http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1VL-y9JHuI
Causes of the
Second World
War
Fundamental /
Underlying Causes
1) The Treaty of
Versailles

War Guilt Clause & reparation
payments made Germany bitter;
forced to cede certain territories
2) The Great Depression

Economic crisis put countries in
chaos – Hitler and Mussolini
used this to their advantage
Treaty of Versailles

Clauses directed at Germany:
Give up all colonies
 Give up Alsace Lorraine, Saar
Valley; Rhineland to be
demilitarized
New countries:
- Czechoslovakia
- Poland
- Austria
** German speaking peoples of
whom Hitler wanted to unite

Fundamental / Underlying
Causes – cont’
3) The Rise of Fascism,
Extreme Nationalism,
& Imperial Aggressiveness




Hitler & Mussolini – powerful leaders who were:

Nationalistic, militaristic, imperialistic

Promise to lead people out of difficult times
Japan – invaded Manchuria (in China) -1931
Italy – invaded Ethiopia – 1935
Germany – reoccupied Rhineland (1936),
annexed Austria (1938), and seized Sudetenland
in Czechoslovakia
Return of Imperialism
Fundamental / Underlying
Causes – cont’
4) The Failure of the
League of Nations




Lacked key members
(USA and USSR at
first)
Inability to enforce
decisions left it
restricted in
effectiveness
Nations lost
confidence in
“collective security”
Hitler pulled out of
League
Fundamental / Underlying
Causes – cont’
6) Lack of Sympathy for
Jewish People


Failure of Britain and
France to help out German
Jews or to recognize that
the treatment they were
receiving was more than a
domestic problem
Most nations of the world
(including Canada) were
unsympathetic to Jewish
People
SS St. Louis Incident - 1939
Immediate Causes
1)
Appeasement Crises – 1936-1939


British PM
Chamberlain and
Adolf Hitler - 1938
Appeasement – policy whereby
when a country becomes
aggressive, other countries give
the aggressor what it wants just to
prevent another war
Britain and France – practiced
appeasement with Hitler until
1939
Appeasement


Policy of
Appeasement –
Gave in to
Germany’s
demands in hopes
to avoid conflict
British PM Neville
Chamberlain
argued
appeasement
policy preferable to
war
Appeasement Crises –
cont’
a) Re-militarization of the Rhineland


Treaty of Versailles – forced Germany to
remove all military presence from
Rhineland (which borders France)
March 1936 – Hitler sent troops into
Rhineland, but Britain
and France did nothing
Appeasement Crises –
cont’
b) Annexation of Austria


Annexation – to make something a part of
a greater whole
March, 1938 – German troops moved into
Austria and made it part of Germany
• In direct violation
of Treaty of
Versailles
• Democracies did
nothing
Appeasement Crises –
cont’
c) Appeasement in Czechoslovakia



When Czechoslovakia was
created – over 3 million
Germans were included in its
boundaries in area called
Sudetenland
Hitler wanted these Germans
“reunified” with Germany
September, 1938 - Crisis came
to a head
Appeasement Crises –
cont’
c) Czechoslovakia – cont’



After making demands regarding the
Sudetenland, Hitler threatened invasion on
October 1st
Britain and France panicked because this could
lead to war
Called Conference
in Munich, Germany
Leaders at Munich
Conference
Appeasement Crises – cont’
c) Czechoslovakia – cont’ –

Munich Conference – cont’


Appeasers gave Hitler Sudetenland in exchange for not
invading the rest of Czechoslovakia
Wishes of Czechs completely ignored
• Benes, Czech PM, not even
allowed at Conference
The famous photo from the Munich
Conference 1938 is that of Neville
Chamberlain holding up a scrap of paper
and claiming to have secured "peace in
our time".
• British PM Chamberlain
returned to England
proclaiming a great victory
Appeasement Crises – cont’
c) Czechoslovakia – cont’ –


March 15th, 1939 - Appeasement Policy
came crashing down when Germany
invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia
Another European
war was now
unavoidable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR8lSozEbcs
German
Troops enter
Prague March
15, 1939
2) NAZI-Soviet Pact and
WWII


Prior to WWII –
Britain and France
unwilling to
cooperate with
communist Stalin to
try to “scare” Hitler
Stalin tried to
convince Britain
and France to
“scare” Hitler into
stopping – they
turned him down

Hitler – goal was to
eradicate communism, so
Stalin’s fears justified
2) NAZI-Soviet Pact and WWII –
cont’

Non-Aggression
Pact – Aug 1939

Agreement to not attack
each other, and to divide
Poland between them
Both sides knew they were
lying about the nonaggression part of pact, but
they signed it to gain time:



Hitler wanted to avoid a 2Front war when he attacked
Poland
Stalin wanted to buy time to
prepare for war
 Essentially:
this
pact cleared the
way for Hitler to
start WWII
The Last Straw:
Germany’s
Invasion of Poland - 1939






September 1, 1939 – WWII began with German
invasion of Poland
NAZIs used the “blitzkrieg” (“lightning warfare”)
method
Airplanes led attack to knock
out key enemy positions
Immediately followed by tank
& motorized infantry attacks
Attacking forces swept past
enemy, then close in behind,
thereby trapping them
NAZIs swept through Poland,
encountering little resistance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUjrnlMAtQ4
Appeasement No Longer:
Declarations of War
1) France & Britain
immediately declared war
on Germany
2) Canada declared war
one week later
(September 10th)



Parliament voted and
decided to join war
NOT automatic like in WWI
Leaders in Quebec
supported Canada’s entry
into war based on PM King’s
promise that conscription
(compulsory military service)
would never be required