the causes of world war 2 essay

The Causes of WWII

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The origins of the Second World War (1939-45) may be traced back to the harsh peace settlement of the First World War (1914-18) and the economic crisis of the 1930s, while more immediate causes were the aggressive invasions of their neighbours by Germany, Italy , and Japan . A weak and divided Europe , an isolationist USA, and an opportunistic USSR were all intent on peace, but the policy of appeasement only delivered what everyone most feared: another long and terrible world war.

The main causes of WWII were:

• The harsh Treaty of Versailles
• The economic crisis of the 1930s
• The rise of fascism
• Germany's rearmament
• The cult of Adolf Hitler
• The policy of appeasement by Western powers
• Treaties of mutual interest between Axis Powers
• Lack of treaties between the Allies
• The territorial expansion of Germany, Italy, and Japan
• The Nazi-Soviet Pact
• The invasion of Poland in September 1939
• The Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbour

Treaty of Versailles

Germany was defeated in the First World War, and the victors established harsh terms to ensure that some of the costs of the war were recuperated and to prevent Germany from becoming a future threat. With European economies and populations greatly damaged by the war, the victors were in no mood to be lenient since Germany had almost won and its industry was still intact. Germany remained a dangerous state. However, Britain and France did not want a totally punitive settlement, as this might lead to lasting resentment and make Germany unable to become a valuable market for exports.

The peace terms were set out in the Treaty of Versailles, signed by all parties except the USSR on 28 June 1919. The Rhineland must be demilitarised to act as a buffer zone between Germany and France. All colonies and the Saar, a coal-rich area of western Germany, were removed from German authority. Poland was given the industrial area of Upper Silesia and a corridor to the sea, which included Danzig (Gdánsk) and cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany. France regained the regions of Alsace and Lorraine. Germany had to pay war reparations to France and Belgium. Germany had limits on its armed forces and could not build tanks, aircraft, submarines, or battleships. Finally, Germany was to accept complete responsibility, that is the guilt, for starting the war. Many Germans viewed the peace terms as highly dishonourable.

The settlement established nine new countries in Eastern Europe, a recipe for instability since all of them disputed their borders, and many contained large minority groups who claimed to be part of another country. Germany, Italy, and Russia, once powerful again after the heavy costs of WWI, looked upon these fledgling states with imperialist envy.

In the 1920s, Germany signed two important treaties. The Locarno Treaty of 1925 guaranteed Germany's western borders but allowed some scope for change in the east. The 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed by 56 countries. All the major powers promised not to conduct foreign policy using military means. In 1929, Germany's reparations as stipulated by the Treaty of Versailles were reduced from £6.6 million to £2 million. In 1932, the reparations were cancelled altogether. This was all very promising, but through the 1930s, the complex web of European diplomacy began to quickly unravel in a climate of economic decline.

Economic Crisis

The Great Depression, sparked off by the Wall Street stock-market crash of 1929, resulted in a crisis in many economies through the 1930s. There was a collapse in world trade , prices, and employment. In Germany in 1923, there was hyperinflation, which made savings worthless, a blow many of the German middle class never forgot. The regular loans from the United States (the Dawes Plan), upon which the German economy depended, stopped. There was a hostile attitude amongst many states as international trade collapsed. The USA, the world's most important money lender, pursued an isolationist strategy. Britain and France looked only to their empires. Protectionism and trade tariffs became the norm.

Germany became determined to reach self-sufficiency and not rely on world trade partners, a policy that required the acquisition of natural resources through military occupation. Germany saw the route out of the financial mess as one of massive rearmament which would create jobs in factories and the armed forces. The policy involved not only stockpiling weapons but also creating an economy geared towards total war, where the armaments industry was given priority in terms of resources, energy, factories, and skilled workers.

