Road to war

Road to War Essay

The Second World War affected most of the world greatly, damaging infrastructure, weakening economies and ruining nations. The need to decide which countries were responsible was widespread across Europe and the globe, in order for people to heal from this major trauma. However, to this day, who was responsible can still be debated. Whereas Nazi Germany was greatly to blame, the League of Nations was supposed to prevent a future war but proved to be too weak. Additionally, the rise of extremist parties in countries around the world and each nation’ specific needs lead to further instability leading towards another war.

Hitler's Nazi Germany has always been majorly blamed for causing the Second World War. This in particular because it actively prepared for war by systematically violated the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, which was signed after WWI, partly in order to stop another war in Europe, limited Germany in many ways. One of these was a significantly reduced army and the complete demilitarisation of the Rhineland, the region bordering both France and Germany. Hitler violated the treaty when, in 1936, he spent over 10.2 billion marks in rearmament in a four year plan preparing the economy for war The same year, troops were sent into the demilitarized zone posing a threat for France. Under the treaty this was seen as a hostile act from Germany and despite warnings Hitler kept his armies there. These illegal preparations for war support the idea that the country was responsible for WWII.

Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles forbid the expansion of German territory in order to limit its capability to rearm. However, here again Hitler violated the treaty. He had promised to reunite all German speakers and in march 1938, Austria was occupied by Germany with no retaliations and nations both proclaimed union. The Anschluss Österreichs, or Annexation of Austria, was in complete transgression with the Treaty of Versailles, creating further tensions in Europe and threatening for another war. In September of the same year and in order to ease tensions, Hitler Obtained the region of Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia through the Munich Agreement. Yet just before WWII, Germany annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia, violating both the Treaty of Versailles and the Munich Agreement. Finally, in continuation with its territorial expansion, Germany invaded Poland pushing Britain and France to officially declare war with Nazi Germany. This last invasion broke the treaty yet again and marked the beginning of WWII.

Moreover, Hitler’s control over society became alarming as he obtained total power through the Enabling Bill in 1933. He imposed Nazism through terror and instaured police forces, the Gestapo and the SS, to maintain order with intimidation. The first concentration camps in Dachau were built in 1933 where any opposition was sent of to do hard labour. In order to control future generations, he also created the Hitler Youth which obtained over 8 million members by 1938. It was meant to completely re-educate a generation of Germans with military style training and indoctrination in favour of Nazism. In the end, Hitler had the power and started coordinating his armies, air force and navies to prepare for war without any major opposition inside Germany. The rest of Europe, however, feared the worst was to come and people were worried their liberties could disappear.

Lastly, Nazism showed clear evidence of xenophobia and racism. In his book Mein Kampf, Hitler explicitly showed signs of antisemitism and distrust of the Jewish population. He firmly believed they were the cause of Germany’s situation and rallied the country against them. Retaliation by nearby countries was inevitable when such an ideological threat was present. Furthermore, Nazism was based with an ‘Aryan race’ in mind threatening minorities such as black, Roma, Slav and disabled people in addition to the Jewish population. Eventually, Hitler imposed Nazi values through terror and propaganda, either threatening ‘undesirable’ populations, or convincing the ‘Aryans’ the others were their enemies. The annexation of the Jewish population in particular was worrying throughout Europe as they were gradually deprived of their rights. Goods and shops were confiscated, public areas became off limits, and in September 1935, the Nuremberg Law deprived jews of their citizenship and right to vote. By the end of that year, over 20 000 jews had been sent to labour camps. The way these persecuted populations were treated partly forced Britain and France to take action against Nazi Germany.

Nazi Germany is nonetheless far from being the only responsible in starting WWII. The League of Nations, which was created in 1920 in order to maintain worldwide peace failed in many ways, resulting in most conflicts across Europe. Part of its failure was because of a lack of participants limiting the League of Nations influence. The very founder, the US, never joined and many countries like the USSR were never even asked to join. Further disruption existed because of a lack of armed forces to intimidate hostile countries. A clear example of that is Mussolini’s Italy which supported Hitler in his expansionist policies, and who invaded parts of Africa creating the Abyssinian crisis. The League of Nations tried to stop Mussolini but failed to assert its authority. It had also let Hitler remilitarise the Rhineland showing its general ineffectiveness. As a result, when the time came the League of Nations wasn’t ready to protect countries in need of assistance like Czechoslovakia or Poland, failing to prevent WWII.

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