FREE ESSAY ON CAUSE OF WW2

CAUSE OF WW2

Western Civilization Final Exam Tuesday, June 23, 1998 Question: What were the causes of
the World War II? Do you believe that the war could have been prevented? Why or Why not?
After the fall of the Weimar government, and the rise to power of the National Socialists
headed by Adolph Hitler, Germany underwent huge transformations. One of the largest of
these was the change in foreign policy. Between the years of 1933 and 1936, while the
Nazis began to consolidate their power, Hitler's foreign policy was one of appeasement.
Germany did what ever it could to keep peace and tensions low between itself and Great
Britain, Italy and the USSR. Germany used this appeasement to keep peace long enough to
fully gain control of the country. After 1936, their policy changed. Nazi Germany's
foreign policy towards Great Britain was "do what ever it takes to keep them happy".
Germany wasn't ready to have them as an enemy yet. Hitler felt that the longer he had to
prepare for war the better. One of the friendly agreements was the allowing of the
British rearmament by Germany. This was the first time that Germany tried to drive a
wedge between France and Great Britain. Hitler offered to concede substantial rearmament
to Great Britain, while also subtly hinting to both Italy and Great Britain to combine
forces against France. Great Britain did not take up Hitler's proposals, but he did not
abandon his efforts. In 1934, Germany formally began to talk with Great Britain, and they
agreed on the Naval Accords in May. These accords were a smart move by Hitler, because he
gained power for Germany while, at the same time, making Great Britain feel more
powerful. What the Navel Accords did was set up the amounts of which each country could
have a navy. At that time, the British navy was by far the strongest, having twice the
amount of its nearest competitor, France. The British fleet controlled the Mediterranean,
and Hitler was jealous of this incredible power. Hitler agree in May that the German
naval fleet would only build up to 35% of the British fleet. To Britain, this seem like a
confession of inferiority, because Germany was admitting to be only 35% of Great Britain.
But to Germany, this was a way to rearm themselves to the point of where they were only
slightly behind their enemies, the French. Hitler knew that German forces could defeat
the French on land, but by sea, they needed to build. But to build a strong navy would
anger the British. However, Hitler found a way to do both. The discussions between
Germany and Great Britain continue in 1935. In March, Hitler and Von Ribbentrop met with
Simon and Eden from Great Britain. At first, Britain wanted desperately to tie down the
Germans by having them become a member of the League of Nations. The British wanted any
German aggression in the future to be punishable by international law. This way, it would
be the world's problem if the Germans attached France, not just Great Britain's and
France's, like in World War I. It was obviously not in Hitler or Germany's best interests
to join the League of Nations, but again Germany felt much more freedom in bilateral
agreements, ones which only involve two countries. Instead of rejecting the "invitation",
Germany using very clever diplomatic technique, replied by offering one such bilateral
agreement, in which Germany would gain colonial power, along with a sphere of
preservation. They also used negotiating power to postpone all binding treaties. While
the provisions of the agreement were never fully carried out it is important to
understand that Germany, was not subservient to Great Britain, certainly attempted to
reduce tensions, even to the point of an alliance against France. By 1936, Hitler had
successfully brought Germany closer to Great Britain using many valuable diplomatic
techniques. Great Britian was not the only country to be appeased by Nazi Germany. Italy,
too, was an important link in Nazi foreign policy. Hitler knew that Germany could not
survive another two and possibly three front war. Hitler was forced to give up one or
more of these borders, and gain an alley as well. He chose Italy. Italy had been fascist
since 1921, and had grown tremendously since then. Hitler also knew that Italy was strong
enough to hold its own, but not strong enough to make a difference in the coming war, if
the actions of World War I were repeated. In 1936, the two leaders Hitler and Benito
Mussolini, met and signed what was called the Axis Agreement. According to the agreement,
Rome and Berlin were the strongest cities in Europe, and therefore acted as an axis for
all other powers to revolve around. This treaty was a loose agreement, which held the two
countries together until the Pact of Steel was signed in1939. Hitler, here, alleviated
any possibility of there being a southern front. There were more than political reasons
that Germany was appeasing towards Italy. The two nations had a type of brotherhood,
thanks to their leaders. Mussolini had been the fascist leader of Italy for 12 years and
his system became the blueprint for Hitler's system. The two leaders felt connected,
being two fascist leaders in a world of communists and capitalists. Hitler learned how to
effectively run a fascist regime. An example of this is when Germany began to invade
Austria in 1934, and Italian troops marched along the Brenner Pass and pushed them back.
Hitler tested his limits and Mussolini proved Italy's power. Germany made sure not to
increase tensions too much. German-Italian relations were very important to Hitler
because Italy was the perfect candidate for an alliance, which explains his emphasis on
peaceful policies. Nazi Germany was faced with the same dilemma that pre-World War I
leaders were, encirclement. The Germans were faced with the French on the west, and the
Russians on the east, To alleviate this problem was to form some sort of alliance with
one of the two. A Fraco-German alliance was completely out of the question, the two
nations were too culturally different. Hitler was then faced with the need to appease the
USSR. The Weimer government had began such a process in the Treaty of Rapallo. In this
treaty, both counties received what they needed most, for Germany it was jobs and a place
to sell goods, and for the USSR is was a reliable source of quality goods. Hitler felt
that that it was completely necessary to continue this treaty for two main reasons. The
first reason was that the Germans needed a place to train their men. Under the Treaty of
Versailles, Hitler could not train large amounts of men with new technology in Germany.