Hitler & the Nazi Party

Nationalist fascist parties were doing well across Europe. From 1922, Italy was ruled by Benito Mussolini (l. 1883-1945), leader of the fascist party there. By 1939, Spain had a fascist ruler in General Franco (l. 1892-1975). In Germany, Adolf Hitler (l. 1889-1945) was the leader of the fascist National Socialist Party (Nazi Party), the largest party after the July and November elections of 1932. There were even fascist parties in democracies like Britain. Charismatic leaders were turning popular nationalist feelings into a much more sinister way of thinking: fascism. Fascist parties, although not exactly the same in different countries, did have some key goals in common. Fascist leaders wanted absolute power and to achieve this new order they emphasised "conformism, hostility to outsiders, routine violence, contempt for the weak, and extreme hatred of dissident opinions" (Dear, 274). Fascist parties initially gained popularity as opponents to communism, seen as a threat by many ever since the Russian Revolution of 1917. Indeed, in Western countries, a deep suspicion of communism prevented a powerful political and military alliance from being formed with the USSR, which might ultimately have avoided war.

Hitler promised the humiliation of Versailles would be revenged and that Germany would be made great again. Many Germans believed they had been betrayed by the high command of the army in WWI and were tired of the endless round of ineffective coalition governments since the war. Hitler, with no connections to the established elite, offered a new beginning, and most of all, he promised jobs and bread in a period when unemployment and poverty were at extremely high levels. The Nazi party promised a dynamic economy which would power German expansion, seen as a glorious endeavour, with the virtues of war championed. Nazism called for Lebensraum (living space) for the German people – new lands where they could prosper. Nazism identified its principal internal enemies as Jews, Slavs , Communists and trade unionists, all people who were holding Germany back from realising its full potential the Nazis claimed. Nazism called for an international struggle where Germans could achieve their destiny and prove themselves the master race. Such ideas, none of which were radically new, meant war was inevitable. The argument that totalitarian regimes require wars and liberal democracies require peace to prosper may be simplistic but has some validity. Hitler promised the new Third Reich would last for 1,000 years and, using propaganda, show, and brutal repression of alternative ideas, many believed him as he expertly tapped into long-held views in Germany and Austria. As F. McDonough states, "Hitler was the drummer of an old tune accompanied by modern instruments" (93).

In January 1933, the German President Paul von Hindenburg (l. 1847-1934), having run out of all other options, invited Hitler to become Chancellor. After systematically crushing any opposition, Hitler began to put his domestic policies into practice and establish a totalitarian regime, everything he had written in his book Mein Kampf ( My Struggle ) back in 1924. When Hindenburg died in August 1934, Hitler effectively merged the positions of President and Chancellor and declared himself Germany's leader or Führer. Hitler had become the state, and all that was now needed for him to achieve his impossible dream was a rearmed Germany.

Germany's Rearmament

Hitler was determined to rebuild the nation's armed forces. Rearmament rocketed despite the restrictions of Versailles, which Hitler formally repudiated in March 1935. The army was already four times bigger than permitted. Eventually, Western powers were obliged to take a damage-limitation approach. In June 1935, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was signed, which capped the German navy's strength to 35% of the Royal Navy and allowed Hitler to build giant new ships like the battleship Bismarck .

In another instance of the cult of Adolf Hitler, all armed forces personnel had to swear allegiance to Hitler personally. Thanks to rearmament, Germany had achieved near-full employment by 1938. Hitler had fulfilled his promises to the German people. Germany's new war machine came at a cost. Rearming necessitated huge imports of raw materials, and these could not be bought for much longer as Germany's balance of payments went into tilt from 1939. Occupying territories where these resources could be found seemed a simple solution to the problem. Crucially, Germany had an arms advantage over its enemies, but this situation would not last long. For Hitler, the time to strike was now.

Appeasement

Allowing Germany to rearm was part of the policy of appeasement: giving reasonable concessions to avoid the total disaster of war. Appeasement, which was pursued by Britain, France, and the United States, did not mean peace at any price, but the problem with the policy was that it did give, step by step, aggressive powers the impression that their continued aggression might not necessarily lead to a wider war. To review these steps, we must look at global politics in the early 1930s.

