Causes of WWII Notes written by an A* student. The information is compiled from multiple GCSE History books and includes all important dates and events as well as detailed discussions about the major events of the time.
Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931 signified the start of a decade of tension that led to the start
of WWII. The 1920’s had been very optimistic with the League of Nations and the Locarno and
Kellogg-Briand pact, but now nations started to fall into the hands of Italy, Japan and Germany.
Long term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-1923
-Big nations were dissatisfied with the treaty:
-Japan’s idea of racial equality had been rejected
-Italy had hoped to receive a larger share of colonies than she did
-Germany was destroyed by the T.o.V. Britain and France feared that an angry Germany
would still have potential (largest population in central Europe). By 1927 Hitler was
producing more steel than Britain, so it had a growing industry that could threaten Britain’s,
they could also build more weapons.
-Hitler now had an outline for his foreign policy because it was centred in destroying the T.o.V. He
could rely on the German people’s support. His actions included:
-German rearmament
-Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
-Taking the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia
-Occupation of Prague
-Seizure of Memel
-claims made over Danzig and the Polish Corridor
-Britain and France relationship had become divided because the British believed the Treaty had
been too harsh and could understand Hitler, but France thought it should have been tougher and
was concerned about Germany’s actions.
-The treaty was supposed to be based on Wilson’s 14 points but Germans found themselves living in
foreign land. The treaty was therefore inconsistent.
, HITLER’S FOREIGN POLICY (how far was it to blame?)
The key objective of Hitler’s foreign policy was to make Germany great again by achieving a number
of secondary objectives.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF POLICY
Destroy the Treaty of Versailles-disarmament clauses would be broken by introducing
conscription and building a navy, army and air force
-remilitarising and refortifying the Rhineland to secure
Germany’s western frontier
-lost territory would be regained
Unite German speaking people to -they would create a greater Germany
the Reich -the frontiers of Germany would be extended to cover those
areas where the population is predominantly German
-this would cover Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia
Destroy communism -Germany would be drawn into conflict with Soviet Russia
Acquire lebensraum -Hitler thought all Germans were entitled to have “living
space”
-this meant more land for their recreation and cultivation
-lebensraum implied expansion eastwards at the expense of
Poland and Soviet Russia
Build up a central European -once Hitler had achieved all this he would be master of a new
Empire central European empire, the most powerful state in Europe, if
not the world
Hitler possibly wanted France as a client state (a state that is effectively controlled or under the
influence of another one militarily or economically).
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