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Causes of World War II: A Comprehensive Analysis

Explore the long-term, intermediate, and short-term causes of World War II, including impacts of WWI, Treaty of Versailles, Great Depression, aggressive foreign policies, breakdown of collective security, and more. Delve into the complex web of international relations, concerns, and alliances that ultimately led to the deadliest conflict in history.

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Causes of World War II: A Comprehensive Analysis

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  1. Causes of WW II

  2. Long-term Causes • WW I • Treaty of Versailles / Paris Peace • Great Depression • Breakdown of Collective Security • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns

  3. Intermediate Causes • Aggressive Foreign Policies of Germany, Japan, & Italy • Violations of the Treaty of Versailles • Appeasement & U.S. Isolationism

  4. Short-term & Immediate Causes • Axis Power Alliance • Hitler’s Foreign Policy towards Czechoslovakia & Poland • Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact • Blitzkrieg in Poland

  5. Long-term Causes • WW I • Were the causes of WW I satisfactorily addressed? • New map of Europe based on national self-determination • Victors, “Victors,” Losers

  6. Long-term Causes • Treaty of Versailles / Paris Peace • Treatment of Germany: too harsh or too lenient • Der Diktat • Peace of Revenge? • Stability or Instability (esp. eastern Europe) •  Nationalist Interest or Desire for Peace?

  7. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • France wanted security: • Encirclement: surround Ger. w/friendly countries (Little Entente: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia & Romania) • Rearmed & strengthened Rhineland border: Maginot Line combined w/disarmament • “won the war, but lost the peace”

  8. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • Britain wanted: • maintain empire • maintain naval power • recover economically via trade • desire to be isolationist vis-à-vis the Continent

  9. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • Germany wanted to recover: • militarily, economically, politically, diplomatically • need to break Treaty of Versailles

  10. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • Italy wanted to recover from Mutilated Victory: • economically, politically, diplomatically • seen as major power, esp. in Mediterranean • territory promised in Treaty of London • colonies in North Africa

  11. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • USA wanted to isolationism: • political involvement in Europe • yet, economically involved: war loans, post-1924 investments, esp. in Ger.

  12. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • Japan wanted to security & respect: • saw selves as major power • empire means to security (ABCD Encirclement) • strengthened position in China •  militarism, esp. after Great Depression

  13. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • USSR rather indifferent until 1930s: • Stalin’s Socialism in One Country • Five Year Plans • Rapallo Treaty, 1922—renounces Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, economic ties, military ties for pariah countries

  14. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of International Relations & Concerns • What conclusions can we make from this information as well as what we have already studied?

  15. Long-term Causes • Great Depression • 3rd Global Catastrophe of the 20th Century (Robert Boyce) • weakened economic & social stability • weakened progress on international cooperation •  aggressive foreign policies • delayed rearmament, esp. in democracies • international trade collapsed •  assertion for territorial expansion (Ger, It, Jap)

  16. Long-term Causes • Breakdown of Collective Security • League of Nations • Disarmament Conferences • Manchurian Crisis • Abyssinian Crisis • Spanish Civil War

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