The League of Nations (forerunner of today's United Nations) was established after WWI to ensure international disputes were settled and world peace was maintained. Although US President Woodrow Wilson (in office 1913-21) was instrumental in forming the League, crucially, the United States never joined it, seriously weakening the organisation. Germany joined in 1926 but left in 1933; Japan left the same year. The League proved to be utterly incapable of achieving its aims, as was shown most starkly by its failure to prevent Japan's invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 and Italy's invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in October 1935. Hitler no doubt watched these events and the League's total lack of a military response with particular interest as, with his own armed forces rejuvenated, he prepared to expand Germany's borders.

From 1933 to 1935, Hitler had pursued an ambiguous foreign policy, sometimes promising he had peaceful intentions. He caused confusion with such diplomatic conjuring tricks as a peace treaty with Poland in January 1934 and a statement later the same year that he had no intention of merging Austria into the Reich. Then, from 1935, his plans became ever clearer, even if some historians maintain the Führer actually had no plans at all but was merely seizing opportunities as his enemies presented them. Some historians claim Hitler was not entirely free to act as he would wish, due to constraints within the rather chaotic and factional Nazi party. In March 1935, the Saar was reunified with Germany following a plebiscite. The same year, conscription was announced. In March 1936, Germany occupied the Rhineland. In October, Germany and Italy became formal allies with the Rome -Berlin Axis. In November 1936, Italy and Germany (and later Japan) signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, a treaty of mutual cooperation in empire -building and a united front against communism. In March 1938, Hitler achieved the Anschluss, the formal unification of Germany and Austria. Encouraged by the League of Nations' lack of a strong response, Hitler then occupied the Sudetenland, the industrial area of Czechoslovakia which shared a border with Germany, the excuse being a German minority there was being repressed. Again, the Western powers made no military reaction despite France and the USSR having signed a treaty of assistance with the Czechs. The Munich Agreement of September 1938 was signed between Germany, France, Italy, and Britain, which accepted Germany's new, expanded borders. The USSR was not invited, a lost and last opportunity to present a united front against fascism – perhaps here was the real price of pursuing a policy of appeasement to the exclusion of any other possible strategies. The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (served 1937-40), fluttering before journalists a piece of paper Hitler had signed, confidently declared that he had achieved "peace with honour" (Dear, 597) and that we now had "peace in our time" (McDonough, 121). Chamberlain was nominated for that year's Nobel Peace Prize.

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Appeasement was an attractive policy to Western leaders since the horrors of the last war were still fresh in everyone's minds. France, in particular, was politically weak in this period, experiencing 16 coalition governments through the 1930s. Britain feared losing its empire if weakened by another great war. Public opinion was overwhelmingly against war and rearmament in Britain, France, and the United States. Further, it was by no means certain that Hitler would continue to expand Germany's borders; certainly, he had promised he had no additional ambitions beyond restoring Germany to its previous territories before WWI. Finally, appeasement, even if not actually believed to be a policy with any chance of success, did gain crucial time for Western powers to follow Germany's lead and rearm. In Britain and France, there were, too, strong lobbies which considered rearmament a waste of resources in economically turbulent times and pointed out that Germany was Britain's fifth largest customer for its exports. Hindsight has shown that appeasement was folly since Hitler was intent on occupying as much of Europe as he possibly could, and his track record of breaking treaties proved negotiation was pointless. Keeping the Czech heavy industry out of German hands was probably a better point to go to war over than the subsequent invasion of Poland, but Britain, France, and the USSR were simply not then equipped for war. Not until 1939 did these countries seriously begin to establish economies geared to war.

Invasion of Poland

In 1939, there was further significant activity by Germany and Italy in their quest to occupy more and more of Europe. In March 1939, Germany absorbed the rest of Czechoslovakia and Memel (part of Lithuania) into the Third Reich. Increasingly appalled by the Nazis' attacks on German Jews, Western powers now began to question if negotiating with such a regime could ever be justified on moral grounds. Appeasement was finally dead.

