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Period: to
Causes of WW2
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Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty imposed on Germany by the Triple Entente. The point of the treaty was to take away land from Germany and to reduce its army to almost nothing. They weren't allowed to own an airforce or submarines. Germany also had to pay for the war damages inflicted by both sides as it was forced to take full blame for the war. The harsh conditions created resentment and hatred, a fuel for Adolph Hitler. -
The Failure of the League of Nations
The League of Nation was formed on January 10, 1920. It was an idea proposed by the president of United States. It was a smart idea to prevent any more war, however it had a couple of problems. US, one of the most powerful superpowers, didn`t join. A lot of the member countries were weakened by WW1. The Great Depression made countries less cooperative. Some countries weren`t allowed to join(e.g. USSR), and some countries just left when they had enough(e.g. Japan). -
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The Great Depression
The Great Depression is the worst recession ever recorded in history. It caused lots of people to lose their jobs, which helped in the rise of dictators and authoritarian states. Some dictators wanted to build empires to secure the resources they
needed which began to create conflict. -
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The Policy of Appeasement
Appeasement was already in use by Prime Minister Ramsey Donald during German rearmament(1933-1935). However Stanley Baldwin was the one who really put it into action when he didn't do anything about the germans rearming(1935), or when they invaded the Rhineland. He even said that he won't go to war. Neville Chamberlain is the
most famous for this policy. However the French and some
other countries also adopted this policy during the 1930's. -
The Failure of the League of Nations (Pt. 2)
When Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, it showed the incompetence of the League. Both countries were members of the League of Nations, yet Italy still invaded Ethiopia. After that event the League was a complete failure. -
Remilitarization of the Rhineland
Affter World War 1 the Rhineland was taken from Geramny and demilitarized. It was one of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. However Hitler ordered his troops to march in. The British and French could have driven them out, because they had orders to retreat if confronted. Instead the British and French just backed out. It showed Hitler that the other countries didn't want to get involved. -
Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland started in the year 1939. It happened after an attack was staged by the Nazis to blame the Polish. They used it as an excuse to attack Poland, while calling it a defensive war. Poland fell in a couple of weeks. Great Britain and France had made an agreement with Poland to declare war on the attacking country in the event of a inavasion. The agreement was honored thus marking the start of World War 2.
