The Causes of World War II

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 The Causes of World War II

By Curt Smothers


Wars begin as a result of immediate as well as long-range causes. World War II was no exception. Its "sparks" were Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. 


Those two events coalesced and gave World War II its truly global aspect as the Axis powers of Germany, Japan, and Italy battled the Allies of the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in an over-six-year bloodbath.


Vindictive victors in World War I sowed the seeds

Historians, who are much like "reverse fortune tellers," recognize the long- range causes of the War. Those causes were a sad history of shortsightedness on the part of world leaders. For example, the vengeance wreaked on the defeated Germans after World War I sowed the seeds of long-term German resentment towards Britain and France. 


The rise of fascism in Germany

Harsh economic reparations coupled with a world-wide depression virtually ensured the successful rise of Hitler. Hitler tapped into a wellspring of German nationalism and resentment and tore up the Treaty of Versailles violation after violation.


Unchecked Japanese imperialism

In the meantime, the rise of Japanese militarism and its unchecked naval power and spread into China and Manchuria elicited not a word of protest from western powers, other than an embargo of United States exports of fuel and war materiel. 


The U.S.  embargo and the Japanese unbroken record of military successes in Asia emboldened the Japanese to strike out and try to cripple the United States in the Far East. 


Meanwhile, In North Africa, no one lifted a finger against Mussolini's conquest of weak Abyssinians, who fought Italian tanks and flamethrowers with spears and antique rifles.


British and French appeasement embolden German expansion

Between the failure of the European Versailles Treaty and Germany's invasion of Poland, history records many instances where Great Britain and France could have stopped German aggression, but chose instead the path of appeasement. 


Without the loss of a single soldier, and before the Germans had the military power to withstand both France and Great Britain, the Germans were allowed to absorb Austria and to invade and occupy Czechoslovakia. 


While the European Allies sought "peace in our time," the Germans and Italians laughed up their sleeves at the weakness of their adversaries. The Japanese, meanwhile, continued their cruel and heavy-handed treatment of the Chinese, while the hamstrung League of Nations did nothing.


Failure of the League of Nations

Another cause of World War II was the failure of the League of Nations, a precursor of the United Nations, which was doomed to failure from the outset when the United States Senate refused to ratify a treaty urged by President Wilson as a promising means to solidify his World War I aims, i.e., "The War to End Wars."


Unfortunately, it was the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930's, and the League of Nations' limp and totally ineffective response that was that organization's death knell and a sad preview. It was also a sad preview of what was the true cause of World War II: Military weakness and irresolute response on the part of those who wanted peace and justice.

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