On 31 March, Britain and France promised to guarantee Poland's borders, and in April, this was extended to Romania. Turkey and Greece also began talks of mutual protection with Britain and France. It had finally dawned on leaders in Britain and France that the fascists were intent on territorial expansion at any cost. There was already a localised war going on, the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, which directly involved German and Italian military hardware on the one side and Soviet aid on the other. In April, Italy occupied Albania. At the end of the same month, Hitler repudiated the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. In May 1939, Italy and Germany signed a military alliance, the ‘Pact of Steel'.

In August 1939, Germany agreed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Nazi-Soviet Pact), named after the foreign ministers of each state. The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (l. 1878-1953) was increasingly aware that Britain and France seemed perfectly willing to appease Hitler as long as he moved eastwards in his direction. The possibility of 'collective security' (Britain, France, and the USSR working together) was not realised because of a lack of trust between the parties. The Nazi-Soviet Pact, in contrast, allowed Stalin to grab eastern Poland and keep the USSR out of a war for a while, gaining precious time for rearmament. Perhaps, too, the possibility for Germany to wage war only in the West against Britain and France – Stalin's 'blank cheque' for Hitler – would sufficiently weaken all three so that they could no longer threaten the USSR.

Europe was a tinder box awaiting a single spark that would explode it into war. The spark came soon enough with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. The next day Chamberlain warned Hitler war would follow if Germany did not withdraw. Hitler ignored the ultimatum. On 3 September, Britain and France, in order to protect free and independent nations, declared war on Germany. Italy, waiting in the wings to see what might happen to its advantage, remained neutral for the time being. The world, too, awaited with bated breath to see what would happen next. The unexpected answer was nothing at all.

The 'phoney war', when the Allies and Axis powers did not directly confront each other, lasted until April 1940 when Germany invaded Norway. In May, Germany invaded the Low Countries and France. Germany proved unstoppable, and by the end of June, France had fallen. In October, Italy invaded Greece. In 1941, Germany occupied Yugoslavia. Britain was left alone to fight for its survival until Hitler invaded the USSR in June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa).

The war became a global conflict when Japan attacked the US naval fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. Japan had already invaded Eastern China over concern at the rise in Chinese nationalism and then occupied most of South East Asia in search of imperial glory and natural resources, especially oil, whose import was restricted by a US embargo. Japan perhaps hoped events in Europe would prevent any direct reaction against them, but the United States did finally join the conflict. Peace would not be achieved until the world had suffered four more long and bitter years of war.

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Bibliography

• Dear, I. C. B. & Foot, M. R. D. The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Dülffer. Nazi Germany, 1933-1945 - Faith & Annihilation by Dülffer, Jost [Paperback ]. Blomsbury USA, Paperback(2009), 2009.
• Holmes, Richard. The World at War. Ebury Press, 2007.
• Liddell Hart, B. History of the Second World War. Caxton, 1989
• McDonough, Frank. The Origins of the First and Second World Wars . Cambridge University Press, 1997.
• Speer, Albert. Inside the Third Reich. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
• Taylor, A.J.P. The Origins of The Second World War. Simon & Schuster, 1996.

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The Road to War: Understanding the causes of World War II

The Second World War was one of the deadliest and most devastating conflicts in human history, claiming the lives of tens of millions of people across the globe.

However, the war's causes were a combination of factors, including economic instability, political tensions, and territorial ambitions, contributed to the outbreak of hostilities in 1939.

World War II officially began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on the 1st of September 1939.

However, this single action was not the only reason why the world fell into a global conflict for the second time.

Instead, there were both long-term and short-term causes that meant that the attack on Poland began the war. 

Long-term verses short-term causes

Every historical event occurs because of a series of events that happened beforehand. Things that directly lead to another event are called ‘Causes’.

Some causes occurred immediately before the event began, while others existed for several years before they caused the event.

