Causes of WWIIThe world at war…again

Main causes of WWII

• Treaty of Versailles• Policy of Appeasement• Totalitarianism• Nazi-Soviet Non-

Aggression Pact• Great Depression• Japan became aggressive

Treaty of Versailles

• Allied powers, U.S., Canada, Britain and France met at Paris Peace Conference in early 1919 (After WWI) to discuss what was going to happen to defeated Germany and Austria-Hungary

• Purpose of this treaty was to prevent another war

Treaty of Versailles cont’d

• Germany was crippled because of the Treaty of Versailles

• Hitler determined to make Germany powerful again

• He used this Treaty to appeal to the German people and to help him over throw the new democratic German gov’t

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQwH2tpuCxc

Germany and The Great Depression

• Germany suffered significantly from the effects of the Depression

• The “War Guilt” clause of the Treaty put a great strain on German economy

• To meet the payments, the gov’t printed large amounts of money in the 1920s which lowered the value of the German currency

Germany and the Great Depression Cont’d

• Britain, France, and the U.S. agreed to amend terms Germany’s reparation payments

• Germany made a modest recovery• When stock market crashed in 1929, Germany’s

economy was weakened and was more affected than most countries

• Germany’s inability to make the reparation payments affected the economies of other countries

Totalitarianism

• Totalitarian dictatorship: A dictatorship in which the gov`t uses intimidation, violence and propaganda to rule all aspects of social and political life if its citizens

• ``Total`` manner in which dictators controlled citizens was something that was new

• Modern technology allowed dictators to control populations because of the weapons that were available

• Germany and Italy were fascist totalitarian regimes: the gov`t controlled economy and all resources

• One leader has absolute power

Hitler`s Fascist Germany

Totalitarianism: Hitler’s Germany

• Throughout the 20`s, Nazis gained support by criticizing the democratic gov`t in Germany (Weimer Republic) and the humiliating terms of the treaty of Versailles

• 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and ruled through intimidation and fear

• Banned all political parties other than Nazis• Used Gestapo (secret police) to enforce his rule• Defied terms of the treaty and used the money to build his

military

Joseph Stalin`s communist Soviet Union

• 1924 Stalin became leader of Soviet Union

• 1928 Stalin had total control of Soviet Union

• Implemented series of 5 year plans to industrialize country and give gov`t total control of the economy

• Stalin seized all privately owned land and controlled all media

• Imposed strict censorship and travel restrictions on everyone

Stalin`s Soviet Union

• Arrested anyone who was a ``threat``

• The great purge of the 30`s: Stalin eliminated anyone who was opposed to communism; millions of people were convicted of crimes against the state and many were executed

• Many died of starvation

Benito Mussolini`s Italy

Fascist Italy

• After WWII, Italy struggled economically and politically• Mussolini established the fascist party and challenged democracy• Created ``black shirts`` gang who attacked communists and

socialists in the streets• 1922 March of Rome: gathered 26,000 black shirts and

demanded the gov`t be turned over to him• After taking over Italy, he brought all communications (ie.,

industry, agriculture, labour) under fascist control

The Policy of Appeasement

• Appeasement: the policy of satisfying or giving into demands. When a country becomes aggressive, other countries give the aggressor what it wants to prevent war

Appeasing Hitler

Appeasing Hitler cont`d

• Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to give up Rhineland

• March of 1936 Hitler violated the Treaty and sent troops to Rhineland

• Hitler became more aggressive• Britain and France did nothing

Appeasing Hitler cont`d

• March 1938 Hitler`s troops moved into Austria and made it a part of Germany

• Another violation of the treaty

• Still, Britain and France did nothing

Appeasing Hitler cont`d

• 1938 Hitler threatens to invade Sudetenland (Western region of Czechoslovakia, bordering Germany)

• Britain and France panicked and a conference was called in Munich, Germany

• Appeasers asked Hitler what he wanted in exchange for not going to war

• Hitler wanted Sudetenland-it was given to him and he promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia

• He broke his promise and invaded Czechoslovakia on March 15th of 1939

NAZI-SOVIET UNION NON-AGGRESSION PACT

Non-Aggression Pact

• Soviet Union played no role in appeasement• Since it was a communist state, Britain and France wanted nothing

to do with Soviet Union• Stalin tried to convince Britain and France to form a pact with

Soviet Union to instill some fear into Hitler• His proposal was rejected• Stalin feared Nazi German as Hitler had long declared that he

would take down communism in the Soviet Union

Non-Aggression Pact cont`d

• Hitler approached Stalin to make a non-aggression pact

• Agreement was that neither country would attack the other

• Poland was divided between the two countries

• Both Stalin and Hitler knew the other was lying about the non-aggression pact

…and the war begins

• Hitler wanted to avoid a two front war when he invaded Poland

• Stalin wanted to buy time for the inevitable war against Germany

• Signing the pact cleared the way for Hitler to invade Poland

• September 1st 1939 Hitler invades Poland and WWII begins

Homework

Discussion Questions:

• What lessons were or were not learned from WWI?• What were the four main causes of WWI and how did

they contribute to the causes of WWII?• Could WWII have been avoided?