Causes of the Second World War History Term Paper (Term Paper Sample)

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Causes of the Second World War
The Second World War is considered the bloodiest and the most devastating war in history. It is the only war that has ever nuclear weapons and was characterized by Hitler’s mass deaths and holocaust. What caused this war that was fought between 1939 and 1945? Historians cite Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy, Italian and Japanese Imperialism, inactivity of leading global powers, and the failure of the League of Nations to disarm Europe and keep peace as the main causes of the war. This paper will evaluate each of the aforementioned causes of the war before drawing some conclusions.
The major cause of the Second World War was the aggressive foreign policy of Hitler and his Nazi party. Hitler became the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and launched a master plan that would have enabled him dominate Europe. The main pillars of his plan was reunification of all German tribes that had been scattered by the treaty of Versailles to create a great German Empire, then conquer Eastern Europe forcefully. Hitler pursued his imperialistic ambitions by militarizing his country. According to Winston Churchill, the Second World War became inevitable when Germany rearmed and invaded Poland (Hillgruber 47). This provoked leading European nations such as Britain and France, and the only way to Stop Hitler was War.
The second cause of the Second World War was anger over the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles prohibited reunification of Germany and the newly formed state known as German Austria, formerly known as Austria-Hungary, despite the fact that a large percentage of Austria Germans wanted the union. When Hitler became the German Chancellor in early 1930s, he insisted that the treaty should be revised to enable reunification of all German tribes. There were tensions in Europe as Hitler started the process of revising the treaty. This put a lot of pressure on the League of Nations. The first step that Hitler took was to attack reparations. Even though the Weimar Republic had suspended reparation payments before the rise of Hitler, the Nazi regime insisted that it would not resume paying reparations as required by the treaty. The second step Hitler took was rearmament of Germany. This increased international tensions. After that, he withdrew Germany from the League of Nations. This was another affront to the treaty which made it clear to powers in Europe that Germany had chosen a path of war. The Germany rehabilitation efforts that the Weimar Republic had undertaken were watered down by the new course that Hitler took. Hitler’s contempt for the treaty and its provisions and the actions he took against those provisions alarmed many powers in Europe creating tensions that culminated in the Second World War.
The other cause of the Second World War was the aggressiveness of Hitler allies. These allies were Italy and Japan. The rise of Fascism in Italy under the rule of Benito Mussolini is similar to the rise of Nazism in Germany under Hitler. Hitler and Mussolini pursued an almost similar foreign policy. For example, Mussolini wanted to create a Fascist Roman Empire in the Mediterranean region and Northern Africa. There were tensions in Europe when Mussolini invaded Abyssinia in 1935. The aggressive expansionist foreign policy that mirrored that of Hitler in Eastern Europe alarmed European powers such as Britain and France, and war was the only option that would have stopped Mussolini. In the Pacific, another Hitler ally, Japan was also busy trying to create a Nipponese Empire would have stretched from China to Australia. The Manchurian invasion of 1931 by Japan was part of its aggressive expansionist strategy. When Japan moved into the French Indochina, President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States froze all assets belonging to Japan in the United States. Britain and the Netherlands also followed suit. The move led to oil starvation in Japan which was left with two choices. These were either to move out of China or Seize the East Indies oilfields from the Netherlands. Japan chose not to move out of China and decided to attack. The Netherlands, United States, and Britain had to defend the Dutch East Indies from the Japanese. Japan reacted by attacking the Pearl Harbor signaling the official entry of the then Neutral United States into the war.
The passivity of democratic powers in the 1930’s is another factor that contributed to the Second World War. The democratic powers could have stopped the actions Hitler, Mussolini, and Japan before they caused a full-blown war. For example, in the 1930s, the United States remained neutral and isolated. France was reluctant to act against Hitler and Mussolini because she felt she could not rely on the support of the neutral U.S and the cagey Britain. In the early and mid 30s, Britain kept off Germany as it allowed the country to recover from the First World War and the Great Depression. In the late 30s, Britain tried to appease Germany. Britain and France also failed to stop Italy during its invasion of Ethiopi...