• Causes that occurred only a few hours, days or weeks before the event are called 'Short Term Causes'
• Causes that existed for years, decades or centuries before the event are called 'Long Term Causes' 

Long-term causes of WWII

1. the treaty of versailles.

When World War One ended in 1918, the various countries involved had to decide how to punish Germany for starting the war.

To do this, leaders from countries across the world met at the Palace of Versailles in France in 1919 to create an official document to outline the specific punishments.

This document was called the Treaty of Versailles .

Each of the leaders had different desires for what to do to Germany. Prime Minister Clemenceau of France wanted the punishment to be severe so that Germany would not have the strength or resources to start another war.

On the other hand, the President of America, Woodrow Wilson, had a 14-point strategy that he believed would create world peace in a way that wasn't too harsh to Germany. 

However, the final treaty was particularly cruel. There were five things in the document that enraged a lot of Germans:

• Germany had to accept full blame for starting World War One
• Germany had to pay 6,600 million pounds for starting the war
• Germany was not allowed an army larger than 100,000 men, and was allowed no tanks, air force, nor submarines.
• Germany had to give up control of a region called the Rhineland, which was an important industrial centre.
• Various parts of Germany were handed over to other countries and Germany was banned from ever joining with Austria (called the Anschluss )

These terms sent Germany into a deep economic crisis in the 1920s, with many people losing jobs and struggling to feed their families.

Just when Germany was recovering at the end of the decade, the Great Depression hit, which sent Germans into poverty again.

The German people were outraged and blamed the Treaty of Versailles for their suffering.

In the hope of finding a solution to their problems, the German people voted for  Adolf Hitler , who promised to undo the terms of the treaty.

2. Hitler's military aggression

After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, he immediately began ignoring the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

First, i n 1934, he increased the size of the army beyond the 100,000 limit and created a German air force.

He also started investing in the latest military equipment and strategies for his armed forces.

The rest of the world were fully aware that these things were occurring, but they didn't intervene to enforce the terms of the treaty, because many people in other countries had come to believe that the treaty was too harsh, and they were willing to give Germany some flexibility.

Then, in 1936, Hitler marched German troops back into the Rhineland. This was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles and was a clear moment of military aggression: it may have been a test to see what the rest of the world would do.

Even though the rest of Europe was alarmed and voiced concern, no punishments were handed to Germany, and they were allowed to occupy the region again.

Britain in particular didn't respond to Hitler's actions, as it was preoccupied with its own domestic economic and political issues at the time.

The British politicians believed that the general public did not want to engage in another costly conflict so soon after the devastation of World War I.

Additionally, the British government believed that Germany's actions were not necessarily aggressive, but rather an attempt to restore its own territorial integrity.

Hitler was now more confident that he could expand further, and aimed to take back former German lands that had been taken away after World War One.

In March 1938, he marched into Austria, where Hitler forced the Austrian people to vote on whether they would like to join with Germany into a single country.

The results of the vote indicated that 99% of Austrians wanted Anschluss , which Hitler then promised to create.

However, these results are widely considered to have been manipulated by the Nazi authorities.

In this context, 'Anschluss' was the term used to describe the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.

Alarmed, Austrian leaders called on Britain and France to intervene. When these countries sent their concerns to Hitler, he simply promised that the Anschluss was the end of his military invasions.

However, Hitler had no intention of stopping there and, six months later, he sent a demand to the neighbouring country of Czechoslovakia to hand back the former German region of the Sudetenland or face invasion.

Sudetenland was strategically important due to its mountainous terrain forming a natural defense line and its industrial resources, which were crucial for Germany’s war preparations.

Short-term causes of WWII

1. chamberlain's appeasement strategy.

The Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, thought that Hitler's threat was too much of a warning to ignore.

As a result, he met with Hitler three times during September of 1938 to try and find a way of preventing any future war.

Most of Europe still remembered the horror of the First World War, and Chamberlain believed that the world should do anything they could to avoid a repeat of that.

