World War Two
The Causes of WWII
How did it start?
World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany, right after Germany invaded Poland, which triggered the war.
Among the causes of World War II were Italian fascism in the 1920s, Japanese militarism and invasions of China in the 1930s, and especially the political takeover in 1933 of Germany by Hitler and his Nazi Party and its aggressive foreign policy.
The Treaty of Versailles
Versailles: In 1919, Loyd George of England (Who personally agreed with Wilson but knew Britts agreed with Clemenceau), Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France (who wanted revenge and desired to make sure Germany would never start a war again), and Woodrow Wilson from the US (who wantd a treaty based on 14 point plan which was going to bring peace to Europe) met to discuss how Germany was to be made pay damage it has caused in WWI. German people disliked the treaty and voted for a dictator that promised to rip the treaty apart, he was Hitler.
· War Guilt Clause - Germany should accept the blame for starting World War One
· Reparations - Germany had to pay 6,600 million pounds for the damage caused by the war
· Disarmament - Germany was only allowed to have a small armyand six naval ships. No tanks, no airforce and no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland area was to be de-militarised.
· Territorial Clauses - Land was taken away from Germany and given to other countries. Anschluss (union with Austria) was forbidden
Hitler's Acctions
Appeasaments
: Appeasement means giving in to someone provided their demands are seen as reasonable. During the 1930s, many politicians in both Britain and France came to see that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles had placed restrictions on Germany that were unfair. Hitler's actions were seen as understandable and justifiable
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an international organisation set up in 1919 to help keep world peace. It was intended that all countries would be members of the League and that if there were disputes between countries they could be settled by negotiation rather than by force. If this failed then countries would stop trading with the aggressive country and if that failed then countries would use their armies to fight.