17. World War II and its causes

Introduction 

Famous dictum “War is an extension of Politics”. (1)

World War 2 was one of the deadliest event in the history of mankind. As many as 6 crore people lost their lives and other 2.5 crore were wounded; millions were rendered homeless; infrastructure was reduced to debris in the entire Europe; entire cities were reduced to ashes; European economies were crippled on account of widespread destruction. In a nutshell,  Europe was completely devastated. 

Causalities in various countries as the result of  WW2(5) 

Allies: US, Soviet Union, Britain,  France, China, Australia and other small countries

Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria.

Holocaust: It is a term used to describe the systematic killing of nearly 6 million Jews by Germany and its allies. 

Total causalities: around 60-80 million

  

Causes of World War II

1. Treaty of Versailles 

 The Article 231 of the notorious treaty (signed in 1919) blamed Germany and its allies for triggering the war. Germany had to pay huge sums of money in reparations. According to some estimates, Germany had to pay $40 billion (1).  German Army was limited to as many as 100,000 soldiers; its  air force was disbanded; German territory was given to neighboring Poland, Denmark, Belgium and France. Czechoslovakia was created out of German Territory.  German Colonies were divided among Allies included Australia, which claimed New Papua Guinea and Nauru. As a matter of fact, Germans considered such a harsh treatment at the hand of the Allies  as a national humiliation. 

2. Economic Depression 

The whole world was hit by an economic depression in the late 1920s. In a depression, economies shrink, trade is reduced, businesses close, prices fall, banks fail, and unemployment rises. In 1933, Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany by promising to restore German wealth and power; his elevation to the highest level gave rise to radical ideologies across the world.  German were hit hard as foreign investor moved their money out of Germany. It became more difficult to pay heavy reparations. The Economic Depression aggravated the miseries of Germans and the disgruntled Germans blamed the nexus of France, Britain and the US for their troubles.

3. German Militarism/ Aggression/ Racism/ Hitler’s foreign policy.

Hitler immediately began secretly building up Germany’s army and weapons after Germany opted out of the League of Nation on 21 October, 1933. Although Britain and France knew of Hitler’s actions, they thought a stronger Germany would stop the spread of Communism from Russia. In 1936, Hitler ordered German troops to enter the German-speaking areas of the Rhineland (France), Austria, and Czechoslovakia.  At this point neither France nor Britain was prepared to go to war with the roaring Germans. In 1936, Hitler entered into alliance with Italy and Japan. The military alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan was called the Axis Powers (4).

4. Failure of the Appeasement Policy

Appeasement meant agreeing to the demands of another nation in order to avoid conflict. During the 1930s (2), politicians in Britain and France began to believe that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair to Germany and that Hitler’s actions were understandable and justifiable. This belief, adopted by Britain, was the Policy of Appeasement. German occupied Rhineland in 1936. In March, 1938 Germany occupied Austria. An example of appeasement was the Munich Agreement of September 1938. In the Agreement, Britain and France allowed Germany to annex areas in Czechoslovakia where German-speakers lived. Germany agreed not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia or any other country. In March 1939, Germany broke its promise and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia (Broke Anschluss Accord with Austria, 1938). Neither Britain nor France was prepared to take military action. Then, on September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Britain and France immediately declared war on Germany. World War II had begun in Europe.

5. Failure of League of Nations

First Germany was not included until 1925. Then the league failed to prevent Germany from massive military buildup in line with Treat of Versailles. Later it failed to deter it from resorting to aggression when Germany occupied a buffer area between France and Germany named Rhineland in 1936 in violation of Treaty of Versailles. Moreover, LON failed to stop Germany and Italy from aiding Franco in Civil war. (4)

6. Japan’s Expansionism and Militarism 

In 1931, Japan was hit badly by the economic depression. Japanese people lost faith in the government. They turned to the army in order to find a solution to their economic problems. In order to produce more goods, Japan needed natural resources for its factories. The Japanese army invaded China, an area rich in minerals and resources. China asked for help from the League of Nations. Japan ignored the League of Nations and continued to occupy China and Korea. As Japan invaded other areas of South East Asia including Vietnam, the United States grew concerned about its territories in Asia, such as the Philippines and Guam. Japan felt that its expansion could be threatened by the United States military and attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941. World War II had begun in Asia.(1,4)

7. Nazi-Soviet Pact August 1939/ Munich Agreement Sep 1938

This pact of non-aggression between Nazis and Russians emboldened Germany to attack Poland without any fear of Russian retaliation . Through Munich Agreement, Sudetenland was given to Germany ,which further enticed it to acquire more territories. (3)

Why the Allies won and the Axis had to bite the dust?

⦁Better coordination among Britain, US and Russia. The three assisted each other’s efforts. On contrary, Axis had poor coordination, Italy had its own ambition, Japan and Germany was fighting at Separate fronts. (3)

⦁Well-structured economy of US was instrumental as the US supplied funds, weapons,  armored vehicles and trained soldiers to the allies. 

⦁They (Allies) were fighting for a just cause and moral values (2). As a matter of fact, the Allies strived to defend themselves against an aggressor. It was relatively easy for them to galvanize their masses into action.  On the other hand, Hitler was seen as a despotic ruler who wanted to conquer the world to impose German superiority. His tenors could be gauged from one of his statements during the war: “once we have won, who is going to question our methods”

⦁Technological superiority (2) of the Allies was another factor that proved instrumental in their win against the Axis powers. One illustration was demonstrated when the Allies Used Sonar and Radar to locate German U-Boats.

⦁Effective intelligence working, as  intelligence officers  from the United Kingdom decoded the German Transmission Codes (Ultra) to interrupt their advances. Similarly,  secret agents of the United States  decoded the Japanese codes to formulate better plan and strategies. Moreover, timely intelligence sharing helped them efficiently coordinate and  execute several operations on various fronts.

Sources

1. (World Atlas) https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-were-the-main-causes-of-world-war-ii.html

2. International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond by Antony Best    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309701271_International_history_of_the_twentieth_century_and_beyond

3. The Origins of the Second World War in Europe

By P. M.H. Bell https://www.questia.com/read/126018466/the-origins-of-the-second-world-war-in-europe

4. Vital Crossroads: Mediterranean Origins of the Second World War, 1935-1940 By Reynolds M. Salerno https://www.questia.com/read/109359307/vital-crossroads-mediterranean-origins-of-the-second

5.  History on the net: https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-two-statistics-data