Chamberlain believed that he could 'appease' Hitler, which meant that he wanted to find a way to make Hitler happy enough that he wouldn't start another war. 

Following their meetings, Hitler and Chamberlain signed the ' Munich Agreement ', which stated that Hitler would be given the Sudetenland if he promised not to invade Czechoslovakia.

At the time, it was celebrated by many in Britain and France as a successful avoidance of war.

Chamberlain was pleased that Hitler had signed a promise to do no further military conquests, while Hitler was pleased that he had been able to take back a former German region at no cost.

2. Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia

Following their meeting, Hitler first took over the Sudetenland as per the agreement. 

Unfortunately, Hitler had lied to Chamberlain. In March 1939, he invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia anyway, which was not covered by the Munich Agreement.

Despite the promise made to Chamberlain, no European country stepped in to stop Germany.

Therefore, Hitler came to believe that Europe was so afraid of war that he could continue to invade other countries and there would be no punishments.

However, the rest of Europe began to realise that fear of war was simply allowing one country to do whatever they wanted, and that something had to be done.

When information began circulating that Hitler was now preparing to invade Poland, a number of European countries realised that war might be a real option.

3. Hitler's invasion of Poland

Both Britain and France made a formal declaration to Hitler that if he invaded Poland, that they would declare war on him.

Chamberlain was convinced that the clear threat of war would be enough to scare Hitler.

Hitler, by contrast, was convinced that Britain and France were bluffing. He thought that his recent experience with these countries showed that they were too afraid of another world war to follow through on their threats. 

So, on the 1st of September 1939, German troops invaded Poland . Upon receiving word of this attack, Britain declared war on Germany and the Second World War began.

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World History

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• World War II
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Introduction

• World War II, also called Second World War, was a conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45.
• The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China.
• It was the biggest conflict in history that had lasted almost six years.
• Nearly some 100 million people had been militarised, and 50 million had been killed (around 3% of the world's population).

Causes of War

The major causes of World War II were numerous. They include the impact of the Treaty of Versailles following WWI, the worldwide economic depression, failure of appeasement, the rise of militarism in Germany and Japan, and the failure of the League of Nations.

Treaty of Versailles

• Following World War I, the victorious Allied Powers met to decide Germany’s future. Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
• Under this treaty, Germany had to accept guilt for the war and to pay reparations. Germany lost territory and was prohibited from having a large military.
• The humiliation faced by Germany under this treaty, paved the way for the spread of Ultra-Nationalism in Germany.

Failure of the League of Nations

• The League of Nations was an international organization set up in 1919 to keep world peace.
• It was intended that all countries would be members and that if there were disputes between countries, they could be settled by negotiation rather than by force.
• The League of Nations was a good idea, but ultimately a failure, as not all countries joined the league.
• Also, the League had no army to prevent military aggression such as Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia in Africa or Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in China.

Great Depression of 1929

• The worldwide economic depression of the 1930s took its toll in different ways in Europe and Asia.
• In Europe, political power shifted to totalitarian and imperialist governments in several countries, including Germany, Italy, and Spain.
• In Asia, a resource-starved Japan began to expand aggressively, invading China and maneuvering to control a sphere of influence in the Pacific.

Rise of Fascism

• Victors’ stated aims in World War I had been “to make the world safe for democracy,” and postwar Germany was made to adopt a democratic constitution, as did most of the other states restored or created after the war.
• In the 1920s, however, the wave of nationalistic, militaristic totalitarianism known by its Italian name, fascism.
• It promised to minister to peoples’ wants more effectively than democracy and presented itself as the one sure defense against communism.
• Benito Mussolini established the first Fascist, European dictatorship during the interwar period in Italy in 1922.

Rise of Nazism

• Adolf Hitler, the Leader of the German National Socialist (Nazi) party, preached a racist brand of fascism.
• Hitler promised to overturn the Versailles Treaty, restore German wealth & glory and secure additional Lebensraum (“living space”) for the German people, who he contended deserve more as members of a superior race.
• In 1933 Hitler became the German Chancellor, and in a series of subsequent moves established himself as dictator.
• Moreover, in 1941 the Nazi regime unleashed a war of extermination against Slavs, Jews, and other elements deemed inferior by Hitler’s ideology.

