The Second World War

The Second World War began in September of 1939 and was between the Allies and the Axis. It began with Germany's unprovoked attack and conquest of Poland, and involved Britain and France from the beginning. Its origins lay in German resentment at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the economic crisis of 1929-30, which favored the rise to power of Fascist dictators, the failure of the League of Nations to gain international acceptance for disarmament, and the policy of imperialism adopted by Germany, Italy and Japan as a means of acquiring raw materials and markets. As a part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for the First World War, which then led up to the outbreak of the Second. The reparations chapter of the Treaty of Versailles was universally condemned in Germany. Article 231, a proclamation of German guilt, had been inserted to establish Germany's moral responsibility for the war and, therefore, her legal responsibility for all damage to property and persons and was disliked because of the War Guilt clause it contained. Germany, prepared for military conquest by Hitler, remilitarized the Rhineland in violation of the Locarno Pact. The League of Nations failed to react firmly either to this or to the conquest of Ethiopia by Italy under Mussolini. The Second World War was indeed one of the greatest conflicts in history. What started out as a European struggle, soon emerged to the level of worldwide warfare. The Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, American President, Franklin Roosevelt and Russian leader, Joseph Stalin were just a few of the leaderships that tried to bring their nations to victory. Although they all could not have "won" the war, these particular three men worked together to form an outstanding alliance system.

The causes of the Second World War truly are numerous. There were several steps to war, and according to various sources, most were associated with Germany. Hitler's first attempt to gain worldly power was to rearm Germany. The German rearmament began after Hitler left the 1932-34 Geneva Disarmament Conference, where it was decided as a unanimous British option, that all nations should "disarm to the German level, as a first step to total disarmament." By 1935, rearmament was well underway. This involved conscription and munitions factories. Rearmament alarmed the French, who, feeling insecure, reinforced the Maginot line (built between 1929 and 1934). It was expected that France would agree to revise the section of the Treaty of Versailles dealing with disarmament and recognize Germany's right to rearm. However, France remained passive without Britain's support. Britain was sympathetic towards Germany and even signed an Anglo-German naval Treaty (June 1935) allowing Germany's navy to be 35% of the size of the Royal Navy.

In 1936, defying the Treaty of Versailles (1919), Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland. He marched 30,000 troops into Cologne on March 7, 1936. France, with 250,000 troops mobilized, remained passive because Britain would not support her. Britain took the view that Germany was Ð''marching into her own back yard.' To show that his remilitarization was popular, Hitler held a plebiscite, which showed that 98% were in favor. He went on to build his own defensive fortification, the Siegfried Line.

Britain's policy of Appeasement (May/June 1937 Ð'- March 1939) was also a cause of World War Two. Neville Chamberlain became the British Prime Minister on May 28, 1937, and followed the policy of appeasing Germany, believing that all Hitler wanted to do was unite German-speaking people. In doing so, Hitler would break the Treaty of Versailles but Chamberlain did not believe Hitler would cause war. Churchill disagreed, citing Mein Kampf (1924) where Hitler has written that Germany must regain lands Ð''in the EastÐ'... by the power of the sword.' Little did Chamberlain know that he had misinterpreted Hitler's aims. Britain and France remained passive when Germany annexed Austria, and they continued their policy of appeasement in the Munich Agreement, sacrificing the Sudetenland to Germany. The German seizure of the whole of Czechoslovakia and the Italian seizure of Albania put an end to appeasement.

The Anschluss with Austria (March 13, 1938) also played a role in the Second World War. Austrian fascists wanted to unite with Germany but Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor, wanted Austria to be independent. He was unable to gain support from abroad (France and the Little Entente) so he agreed to meet Hitler in Berlin. He was persuaded to accept Hitler's henchman Seyss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior. Rioting in Vienna increased under Syess-Inquarts's leadership and Schuschnigg resigned. Seyss-Inquart invited Hitler to assist him and on March 13, 1938 troops from the Wermacht entered into Austria. In a plebiscite on the Anschluss, a vote of 99.75% in favor was recorded. This was Ð''rigged' by biased questioning. Hitler made it seem that he had been invited to Austria, when in fact he had initiated the meeting.

On September 29, 1938 Hitler gained the Sudetenland. The Sudetenland had been lost by Austria in the Treaty of St. Germain (September 10, 1919) and Czechoslovakia gained 3 million German-speaking people. After the Anschluss, the Sudeten German leader, Konrad Henlein, demanded a union with Germany. Unable to receive help from France, the Czech Premier, Benes, mobilized alone. Fearing war, Chamberlain met Hitler on three occasions at Berchtedgaden, Godesburg and at Munich.

A final cause of the Second World War, and the event that caused the outbreak was the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. German tanks invaded West Prussia using blitzkrieg tactics. Chamberlain sent an ultimatum saying that if Hitler did not withdraw from Poland by 11am, September 3, 1939, Britain would declare war. On this day, Britain and France both declared war on Germany.

There were several events that led up to the outbreak of the Second World War. On January 30, 1933 Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. In March of 1935, he reintroduced compulsory military service and the following September at the Munich Conference, German acquisition of the Sudetenland was approved. Hitler then occupied the remainder the Czechoslovakia on March 13 or 1939, after already taking half, and in August, his country of Germany signed a nonaggression pact with the USSR.

Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain and Daladier signed the Munich Agreement on September 29, 1938. The agreement stated that Hitler could not take the Sudetenland the following day without plebiscite, Hungary and Poland could take border districts from Czechoslovakia, and Britain and Germany would never go to war. Chamberlain's reaction

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