The aggressive nature of Hitler and the inadequate response by Britain and France determined the road to conflict in WWII. The invasion of the Rhineland broke the Treaty of Versailles through the policy of reconnecting land and the rearmament of the region. The inadequacy of the persuasive techniques of the League of Nations meant that it had a lack of real power. The Sudetenland showed britains inadequate appeasement policy and their lack in taking steps to prevent hitlers aggressive advances. Hitlers aggression and growing willingness to use force combined with Britain and Frances lack of action set the stage for WWII.
The rearmament and re-militarisation of the Rhineland was hitlers first agressive and strategic act to abolish the treaty
…show more content…
This is because their appeasement was the wrong strategy in subduing an aggressive Germany. jdclare.com describes appeasement as effectively selling off friends to buy off your enemies. Hitler saw the appeasement deal as a sign of weakness and a lack of resolve. This encouraged hitler to become more assertive and confident in the power of Germany, knowing that the LN, Britain and France would fold to his threats. Winston Churchill describes the choice to appease hitler as “ choice between dishonour and war”(jdclare.com). This is because those were the only two real outcomes of appeasement. Britain was dishonoured, folding to the biggest bullying the school ground. Hitlers second aim of gaining german land puts him to fault. Hitler knew that the appeasement policy allowed him to be stronger (Graham Darby). The Sudetenland created majority of Czechoslovakia’s iron and steel goods as well as being the key economic region of the country. As well as this, hitler would gain 3 million Germans for his army. The appeasement of the region allowed Germany to rearm at a faster rate than before. This allowed hitler to dominate western and Eastern Europe. This in turn escalated foreign tensions and lead to the outbreak of
Adolf Hitler, born in 1889, is an Austrian born man who is known for his instigation and participation in the Nazi Political movement, or genocide, known as the Holocaust. Throughout his later life, Hitler spent the majority of his time organizing discriminatory laws that prevented Jewish citizens’ basic rights and ultimately their demise. However, before he advanced such laws and politics, he served as the Head of State, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, until he became the Fuhrer of Germany’s Third Reich which began in 1933 and ended in 1945 (Jewish Virtual Library). His actions were fueled by an unrelenting and strict hate for the Jewish community, better known as anti-Semitism, much like the vast majority of Eastern countries. Both
There is no excuse for the horrible things Nazi Germany did during World War II. But one can get a better idea how that war started by learning about how World War I ended. The Treaty of Versailles was created by the winners of World War I, like France, Great Britain, and the United States, to make peace. So how did it help contribute to an even worse war less than twenty years later? It was mainly because it was too hard on Germany’s territory, military, economy, and national pride.
The Silber Medal winning biography, “Surviving Hitler," written by Andrea Warren paints picture of life for teenagers during the Holocaust, mainly by telling the story of Jack Mandelbaum. Avoiding the use of historical analysis, Warren, along with Mandelbaum’s experiences, explains how Jack, along with a few other Jewish and non-Jewish people survived.
...Germany was also excessive, resulting in more hatred in the minds of its people. The Germans had more enthusiasm to annul the treaty, assisting the promotion of Hitler's goals. He was able to rise within the minds of the German people, allowing him to reach absolute power. And with this power, he pointed a gun back at the Allies, not knowing that they had one more bullet than he.
It failed to produce the desired results, but rather added fuel to the fire. At the Munich Conference the Big Four discussed the demands for the territory of Czechoslovakia and ultimately gave into Hitler’s request. While many people like Neville Chamberlain argued that appeasement was the best option Winston Churchill viewed it as a consequential decision. Churchill stated that he, “thinks of all the opportunities to stop the growth of Nazi Power which have been thrown away.” No action was taken to establish the security of Czechoslovakia making the Nazi’s more powerful. Appeasement did not defer the hostility that the desire for expansion brought on, but made it escalate. When Ethiopia was invaded by the Italians the emperor, Haile Selassie, was denied assistance from the Leage of Nations. He warned them what would happened if the aggressors were not stopped and wrote, “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.” Haile Selassie knew that aggressors were going to continue to seek for more land and that any nation could be attacked next. Not only was appeasement an effort to satisfy the demands of dissatisfied powers in hope of maintaining stability, but it was also the disregardance of possibly serious conflict. The League of Nations incapability to be a forceful united front allowed for the Axis Powers to become even more willing to break boundaries. Appeasement was used to be the path of least resistance, but it would never stop the
On January 30, 1933, Hitler rose to power, during his time of power Jews had been dehumanized, reduced to little more than “things” by the Nazis. The many examples as to how they had been dehumanized are shown in the novel, Night by Elie Wiesel. For example, the Jews were stripped of their identity, they were abused, and they treated each other with a lack of dignity and voice.