Policy of Appeasement

• Hitler openly denounced the Treaty of Versailles and began secretly building up Germany’s army and weapons.
• Although Britain and France knew of Hitler’s actions, they thought a stronger Germany would stop the spread of Communism from Russia.
• Germany agreed not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia or any other country. However, in March 1939, Germany broke its promise and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia.
• Even then, neither Britain nor France was prepared to take military action.

Key Turning Points of the World War II

• Three years of mounting international tension - encompassing the Spanish Civil War, the union of Germany and Austria, Hitler's occupation of the Sudetenland and the invasion of Czechoslovakia led to deterioration of ties between Axis Power and Allied Powers.
• However, the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and subsequently two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany.
• This marked the beginning of World War II.
• The western Europe was very quiet during the first few months of the war.
• This period of war is known as 'phoney war'.
• Preparations for war continued in earnest, but there were few signs of conflict, and civilians of the western european countries (allied powers) evacuated to safe places.

Ribbentrop Pact

• By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland.
• Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour.
• Secret negotiations in August 1939, led to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow.
• Further, Russia followed Germany into Poland in September and Poland was carved up between the two invaders before the end of the year.

Winter War 1940

• The 'winter war' between Russia and Finland concluded in March, and in the following month Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
• Denmark surrendered immediately, but the Norwegians fought on - with British and French assistance - surrendering in June 1940.

Fall of France 1940

• After war with scandenavian countries got over, Germany invaded France, Belgium and Holland.
• During this phase, the western Europe encountered the Blitzkrieg - or 'lightning war'.
• Despite greater numbers of air and army personnel in Allied powers, they proved no match for German Forces.
• In France an armistice was signed with Germany, with the puppet French Vichy government.
• Having conquered France, Hitler turned his attention to Britain, and began preparations for an invasion.

Battle of Britain 1940

• Lasting from July to September 1940, it was the first war to be fought solely in the air.
• German took decisions to attack from airfields and factories to the major cities, but somehow the Royal Air Force managed to squeak a narrow victory.
• This ensured the - ultimately indefinite - postponement of the German invasion plans.

War Getting Global

• With continental Europe under Nazi control, and Britain safe - for the time being - the war took on a more global dimension in 1941.
• Following the defeat of Mussolini's armies in Greece and Tobruk, German forces arrived in North Africa and invaded Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941.

Operation Barbarossa

• After facing defeat in Britain, Hitler broke the Ribbentrop Pact and invaded Russia in 1941.
• The initial advance was swift, with the fall of Sebastopol at the end of October, and Moscow coming under attack at the end of the year.
• The bitter Russian winter, however, like the one that Napoleon had experienced a century and a half earlier, crippled the Germans.
• The Soviets counterattacked in December and the Eastern Front stagnated until the spring.

Pearl Harbour

• The Japanese, tired of American trade embargoes, mounted a surprise attack on the US Navy base of Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, on 7 December 1941.
• This ensured that global conflict commenced, with Germany declaring war on the US, a few days later.
• Also, within a week of Pearl Harbor, Japan had invaded the Philippines, Burma and Hong Kong.

American Entry Into the War

• Through the Battle of Midway 1942, the US entered World War II. In this battle, US sea-based aircraft destroyed four Japanese carriers and a cruiser, marking the turning point in World War II.
• Also, the news of mass murders of Jewish people by the Nazis reached the Allies, and the US pledged to avenge these crimes.