Hitler sent troops over to the USSR, where they would train using both Soviet and German
technology. In this way, the treaty would still be kept, and the German military would
not be outdated. The second reason was caused by the alliance with Great Britain. Hitler
felt that is would be impossible to simultaneously seek an alliance with Great Britain
while also trying to win colonies. Germany need new territory and resources for her
surplus population, and without colonies, this would be impossible. Hitler came up with a
solution, which would give Germany her needed living space. Hitler proposed to seek
living space in the USSR. By doing this, he felt, Germany would not only have an outlet
for people, soldiers, and goods, but also it would bring the two nations together.
Germany was also faced with the problems that the Weimar Government was faced with. The
biggest of these was the Treaty of Versailles. Not only did the treaty both humiliate and
put to shame Germany, but also it devastated them economically. One of the first things
that the Nazi government did in 1933 was begin to free Germany from this treaty. The
treaty stated that the German land army could only consist of 100,000 men. This was very
few compared to Germany's neighbors, which had millions of troops at their disposal.
Hitler found a way to get around this, and it was by having men who wanted to join the
German army, join the SA or the SS. These armies were not technically the German army, so
the actual German army did have less than the amount stated. Another way that Hitler
began to nullify the treaty was to regain land lost by it. Two examples of this are the
Saar mines and the Rhineland. After the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost both of these
area and since 1919 the German people wanted them back. The Saar mines were extremely
productive coalmines and the Rhineland was a fertile area used by Germany. When Hitler
regained both of these areas he (Germany) was in direct violation of the treaty. This was
part of Hitler's plan to make Germany strong, his priority was to make Germany a world
power. The treaty of Versailles hurt Germany militarily, but more importantly, it hurt
them economically. Germany was forced to pay for the entire war, which was an incredible
high amount, in which it could not possibly repay. The Weimer government struggled a
great deal, having to struggle through the crisis of 1923, were the French demanded
payment that Germany just did not have. When the Nazis took control in 1933, it was a
very different story. The Nazi had no binding obligation to the treaty. Hitler did not
sign the Treaty of Versailles, neither did any Nazi, so it was generally felt that they
should hot have to conform their government to fit it. Even with the help of the Dawes
Plan and the Young Plan the debt was far too much for Germany to pay, so Hitler refused
to pay it. He stated that the Weimar government signed for the debt, and that the treaty
died with the Weimar government. The government of Nazi Germany was not a popular one,
internationally speaking. In 1933, the British, French and the Americans openly stated
their discomfort in the Nazi seizure of power, this becomes a serious problem for Hitler.
Without allies, the Nazis would surely fail. It is here that Hitler used his diplomatic
skills to make other countries forget the past. Hitler began with Great Britain,
encouraging British rearmament, along with fortifying Great Britain's understanding that
they possessed the strongest navy in Europe. Hitler did the same with Italy, wooing them
with the possibility of Germany and Italy taking over Europe. It was also clear that
Hitler needed an ally to the east, and therefore began to ally with the USSR. Although
his attitude changed, and many of his "allies" became enemies, there was one country
whose fate was never in question, France. Hitler and all Germans were French-phobic due
to the seizure of German lands in the Treaty of Versailles. Germany before 1936 had a
one-track foreign policy that was required under the circumstance. It consisted of
friendliness towards former enemies, Great Britain, the USSR, and Italy. Even though
Hitler's policy was one of appeasement, it more often was a planned gamble. So many
problems faced the Nazis, they were forced to take a divide and conquer attitude in both
foreign and domestic policy. The new Nazi government had a tremendous amount of domestic
issues to deal with up until 1936, and the foreign policy that was issued was the best
time saver possible. The Nazis successfully gained control of the country and at that
time, the policy became the opposite, one of complete aggression, finally leading to
World War II. The foreign policy was a prelude to the aggressive, militaristic policy of
the Nazis after 1936. I believe that that the war could have been prevented had Neville
Chamberlin, the British Prime minister not been so afraid of war. If he had confronted
Hitler earlier and stopped tying to appease him it would have stopped Hitler in his
tracks. If the reparations against Germany with the Treaty of Versailles weren't so
astronomical maybe the revenge that the Allies took on Germany wouldn't have came back to
haunt them. A gentleman on the English Board of Trade gave Hitler a loan to try and buy
peace. Yet the money when to defense building instead of war reparations. Chamberlin also
didn't take Hitler's threat to attack Czechoslovakia seriously. It seemed that Chamberlin
sacrificed Czechoslovakia in order to save his own country. Instead of meeting Hitler
halfway on the Czech issue he practically bowed at Hitler's feet having already worked
out the arrangements for the transfer of territory when they met at Godesbar. Hitler's
zeal to obtain more territory could have also been squashed in the Munich Agreement.
After Hitler's refusal to stop acquiring more territory Britain, France or the US could
have made some arrangements to retaliate in Germany buy sanctions