Hitler's Aims and Actions as the Cause of World War II When considering the reasons for the outbreak of war in 1939 it is easy to place the entire blame on Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy in the late 1930s. One British historian, writing a few years after the end of the war, claimed that ‘the Second World War was Hitler’s personal war, in that he intended it, he prepared for it, he chose the moment for launching it.’ In this assignment it is my intention to show that Hitler’s foreign policy was a major factor in causing the conflict but that other reasons, both long term and short term, need to be recognised as well. Probably the first factor that need considering is the Treaty of Versailles, of 1919.
The Treaty of Versailles is a cause of World War II because of the restrictions it placed on Germany as the alleged sole aggressor of the war. The war reparation totaled $98 billion, and under Clause 231 Germany was forced to take the entire load onto her ruined economy and attempt to repay the debt starting with an initial $5 billion payment. In terms of military, Germany was limited to a 100,000 man army, with her navy stripped to the level of a coast guard, she was allowed no heavy artillery, no weapons of mass destruction and the border with France became a demilitarized zone for 15 years following the signing of the treaty on June 28 1919. Germany also lost all her territories in Africa and became a mandate of the Allied Forces, those living in mandated zones could participate in “self-determination” after the Allies taught them how to be a democracy (...
Because this gave Hitler an enemy in the west. In fact Hitler was surprised by this turn of events, expecting Britain to stay out of the conflict. Hitler was very fond of the British and wanted to be her ally. By doing this bold act, it showed that there will be people how will stop Hitler from world domination.
World War Two was the most devastating conflict in the history of humanity. It crippled many nations and caused millions of people to die. One of the major causes of this disastrous war was the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War. This treaty was destructive towards the Germans. Germany had to pay large amounts of reparations to the Allied nations at the end of World War One resulting in a Great Depression in Germany. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles’ war guilt clause forced Germans to admit full responsibility for starting the war. Furthermore, to gain the support of the German populace, Adolf Hitler adopted an effective propaganda campaign. Adolf Hitler employed a successful propaganda campaign to gain the support of the German people combined with the Treaty of Versailles harsh economic and political sanctions ignited World War Two.
The Treaty of Versailles, initially created to keep peace in Europe and ensure that another war like World War I wouldn’t happen again, had in fact, backfired and spiraled the world down into a deeper, bloodier battle. The treaty discriminated strongly against Germany, with the loss of territories, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the War Guilt Clause. It caused humiliation and anger within Germany, and led to Hitler and the Nazi Party coming to power. World War II was not only started by Adolf Hitler and Germany, but had a lot to do with the humiliation that Germany felt when the terms for the Treaty of Versailles were laid down. The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles may be indirectly related to the cause of World War II, but nonetheless was a huge factor in starting the war.
as a historian it is clear that in the years of 1941 and 1942 things
Hitler was able to use his countries momentum and his negotiation skills to achieve what he wanted for Germany and make a deal he knew that he was not going to honor and eventually lead to WWII. Prime Minister Chamberlain also needed to be aware of possible deception that he was likely going to face when dealing with Germany. “When German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1929, Hitler’s promise that Sudetenland was his ‘last territorial demand’ was revealed for the lie it has always been. At best Chamberlain’s summit diplomacy has bought Britain another 11 months to prepare for war at the considerable expense of Czechoslovakia’s freedom”(Rathbone 19). In fairness, Chamberlin had avoided war for a period of time, but the consequences were much greater in the sense that war was inevitable and his people’s lack of faith.
This led to another cause of the war because people would not have been happy if Hitler stole parts of other countries where German people lived. He demanded living space, 'Lebensraum', for his people in the East. People did not like the idea of this as to use more space you need more land, which means he would need to take land from other countries, making Germany a lot stronger. In 1933 Hitler began to build up Germany's army which violated one of the rules set by the Treaty of Versailles.
There were arguments for and against the policy of appeasement. The British government wanted to avoid wars in the future, and this was demonstrated by the peace ballot in 1935. The horrors of World War 1 were still fresh in people’s mind and the effects of war were seen to be devastating. There was a general feeling that Germany had genuine grievances. Hitler claimed that Germans who were living outside Germany had a right to self-determination. It was believed that the policy of appeasement would promote Anglo-German friendship remove grievances. Other scholars argue that there was no alternative to the policy of appeasement as most countries were not prepar...