HIST-405N Week 6 Discussion 2: World War II

Week 6: World War II 55 55 unread replies. 90 90 replies. What were the underlying causes of World War II? Select one event that you think irrevocably led the world (and the U.S.) to war more than any other event. Argue your selection with details that support your answer. Hello Professor and class, There were several events that when taken together further escalated the conditions needed for war from the rise of Hitler to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which gave the U.S. it’s push it needed to enter WW2. But these events I believe don’t measure up the true core of what caused the war. The WW2 began right where WWI had ended and that is with the Treaty of Versailles, or rather the with the failure of the Treaty. A lot has been said of what the Treaty of Versailles and did not do. It is easy to fall into the current accepted topics discussed such as the treaty was too harsh on the Germans. The debts that it required to pay pushed the Government into a staggering period of inflation and led to the formation of the Nationalist Socialist (Nazi) Party. That is a common belief, one that I myself had as well. This, in fact, may not have been the case. The debt that Germany was required to pay was falsely claimed to be paying reparations for the entire war when it actuality it was only required to pay for the “civilian” damages it caused. The amount was calculated by Germany’s “ability” to pay not the actual cost of the damages that were way more. It was also stated that paying pack these reparations caused a twofold issue. It saddled Germany for all the “guilt” for the war and it caused hyperinflation. These claims were merely tools of German propaganda that has pervaded ever since the government of Kaiser and Hitler. The war “guilt” that was touted by German politicians was a device employed to sidestep paying reparations. The real intention of the section of the treaty was actually different, “the authors of the article, American diplomats Norman Davis and John Foster Dulles, merely intended it to establish Germany’s acceptance of its responsibility to pay the reparations for the civilian damages its military had wrought, as laid out in the subsequent articles” (Morelock, 2017) The ploy was effective because Germany never actually paid back any reparations themselves, which some argued was lenient in the first place. The hyperinflation was actually caused by Kaiser because of his borrowing to pay for the war and later printing Germany marks to help solve the post-war economic woes. (Morelock, 2017). Where the Treaty actually failed lies in the fact that it was actually not tough enough on Germany, a fact that was corrected by the Allies after World War II. There is a quote taken out of context by French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the World War I supreme Allied commander, in a complaint about the Treaty “This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years!” This was, in fact, the case because WW2 occurred around that time period. His complaint was not stemming from the harshness of the Treaty but its lack thereof. The Treaty did not assure that German forces would be permanently weakened. He wanted there to be a perpetual occupation of the Rhineland. Second, Germany losing its colonies actually helped it consolidate its losses and get rid of the unnecessary drain on its economy. (Morelock, 2017) Lastly, the treaty allowed Germany to voluntarily comply with the provisions of the Treaty and is compounded by the Allies will to actually enforce this on Germany. References: Keene, C. & O'Donnell (2012). Visions of America: A History of the United States (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Morelock, Jerry. “Failed Peace: The Treaty of Versailles, 1919.” HistoryNet, 18 July 2017,