Events That Led to World War II

“The First World War was a tragic and unnecessary conflict. Unnecessary because the train of events that led to its outbreak might have been broken at point...tragic because the consequences of the first clash ended the lives of ten million human beings, tortured the emotional lives of millions more, destroyed the benevolent and optimistic culture of the European continent and left, when the guns at last fell silent four years later, a legacy of political rancour and racial hatred so intense that no explanation of the causes of the Second World War can stand without reference to those roots.”

~John Keegan, The First World War

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It is true, as Keegan points out, that the first World War laid the ground work for the second. After World War I ended, the world was practically thrown into a different chaos, a financial and economic crisis. France and Britain suffered the most from this whereas Germany was the only major European power with some semblance of economic stability. As France and England’s economies failed, industries shut down little by little. Thousands and then eventually millions of workers were unemployed within short span of time. But that was only part of the issue.

Due to their own economic troubles as well as past resentment toward Germany, France rather unfairly demanded that Germany be severely restricted militarily and be made to pay massive debts incurred by all the allied nations involved. This was one of the terms placed in the Treaty of Versailles (external link), the agreement between the nations of the world that had clashed in the "Great War". However, this treaty only caused more problems than it solved. One example of this was the forming of the League of Nations and all the baggage that followed. For instance, Article 10, the “covenant” clause, set the same trap as that the military alliances of WWI. If one of the Allied countries were attacked, the other nations of the League would be compelled to enter into war whether they were able, and whether they were willing or not. Another failure of the League of Nations was its lack of strong backing. Even though the U.S. president dreamed up the League of Nations America stayed out of it, so there was not such a large and powerful country there to help enforce the various aspects of the Treaty of Versailles. This, coupled with outside security threats, an increasing awareness of economic issues among the League’s countries and their turning to their own issues, and all out disagreements and lack of unity within the League caused many problems down the road. However, the biggest flaw in the Treaty was completely Ostracizing Germany. This acted as a double edged sword for the Allies as it not only caused dissention and stirred up strife between the two spectrums of nations on either side of the Treaty, but it left Germany with a “bitter taste” toward the Allied countries that lasted for generations.

Adolf Hitler seized upon Germany’s mounting resentment over this to help boost his position in Power. He also used it as an excuse to go to war with several surrounding areas of Europe and commit terrible Atrocities during the Holocaust. His aggression was left unchecked by the shaky League. Instead, they adopted an Attitude of Appeasement when they realized several clauses in the Treaty they created basically tied their hands. So, no actions were taken against Hitler, and the Allies hoped eventually he would conquer all he felt the need to and they would be left unbothered.

It is hard to say whether things could have been done differently to possibly prevent the war. It seems the real question is should. And to that a definite “Yes” is the answer. The Treaty of Versailles should have been different so that the problems, such as "Obligation" never came into play. If the writers of the treaty had truly examined the main causes of the First World War, they would have realized their foolishness in putting themselves into a position where another World Conflict would be inevitable. The League of Nations should have turned out differently so it could have had the ability to actually take action. Sadly, because it did not have the backing of many powerful nations, such as America, it mostly made useless threats against Hitler when he started on his path of destruction that led to war. Lastly, the attitude of appeasement toward Hitler’s unchecked aggressiveness should have been different, but none of that happened.

Unfortunately, Germany was not the only thorn in the Allies’ flesh. With various violations of the Treaty, expansions into Africa, and attacks upon the United States, Italy and Japan also added momentum to the ball Germany started rolling. Sep. 1, 1939 marked the official start to World War II, just twenty years after the end of World War I. That is less than one generation.