CAUSES OF
WORLD WAR II
Long-Term Factors to War
 Main
Terms of the Treaty
of Versailles, 1919
War
Guilt Clause – Germany
to accept blame for WWI
Reparations – Germany had
to pay 63 billion in damages
(768 billion today)
Long-Term Factors to War

Main Terms of the Treaty of
Versailles, 1919

Disarmament – Germany only allowed to
have a small army and six naval ships (No
tanks, no air force and no submarines, the
Rhineland area de-militarized)

Territorial Clauses – Land was taken away
from Germany and given to other
countries. Union with Austria was
forbidden.
Long-Term Factors to War

Other Factors:
 Discontent
about Treaty of Versailles:
German people unhappy and thought
treaty to be too harsh
 Economic
instability throughout
Europe: an economic crisis went
through Europe during the 1920s,
Germany could not afford to pay
raparations
Stop and Think!
How did the
Treaty of
Versailles
contribute to
the causes of
World War II?
Long-Term Factors to War
 Other
 Rise
Factors:
of totalitarian
governments/police states that
existed in Russia, Germany, and
Italy.
an international organization
headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland
League of
Nations
established at the Treaty of
Versailles
created after the First World War to
provide a forum for resolving
international disputes
proposed by U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson in his Fourteen Points speech

League of
Nations
Key Nations who were not
members

United States: refused to
join to remain neutral

Germany: not allowed to
join because of war guilt
clause

Soviet Union: not allowed
to join because of
communist government

League of
Nations
Reaction to aggression:

Verbal sanctions: issue
warning

Economic sanctions: trade
restrictions

Physical sanctions: military
force
League’s
Military

Britain and France only countries
with military might

could not provide backing to the
League

neither in position to use finances
to pay for an expanded army

both severely depleted financially
and strength-wise from WWI
Stop and
Think!

Was the League of Nations
effective at keeping the
peace and preventing
future wars?

Why or why not?

Date: September 1931

Nation: Japan

Action: Invasion of Manchuria

Reaction: Japan withdrew from the
League and created international
isolation
Immediate
Factors to
War
Invasion of Manchuria

Date: October 1935

Nation: Italy

Action: Invasion of Ethiopia

Reaction: League of Nations looks
away, removes sanctions placed on
Italy and recognizes their control of
Ethiopia
Immediate
Factors to
War
Invasion of
Ethiopia

Date: April 1936

Nation: Spain

Action: Civil War began

Reaction: Germany and Italy sent aide
to the Nationalist lead by Francisco
Franco. Hitler and Mussolini meet for
the first time.
Immediate
Factors to
War
Spanish
Civil War
begins
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Date: May 1936

Nation: Germany

Action: Occupied the Rhineland

Reaction: Western Europe adopted
policy of appeasement, felt a stronger
Germany could help repel the spread of
communism
Immediate
Factors to
War
Occupation of Rhineland
Stop and Think!
Why
do you
think the
actions of
aggressive
nations lead to
World War II?
•
historian Paul Kennedy
defined as “the policy of
settling international
quarrels by admitting and
satisfying grievances
through rational negotiation
and compromise, thereby
avoiding the resort to an
armed conflict which would
be expensive, bloody, and
possibly dangerous.”
•
In summary, the term means
the act of giving something
to an aggressive power to
keep the peace
Appeasement
Axis
Powers
Germany and Italy
became allies by
October of 1936 forming
the Rome-Berlin Axis
Japan joined the other 2
a few months later
making up the Axis
Powers

Date: July 1937

Nation: Japan

Action: second Sino-Japanese War

Reaction: violated U.S. Open Door
policy which held that all nations
should be able to trade freely in China.
U.S. placed Economic Sanctions on
Japan.
Immediate
Factors to
War
Second
SinoJapanese
War

Date: March 1938

Nation: Germany

Action: annexed Austria (Anschluss)

Reaction: Hitler assured he may
continue his expansion without
confrontation of Britain and France
because of appeasement
Immediate
Factors to
War
Anschluss

Date: September 1938

Nation: Germany

Action: took the Sudetenland

Reaction: Hitler defended lebensraum,
Chamberlin maintained appeasement,
the Munich Pact was signed. Gave
Hitler the Sudetenland but he agreed
not to invade Czechoslovakia
Immediate
Factors to
War
Invasion of
the
Sudetenland
Response
to Munich
Pact

Neville Chamberlain
announced that the
settlement meant “peace
for our time”

Winston Churchill's remark
"You were given the choice
between war and dishonor.
You chose dishonor and you
will have war."

Date: March 1939

Nation: Germany

Action: Seizes Czechoslovakia violating
the Munich Agreement

Reaction: Britain and France issue a
warning that if Germany invade Poland
they would declare war.
Immediate
Factors to
War
Partition of
Czechoslovakia

Date: April 1, 1939

Nation: Spain

Action: the end of the Civil War

Reaction: Francisco Franco became
dictator of Spain
Immediate
Factors to
War

Date: April 7-12, 1939

Nation: Italy

Action: invaded Albania

Reaction: Economic sanctions given by
the League on Albainia. Mussolini
declared the Italian Empire as
emerging. Albania left the League
(Italy left in 1937)
Immediate
Factors to
War
Invasion
of
Albania
Non-Aggression
Pact

signed in August 1939 by
Hitler and Stalin

agreed not to invade one
another

Hitler did not want to fight
a two front war

Stalin did not trust Hitler,
but did want to buy Soviet
Union more time to build
up their army

Date: September 1939

Nation: Germany

Action: Invaded Poland

Reaction: Soviet Union invaded other
half of Poland, Britain and France
declared war on Germany to begin
WWII. U.S. declared neutrality.
Immediate
Factors to
War
Invasion of
Poland
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Stop and Think!

Why do you
think the
European
powers agreed
to appease
Hitler?
events occurred only a few years
after WWI
Cause of
Appeasement
misplaced sympathy over the harsh
peace terms of 1919
felt better with a stronger Germany
to repel communism
U.S. would not make a stand because
of strict Neutrality Act, 1935
Allowed
Hitler to…
implement his policy of
increasing Living
Space(lebensraum) and
Greater Germany
backed up these moves
with the policy of selfdetermination, claiming
that he was only occupying
German lands
Failure of Appeasement
world community ignored the problem
hoping it would go away
As a result
• Hitler felt he could ignore Britain
• betrayed Prime Minister Chamberlin
• invaded Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich
Pact and idea of German self-determination
eventually leads to war

How did the actions of aggressive
nations lead to World War II?
Let’s
summarize