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Militarism
Militarism basically made the war sound good by educating young people on it, and the nations also got everything ready for the war and strengthened the army. This was one of the critical events because people wanted to go to war because of the praise that it was getting. It seemed like fun to them, so the people wanted to fight in WWll. -
Reparations
Germany had to pay a lot of money to different countries for reparations that they caused. Other countries had to pay too, but didn't, so Germany was not happy about that fought for it. -
Treaty of Versailles
This treaty was signed and Germany agreed to pay for the reparations to all of the cities that they destroyed. This was later cancelled when Hitler came into power, and this created a lot of controversy. This was a huge event because it signified that the Germans did not care about anything and that they wanted to argue and pick fights with others. -
Fascism in Italy
This was a form of government where there was one party leader, there was no tolerance for anyone against this, and there was also a lot of propaganda and promotion used. Many people did not like this and thought that it was unfair, so this was a huge cause of WWll. -
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini was an Italian dictator who was loved by many, but also hated by many as well. While in power, he outlawed many things, there was no freedom of speech, and was just not fun for many people. This was also a big cause of the war because many people became very angry by this and he also ruined certain aspects of Italy such as the economy. -
The Great Depression
The Depression happened shortly after the stock market crash in October of 1929. It was called "The Great Depression" because many people were laid off of work and causing millions to be unemployed. -
Failure of The League of Nations
Anytime anyone fought, this league failed because their purpose was to keep peace. Any time that two countries went to war, the league failed and there were many times in the 1930s where this happened. -
Dictators
Many of the leaders of the world were dictators at this time. These dictators were totalitarian and made the decisions themselves without anyone's opinion. This angered people greatly. Examples include Hitler and Mussolini. This was a critical event because these dictators angered other countries and made them want to fight, which is what caused this war. -
Failure of German Democracy
Hitler did not believe in democracy. He actually believed that the German army failed because of this idea. He was, in fact, strongly against it and ran as a dictator. This won him many battles and made him one of the strongest leaders ever! -
Inflation
A lot of the currency was devalued by at least 30%, to increase or boost exports and help a lot, but also ruined a lot such as having a horrible currency. -
The Expansion of Japan
Japan invaded Manchuria (northwest Asia) and then 6 years later, attacked China horribly. They expanded in Asia. Then, during World War ll, the United States wanted to fight with the Japanese, causing the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was a critical cause of World War ll because of all of this anger between everyone. -
Nationalism
The people at this time were very patriotic, some a little too much, though. Many thought that their country was superior to others and often, people or other countries fought with them over this (Hitler and Germans were the best example for this). This was a critical even because it showed that the Germans thought that they were the best, and picked on others because of this. It caused many fights with other countries as well, not only the Germans. -
Democratic Governments not Interfering with Places such as Germany
Many governments just let Germany stomp all over them and the citizens of these places were not happy at all. This mainly happened right before WWll -
Hitler Coming to Power
Hitler came to power and did many horrible things as a leader such as cancel the Treaty of Versailles and establish himself as a dictator to Germany. This was critical because he did so many things that were horrible that caused many confrontations such as the Holocaust that took many lives from innocent people. It started a lot of issues between everyone. -
The Holocaust
The Germans put the Jewish through a lot of torture, starting with the first concentration camp, Dachau. At the end of this horrible time, 6 million Jewish people had lost their lives to Adolph Hitler. -
Re-militarization of Rhineland
This is where Hitler broke the Treaty by sending troops into Rhineland, knowingly breaking the Treaty and causing a lot of drama with Germany. This was a big reason for causing WWll. -
The Annexation of Austria
Many Austrians helped the Germans to seize their own government so that they could be associated with the Nazis and Germany. They betrayed their own government for the Nazi party. -
Appeasement of Czechoslovakia
Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia when he said he would not, and their allies (France and Britain) could not do anything to help the Czechoslovakians. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Hitler made the pact with the Russians to not harm each other. They also agreed to invade Poland and split everything. -
Invasion of Poland
Hitler and the Nazis invaded Poland and caused mass destruction. There were bombings, tanks and much more. Poland was defeated by surrender, shortly after this invasion began.