which incident led to start of World War II
Answers
Answer:
Historians from many countries gave deep attention to the causes of World War II. Leading themes include the political takeover in 1933 of Germany by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, which ruthlessly promoted an aggressive foreign policy in violation of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, Japanese militarism against China, Italian aggression against Ethiopia, and the success of Germany in forming an agreement with the Soviet Union in August 1939 to divide up Eastern Europe. The immediate precipitating event was Germany invading Poland on September 1, 1939, and Britain and France declaring war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
Deep anger arose in Weimar Germany that experienced strong currents of revanchism after the Treaty of Versailles that punished Germany for causing World War I in 1918. Complaints focused on the demilitarization of Germany's Rhineland, the prohibition of unification with Austria, and the loss of some German-speaking territories. The loss of overseas colonies was a less prominent issue. Germans said they had endorsed Wilson's Fourteen Points in good faith, but the points were ignored. Versailles imposed severe conditions to prevent Germany from ever becoming a military power again, as well as heavy financial reparations. Resentment and hatred of other countries was intensified by the instability of the German political system, as many activists rejected the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic. The most extreme politician was Adolf Hitler and his violent Nazi party. They took totalitarian power in Germany starting in 1933 and demanded the undoing of the Versailles provisions. The ambitious and aggressive foreign policy reflected Nazi ideology, such as: Anti-Semitism, unification of all Germans, the acquisition of "living space" (Lebensraum) for agrarian settlers (Blut und Boden), creating a "pull towards the East" (Drang nach Osten) (that is, Poland and Russia), the elimination of Bolshevism, and the hegemony of an "Aryan"/"Nordic" Master Race over the "sub-humans" (Untermenschen) of Jews and Slavs.
Other factors leading to the war included aggression by Italy against Ethiopia and Albania, the Japanese aggression and seizure of most of China and the Axis alliance formed by Germany, Japan and Italy. The 1930s were a decade in which democracy was in disrepute; countries across the world turned to authoritarian regimes.[1]
These aggressive moves met only feeble and ineffectual policies of appeasement from Britain and France. The League of Nations proved helpless regarding China and Ethiopia. A decisive event was the 1938 Munich Conference which formally approved Germany's annexation of the Sudeten region from Czechoslovakia. Hitler promised it was his last claim, but in early 1939 he became even more aggressive, as the British and French finally realized that appeasement was not guaranteeing peace. Britain and France badly fumbled diplomatic efforts to form a military alliance with the Soviet Union. Instead Hitler offered Stalin a better deal in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939
Answer:
Historians from many countries gave deep attention to the causes of World War II. Leading themes include the political takeover in 1933 of Germany by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, which ruthlessly promoted an aggressive foreign policy in violation of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, Japanese militarism against China, Italian aggression against Ethiopia, and the success of Germany in forming an agreement with the Soviet Union in August 1939 to divide up Eastern Europe. The immediate precipitating event was Germany invading Poland on September 1, 1939, and Britain and France declaring war on Germany on September 3, 1939.
Deep anger arose in Weimar Germany that experienced strong currents of revanchism after the Treaty of Versailles that punished Germany for causing World War I in 1918. Complaints focused on the demilitarization of Germany's Rhineland, the prohibition of unification with Austria, and the loss of some German-speaking territories. The loss of overseas colonies was a less prominent issue. Germans said they had endorsed Wilson's Fourteen Points in good faith, but the points were ignored. Versailles imposed severe conditions to prevent Germany from ever becoming a military power again, as well as heavy financial reparations. Resentment and hatred of other countries was intensified by the instability of the German political system, as many activists rejected the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic. The most extreme politician was Adolf Hitler and his violent Nazi party. They took totalitarian power in Germany starting in 1933 and demanded the undoing of the Versailles provisions. The ambitious and aggressive foreign policy reflected Nazi ideology, such as: Anti-Semitism, unification of all Germans, the acquisition of "living space" (Lebensraum) for agrarian settlers (Blut und Boden), creating a "pull towards the East" (Drang nach Osten) (that is, Poland and Russia), the elimination of Bolshevism, and the hegemony of an "Aryan"/"Nordic" Master Race over the "sub-humans" (Untermenschen) of Jews and Slavs.
Other factors leading to the war included aggression by Italy against Ethiopia and Albania, the Japanese aggression and seizure of most of China and the Axis alliance formed by Germany, Japan and Italy. The 1930s were a decade in which democracy was in disrepute; countries across the world turned to authoritarian regimes.[1]
These aggressive moves met only feeble and ineffectual policies of appeasement from Britain and France. The League of Nations proved helpless regarding China and Ethiopia. A decisive event was the 1938 Munich Conference which formally approved Germany's annexation of the Sudeten region from Czechoslovakia. Hitler promised it was his last claim, but in early 1939 he became even more aggressive, as the British and French finally realized that appeasement was not guaranteeing peace. Britain and France badly fumbled diplomatic efforts to form a military alliance with the Soviet Union. Instead Hitler offered Stalin a better deal in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939.
Explanation: