Salah Eldin Bazinah
December Take Home Test
December Take Home Test Question 1
Q1- Analyze (a) the long-term causes and (b) the short-term causes, of the
Second World War (2009 Paper 2).
The Second World War was a devastating war for most of the world. It caused
great damage for those who participated in the war and those observed the war as
well. Historians have always attempted define the long-term and short-term causes of
the war. However, it has always been hard to do so due to the fact that there are many
indirect and direct causes of the war itself. The traditional view of the causes of the
Second World War is that Hitler caused the war, however, recent evidence show that
there are other factors that led to the Second World War. This essay will analyze the
long-term causes and the short-term cause of the Second World War.
There are many long-term causes to the Second World War. One of the first
causes of the War is the Treaty of Versailles, many historians, such as James Joll,
view the Treaty of Versailles as the reason for the German antagonism. It seemed to
divide Europe into two camps, one camp wanting to maintain the treaty and apply it,
and another camp that was devoted to abolish the treaty. Hence, this would create
long-term antagonism between these countries, which would spark into a great world
war. In support of the orthodox view, another main cause of the war was Hitler’s
ambitions. Since Hitler became the Head of the NSDAP, or the Nazi Party, he had
this ambition of taking over land in the east. This idea was called Lebensraum. He
believed that Germans needed living space in order to prosper, and he thought that the
only way in which he would be able to acquire living space would be through
acquisition of land from the East. Hitler’s attempts, and in certain times successes, to
take the lands of the East caused great controversy in the west. Intentionalists argue
Salah Eldin Bazinah
December Take Home Test
that Hitler had plans to attack the East and plans for a great war. This is evident by the
information provided in the Hossbach Memorandum. He outlined three cases in
which he attempted to prepare the German economy and military for war. However,
Structuralists argue that even if he did not plan he war, he was still able to take the
opportunity of fighting against the Western powers in September 1939. Another
important factor that led to the Second World War was the appeasement of Britain
and France to Hitler. It is a policy based on the need to comprise and make concession
by a large empire to a small one. This policy was implemented during the
Czechoslovakian Crisis, the remilitarization of the Rhineland, and allowing Hitler to
increase Germany’s navy, this was called Anglo-German Naval Agreement. It is
therefore argued that appeasement led to the Second World War in that every time
Hitler made a demand, he was able to achieve it and the Western powers gave it to
him. Another important cause of the Second World War is the failure of the League of
Nations itself. The Manchurian Crisis and the Abyssinian Crises were the first real
tests to the League of Nations, they showed how the weak the League was and how it
lacked the machinery to be the arbitrator of peace in the world. The last crisis that
showed how weak the League was and truly led to the failure of the League was the
remilitarization of the Rhineland. This move marked an important stage in Hitler’s
plans for rebuilding German power. Many historians, such as AJP Taylor, believe that
if the Western powers had stopped Hitler from taking the Rhineland, they would have
been able to avert war.
The short-term causes of the War can be limited to the events, which occurred
in 1939. After the Munich agreement, the Great Powers ceded the Sudetenland to
Germany. However, Hitler promised that he was not planning on making more
demands or attempting to takeover other lands. Yet, in March 1939, Hitler invaded
Salah Eldin Bazinah
December Take Home Test
and occupied Western Czechoslovakia, he annexed Memel, and made more demands
for Danzig. Therefore, the Western powers limited Hitler by guaranteeing the Polish
border. After the guaranteeing the Polish border, Britain and France sought a treaty
and alliance with Soviet Russia. Talks between France, Britain, and Russia started in
July 1939, however, due to the fact that Britain seemed like she did not truly care
about having an alliance with Russia. Therefore, Russia ended the talks with Britain
and sought a new alliance with a foe: Germany. Stalin believed that having an
alliance with Germany would be preferable than having an alliance with the Western
powers. Hitler saw that he was ready to accept Stalin’s demands, and on August 23nd
1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop NonAggression Pact. The pact committed both parties to benevolent neutrality, but it had
a secret protocol in which they decided to carve up Poland between them, and Russia
would take some of the Balkan states. Therefore, this meant that war was inevitable,
and that eventually Germany would go against the world by attacking Poland. Hence,
by guaranteeing the Polish border, Britain committed herself to war against Germany.
Hence, on September 1st 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France then
declared war Germany. The Second World War had started. Therefore, the plans that
Hitler made of conquering Poland led caused the Second World War, since he knew
that Britain would act against this action of conquering Poland, and this would
eventually lead to a Great War.
In conclusion, it seems that there are many causes of the Second World War
and most of them are tied together. The long-term causes seemed to have had a great
effect on the short-term causes. The Treaty of Versailles seemed to have a huge effect
on the outcome of the event in the 1930s, which led to the Second World War.
However, Hitler’s plans seemed to have led to the Second World War. Therefore, the
Salah Eldin Bazinah
December Take Home Test
outcomes of the events mentioned above seem to constitute the causes of the Second
World War.