Causes of WWII

Firstly, one of the causes of World War II was the rearmament of Germany. When Hitler first came to power in 1933, one of his main aims was to abolish the Treaty of Versailles and rearm Germany. He started by taking Germany out of the League of Nations and beginning to rearm Germany, directly defying the terms of the treaty.

He gave orders for the build up of submarines, tanks and the air force, held a massive military rally in 1935 and even introduced conscription to the army in 1936. In the same year, Hitler also took his first big risk by moving troops into the Rhineland, effectively remilitarising it and violating another treaty term.

All these acts strengthened Germany militarily, but caused an adverse effect in the process: the other European countries felt threatened by this and started building up their own military strength. This created tension in countries like Britain and France against Germany. The general feeling that war was about to break loose at any time was very common.

A second cause of World War II was the Appeasement policy which Britain and France followed in the 1930s. This policy was basically one of giving in to Hitler in whatever he wanted. It started when Britain signed a naval agreement with Hitler in 1935, allowing Germany to increase its navy to up to 35 percent of the size of the British navy. Thereafter, France appeased Germany by not taking any action when Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland. Hitler had ordered the troops to retreat upon any form of resistance from the French.

In 1938, Hitler’s successful Anschluss with Austria was partly due to the appeasement of the British. Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, had felt that Austrians and Germans had a right to be together. Thus Britain did not resist the union between the two.

Further examples include the Sudetenland crisis and the Munich agreement, both in the same year. In both events, the demands of Hitler seemed unreasonable, but Britain and Czechoslovakia both gave in to them. The policy of Appeasement encouraged Hitler to be aggressive. The more others gave in to him, the bolder he became and the bigger the risk he dared to take. This led to Germany growing too strong and eventually, the breaking out of war.

However, the most important cause of World War II was Hitler’s expansionist nature – his never-ending desire for more territory and living space. There are numerous cases in which this expansionist nature can be seen. For example, Hitler was greatly encouraged when he regained the Saar region after the 1935 plebiscite. In 1938, he carried out the Anschluss with Austria. After this, he became more daring and in 1938 announced that he would go to war if he was not given the Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia. Even after he took over it, he was still not satisfied.

Next, he signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Stalin in 1939, agreeing with the USSR to divide Poland amongst them. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This was the last straw. Britain and France kept their promise to defend Poland and declared war on Germany. The second world war had begun.

In my opinion, Hitler’s expansionist nature was the most important cause of World War II. This is because it sparked off everything else, such as the Appeasement policy. Hitler’s increasing demands for more and more living space were getting too unreasonable, which eventually forced Britain and France to abandon the Appeasement policy and to start World War II. Perhaps none of these would have started if Hitler had been satisfied in the first place.

In conclusion, the main cause of World War II was Hitler’s expansionist policy – his unquenchable thirst for more living space. Other reasons, such as the rearmament of Germany and the Appeasement policy, were insignificant when compared to that.