Why did World War Two begin?

The harsh treatment of Germany after the First World War was one of the main reasons that led to the outbreak of World War Two.

This made the German people feel weak and desperate, allowing Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (a fascist political party) to take control of Germany.

When Hitler’s forces invaded (when an armed force from one country enters another country to take control) Poland on 1st September, 1939, Britain and France had no choice but to declare war.

World War Two had now begun.

Important words on why World War Two began.

The First World War was fought between 1914 and 1918 and caused the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians.

On 11th November 1918, the armistice (an agreement between countries to stop fighting) was signed bringing an end to the First World War.

In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, the peace treaty made Germany accept full responsibility for the losses during the First World War.

This meant Germany lost land, could not rebuild its army and had to pay large sums of money, called reparations, to the Allies.

Throughout the 1920s, the German people started to feel the pain of the Treaty of Versailles, many people lost their jobs, the money they used lost its value and the prices of everyday items increased.

Many German people started to become angry at their government for signing the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1929, the world suffered from the Great Depression, this was a time when the world’s economy struggled.

The Nazi Party was a political party created after the First World War, its leader was Adolf Hitler.

He blamed the government of Germany, their signing of the Treaty of Versailles and other communities, such as Jewish people, for Germany’s problems.

He promised to make Germany strong again, to remove the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and to regain the land that they had lost.

In 1933, Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany.

As Chancellor, he started to arrest his opponents and pass new laws that allowed him to become the supreme leader, or Fuhrer, of Germany.

As Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler immediately began to break the rules of the Treaty of Versailles, he started to rebuild Germany’s army and sign agreements with other countries like Italy and Japan.

In 1938, Germany invaded and conquered Austria which worried many leaders in Europe.

Britain and France were desperate to avoid another world war, so they allowed Germany to keep the lands it had taken, they also allowed Germany to invade the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.

This decision was called appeasement (the giving in to demands to avoid a conflict).

Hitler signed an agreement to promise not to expand Nazi Germany, this was called the Munich Agreement.

On 1st September, 1939, Hitler broke the Munich Agreement and launched an invasion of Poland, they used a tactic called blitzkrieg (the quick movement of military soldiers and vehicles) and it overwhelmed the Polish forces.

The policy of appeasement failed, Britain and France had no choice but to declare war on Germany two days later on 3rd September, 1939.

When World War Two began, the United States of America (USA) did not want to get involved in another European war.

After Japan signed an agreement with Nazi Germany, the relationship between the USA and Japan became much worse.

On 7th December, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii killing 2,403 soldiers and civilians and destroying warships.

The day after the attack, the American President, Franklin D Roosevelt, declared war on Japan. Germany and Italy then quickly declared war on the USA on 11th December, 1941.

The USA had now joined World War Two.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.

• What do you think was the most important consequence of the German people feeling unhappy, defeated and desperate after the Treaty of Versailles was signed?

• The policy of Appeasement failed to prevent the outbreak of World War Two. Why do you think this failure was a significant event which led to the outbreak of World War Two?

• Adolf Hitler blamed the German government and different groups of people for Germany’s problems. What do you think this tells historians about how Hitler succeeded in becoming the supreme leader of Germany?

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