1. Causes of the Second World War
Causes of the Second World War

2. Fundamental / Underlying Causes
1) The Treaty of Versailles
War Guilt Clause & reparation payments made Germany bitter; forced to cede certain territories
2) The Great Depression
Economic crisis put countries in chaos – Hitler and Mussolini used this to their advantage

3. Treaty of Versailles Clauses directed at Germany: Give up all colonies
Give up Alsace Lorraine, Saar Valley; Rhineland to be demilitarized
New countries:
- Czechoslovakia
- Poland
- Austria
** German speaking peoples of whom Hitler wanted to unite

4. Fundamental / Underlying Causes – cont’
3) The Rise of Fascism,
Extreme Nationalism,
& Imperial Aggressiveness
Hitler & Mussolini – powerful leaders who were:
Nationalistic, militaristic, imperialistic
Promise to lead people out of difficult times
Japan – invaded Manchuria (in China) -1931
Italy – invaded Ethiopia – 1935
Germany – reoccupied Rhineland (1936), annexed Austria (1938), and seized Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia

5. Return of Imperialism

6. Fundamental / Underlying Causes – cont’
4) The Failure of the League of Nations
Lacked key members (USA and USSR at first)
Inability to enforce decisions left it restricted in effectiveness
Nations lost confidence in “collective security”
Hitler pulled out of League

7. Fundamental / Underlying Causes – cont’
6) Lack of Sympathy for Jewish People
Failure of Britain and France to help out German Jews or to recognize that the treatment they were receiving was more than a domestic problem
Most nations of the world (including Canada) were unsympathetic to Jewish People
SS St. Louis Incident

8. British PM Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler - 1938
Immediate Causes
Appeasement Crises –
Appeasement – policy whereby when a country becomes aggressive, other countries give the aggressor what it wants just to prevent another war
Britain and France – practiced appeasement with Hitler until 1939
British PM Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler

9. Appeasement Policy of Appeasement –
Gave in to Germany’s demands in hopes to avoid conflict
British PM Neville Chamberlain argued appeasement policy preferable to war

10. Appeasement Crises – cont’
a) Re-militarization of the Rhineland
Treaty of Versailles – forced Germany to remove all military presence from Rhineland (which borders France)
March 1936 – Hitler sent troops into Rhineland, but Britain
and France did nothing

11. Appeasement Crises – cont’
b) Annexation of Austria
Annexation – to make something a part of a greater whole
March, 1938 – German troops moved into Austria and made it part of Germany
In direct violation of Treaty of Versailles
Democracies did nothing

12. Appeasement Crises – cont’
c) Appeasement in Czechoslovakia
When Czechoslovakia was created – over 3 million Germans were included in its boundaries in area called Sudetenland
Hitler wanted these Germans “reunified” with Germany
September, Crisis came to a head

13. Appeasement Crises – cont’
c) Czechoslovakia – cont’
After making demands regarding the Sudetenland, Hitler threatened invasion on October 1st
Britain and France panicked because this could lead to war
Called Conference
in Munich, Germany
Leaders at Munich Conference

14. Appeasement Crises – cont’
c) Czechoslovakia – cont’ –
Munich Conference – cont’
Appeasers gave Hitler Sudetenland in exchange for not invading the rest of Czechoslovakia
Wishes of Czechs completely ignored
Benes, Czech PM, not even allowed at Conference
British PM Chamberlain returned to England proclaiming a great victory
The famous photo from the Munich Conference 1938 is that of Neville Chamberlain holding up a scrap of paper and claiming to have secured "peace in our time".

15. Appeasement Crises – cont’
c) Czechoslovakia – cont’ –
March 15th, Appeasement Policy came crashing down when Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia
Another European
war was now
unavoidable
German Troops enter Prague March 15, 1939

16. 2) NAZI-Soviet Pact and WWII
Prior to WWII – Britain and France unwilling to cooperate with communist Stalin to try to “scare” Hitler
Stalin tried to convince Britain and France to “scare” Hitler into stopping – they turned him down
Hitler – goal was to eradicate communism, so Stalin’s fears justified

17. 2) NAZI-Soviet Pact and WWII – cont’
Non-Aggression Pact – Aug 1939
Agreement to not attack each other, and to divide Poland between them
Both sides knew they were lying about the non-aggression part of pact, but they signed it to gain time:
Hitler wanted to avoid a 2-Front war when he attacked Poland
Stalin wanted to buy time to prepare for war
Essentially: this pact cleared the way for Hitler to start WWII

18. The Last Straw: Germany’s Invasion of Poland - 1939
September 1, 1939 – WWII began with German invasion of Poland
NAZIs used the “blitzkrieg” (“lightning warfare”) method
Airplanes led attack to knock
out key enemy positions
Immediately followed by tank
& motorized infantry attacks
Attacking forces swept past
enemy, then close in behind,
thereby trapping them
NAZIs swept through Poland,
encountering little resistance

19. Appeasement No Longer: Declarations of War
1) France & Britain immediately declared war on Germany
2) Canada declared war one week later (September 10th)
Parliament voted and decided to join war
NOT automatic like in WWI
Leaders in Quebec supported Canada’s entry into war based on PM King’s promise that conscription (compulsory military service) would never be required