in war). But the tradition does not explicitly specify principles ...
As well as this, Britain and France had been hit by the depression and needed trade for money and jobs. Japan attacked Manchuria as it was a relatively small island with few raw materials; Japan thought they had not been rewarded satisfactorally from WW1 when they had helped the allies. Japan’s attack on Manchuria was treated similarly; no one could afford to send troops to help and trade sanctions would not have worked. Britain was also worried that if she helped Manchuria, her colonies nearby would be at risk. The two countries, Italy and Japan, both left the League after being condemned. They both became Hitler’s allies. The failure of the League in these two cases showed Hitler he could most likely get away with anything and it also gave an impression of an international lack of caring.
Britain and France hold some responsibility for World War 2 as their policy of appeasement allowed Germany to be in a position of strength. However, Hitler’s early demands were reasonable and he didn’t begin to make unreasonable demands until he was in a position of strength, when Britain and France could not easily refuse. Germany had been spending 23.5% of her budget on the military, whilst Britain and France had been spending much less as they were not preparing for a war and they had also spent more on trying to sort out the depression. They had to let Germany get away with things so that they could get stronger. When they were strong enough to resist Germany, they declared war.
However, before conquering Poland, Hitler was very scared of a war on two fronts meaning Britain, France and Russia fighting him from both directions. Stalin (dictator of Russia) offered Britain and France an alliance against Germany but they were too untrusting of communism which as capitalists, they were scared of and disliked. They took 5 weeks to send a reply which did not impress Stalin. When he got in touch with Hitler he got an immediate reply and a visit from an ambassador who had the power to sign an agreement. They made a non-aggression pact so Germany could attack Poland without the fear of a war on two fronts. In return Russia would receive a portion of Poland.
The Essay on How And Why Did Hitler Become Chancellor Of Germany In 1933
HOW AND WHY DID HITLER BECOME CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY IN 1933? The reason why Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, were because of many reasons; long term causes like World War One, treaty of Versailles, fear of communism, the November criminals, the early nature of the constitution1923 crisis. The economic depression 1929-1933; failure of the Weimar government; political crisis 1930-1933; ...
As we can see there are lots of reasons why Hitler was able to get into a position to start World War II, but it was Hitler who was the aggressor who had prepared his country for war and this is why he is to blame for the war. However, is it actually possible for one man to be responsible for pulling the whole world into disarray? Hitler only wanted a war with the East. We must remember there are many others responsible for allowing the war to happen. The Treaty of Versailles stabbed the new Weimar Republic and democracy itself in the back setting up their demise (soon to be followed by Hitler) just over a decade later. The treaty, through reparations made the depression so much worse in Germany which made people support the radical extremist parties. The Depression, although no-ones responsibility allowed Hitler to get into power. It caused the failure of the League of Nations and weakened many countries as they limited their military spending. Perhaps it was the responsibility of Britain and France for following such a loose policy of appeasement. It was definitely blind of them for not accepting Russia’s offer of alliance as that would surely have stopped Hitler; at this point they should have realised how much of a threat Hitler was and combined with Russia to stop him.
Little has been said about America whos presence in the League may well have saved it; however they followed an isolationist policy and preferred not to get involved in important world affairs. Their added support may well have prevented the war. So concluding although Hitler was to blame for the war, there are many others responsible for allowing him to become strong. Luckily for Hitler the Depression happened, without which he would never have got into power and become so much stronger militarily in comparison to other countries. I believe those responsible helped to cause the war as they should not have allowed Hitler to be in such a strong position and the whole international naivity in not being prepared to react, was a cause for the war.
The Term Paper on Adolf Hitler and the Story of World War II
Hitler, leader of the German Nazi party and, from 1933 until his death, dictator of Germany. He rose from the bottom of society to conquer first Germany and then most of Europe. Riding on a wave of European fascism after World War I and favored by traditional defects in German society, especially its lack of cohesion, he built a Fascist regime unparalleled for barbarism and terror. His rule ...
