1. What were the causes of the Second World War?
‘Peace’ in Europe post WW1
The events that lead to WW2
Historical interpretations
Hitler was responsible
Alternative explanations:
JP Taylor
Capitalism/Imperialism
Hitler was responding to domestic pressure
Competing Ideologies

2. ‘Peace’ in Europe post WW1
The Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Formation of league of Nations 1919
1925 Locarno Treaty
1929 Kellogg-Briand Pact signed
1933 Four-Power Pact signed (Germany, Italy, France, Britain)
Pacifist movements proliferated

4. In reality… WW1 had solved little
Apparent equilibrium masked the fragile international system
Diplomacy run by small band of elites
Britain and France had power beyond their real strengths
USSR and USA opting out of international politics

5. Events leading to WW2

6. 1929 Wall Street Crash

7. Sept 1931: Japan invaded Manchuria

8. 1920s and 1930s: Mussolini’s ascent to power

9. 1933 Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany

10. 1937 Chamberlain became PM of Britain: policy of ‘Appeasement’

11. Appeasement Adjustment and accommodation to risks as they arose
No fixed or preconceived plan of action
Moral assumption on the value of compromise and ‘peaceableness’
Use diplomatic experience to its fullest extent
BUT… perceived as ‘weakness’

12. The movement towards war…
Late 1930s re-armament
November 1936: Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Anti-Commintern Pact
1936: German troops moved into Rhineland
Italy and Germany intervened in the Spanish Civil War
March 1938 Germany occupied Austria: Anschluss
August 1938: Munich Pact
Germany asks for Danzig and the ‘Polish corridor’

13. The movement towards war…
March 1939: Britain and Poland sign bi-lateral pact
May 1933: Hitler and Mussolini sign the Pact of Steel
23rd August 1939: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed – USSR and Germany
1st September Germany invaded Poland
3rd September Britain and France declared war on Germany
22nd June 1941: Germany invaded Russia: Operation Barbarossa

15. 7th December 1941: Japan attacked Pearl Harbour

16. The Historical Interpretations
Hitler was responsible
A J P Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, 1961
Capitalism/Imperialism as causal factors
Hitler responded to domestic pressure
A clash of ideologies

17. ‘In principle and doctrine Hitler was no more wicked and unscrupulous than many other contemporary statesmen. In wicked acts he outdid them all….Hitler intended to use his force, or would at any rate threaten to use it. If Western morality seemed superior, this was largely because it was the morality of the status quo; Hitler’s was the immorality of revision.’
‘His aim was change, the overthrow of the existing European order; his method was patience. Despite his bluster and violent talk, he was a master in the game of waiting. He never made a frontal attack on a prepared position – at least never until his judgement had been corrupted by easy victories… he preferred to wait until the forces opposing him had been sapped by their own confusions and themselves forced success upon him.’
A J P Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1961), page 71

18. Capitalism/Imperialism as causal factors
America, Japan, Germany: rising economies
France and Britain: in relative decline
Imperialism
Provided markets for goods, raw materials, perceived strength and prestige
Germany and Italy saw themselves as ‘have nots’
In reality: Empire not such a great benefit
Capitalism
Disillusionment with capitalism
Political hostilities caused by economic concerns

19. ‘It must not be forgotten that war in 1939 was declared by Britain and France on Germany, and not the other way round… The traditional picture of the western democracies acting as honest brokers in world affairs, vainly trying to uphold the spirit of the Covenant of the league of Nations and the strategy of ‘collective security’ in the face of totalitarian pressure can no longer be upheld.’
Richard Overy, The Origins of the Second World War, 1987, p.2

20. Hitler was responding to domestic pressure

21. A clash of ideologies
Old Empires – Capitalist, liberal, want to maintain status quo. Democratic, although elites would have preferred more aristocratic power.
Italy, Germany (& Japan): Totalitarian, fascist, militaristic, nationalistic, ambitious for Empire
Soviet Union: Communist, totalitarian, wanted control of the Baltic but no involvement in war
USA: Democratic, liberal, capitalistic, policy of neutrality caused by domestic concerns

22. The crisis in democracy
Mark Mazower: democracy ‘enthroned’ as ‘natural form of government’
Greater fear of communism than fascism
Doubt over democracy

23. Mark Mazower, Dark Continent
‘The tensions created by the dream of national purification lay at the heart of inter-war European politics.’
Any agreement between Britain and Germany would require… ‘an impossible transformation in Br values: these were liberal rather than authoritarian, while British racism – which certainly existed – was based more on culture than biology.’ p.75
The clash of ideologies was inevitable