Reversal of German Fortunes

• By the second half of 1942, British forces gained the initiative in North Africa and Russian forces counterattacked at Stalingrad.
• In February 1943, Germany surrendered at Stalingrad to Soviet Union. This was the first major defeat of Hitler's armies.
• Further, German and Italian forces in North Africa surrendered to the Allies.
• As the Russian advance on the Eastern Front gathered pace, recapturing Kharkiv and Kiev from Germany. Moreover, Allied bombers began to attack German cities in enormous daylight air raids.
• Hitler killed himself on the 30 th , two days after Mussolini had been captured and hanged by Italian partisans.
• Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May, and the following day was celebrated as VE (Victory in Europe) day. The war in Europe was over.

Nuclear Bombing And The End

• Plans were being prepared for an Allied invasion of Japan, but fears of fierce resistance and massive casualties prompted Harry Truman - the new American president to sanction the use of an atomic bomb against Japan.
• Such bombs had been in development since 1942, and on 6 August 1945 one of them was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
• Three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki.
• No country could have withstand such attacks, and the Japanese surrendered on 14 August.
• With the surrender of Japan, World War II was finally over.

Aftermath of World War II

New Superpowers

• World War II brought about changes in the status of countries and continents. Britain and France lost their positions of preeminence as superpowers and yielded place to the USA and the USSR.

Start of Decolonisation

• After the war, Britain and France were confronted with various domestic and external problems. Both of them could no longer hold onto their respective colonies Thus, the post-war world witnessed the end of colonialism in Africa and Asia.

Birth of UN

• One of the momentous results of the war was the birth of the United Nations Organisation.
• Although the League failed to deliver, mankind did not altogether lose its hopes of making the world a safer and happier place to live in.
• The UN Charter enshrines the hopes and ideals of mankind on the basis of which countries can work together to maintain lasting peace.
• However, the establishment of the UN was agreed, much before the end of World War II under the Atlantic Charter.

Start of Cold War

• After the end of the war, a conference was held in Potsdam, Germany, to set up peace treaties. The countries that fought with Hitler lost territory and had to pay reparations to the Allies. Germany and its capital Berlin were divided into four parts.
• The zones were to be controlled by Great Britain, the United States, France and the Soviet Union.
• The three western Allies and the Soviet Union disagreed on many things and as time went on Germany was divided into two separate countries: East Germany, which had a Communist government and West Germany, which was a democratic state .
• This laid the foundation of the Cold War.

New Economic World Order

• Bretton Woods Conference, formally United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, meeting at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (July 1–22, 1944), during World War II to make financial arrangements for the postwar world after the expected defeat of Germany and Japan.
• It drew up a project for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD-now known as World Bank) to make long-term capital available to states urgently needing such foreign aid, and a project for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finance short-term imbalances in international payments in order to stabilize exchange rates.
• Also, the US dollar was established as a reserve currency for the world trade.

India and World II

• World War II had taken an immense toll on the British Empire. Britain had lost a lot of capital and they were looking to their colonies to help them get the status of world power back. However, Mahatma Gandhi at this time organized Indians against the British.
• Also, World War II broke out to contain Hitler's intention of having German colonies beyond its borders, the same colonial occupation that Britain had already been practicing for centuries.
• Thus, after the war, people all over the world started supporting voices against British occupation over its colonies.
• When the Labour Party came to power in 1945 in Britain it inclined towards internationalism and racial equality, among other liberal principles.
• Soon after coming into power, Prime Minister Clement Attlee (Labour Party) began the process of granting India its independence in 1947.

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9 Questions About World War II Answered

(Read Sir John Keegan’s Britannica entry on the Normandy Invasion.)

What was the cause of World War II?

World War II began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland . Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on September 3. The war between the U.S.S.R. and Germany began on June 22, 1941, with the German invasion of the Soviet Union, known as Operation Barbarossa . The war in the Pacific began on December 7/8, 1941, when Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor and other American, Dutch, and British military installations throughout Asia.

What countries fought in World War II?

The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China). 

What were the turning points of World War II?

The war in the Pacific turned against Japan during the Battle of Midway (June 3–6, 1942), an American victory that destroyed the Japanese first-line carrier force and, together with the Battle of Guadalcanal , ended Japan’s ability to prosecute an offensive war.

The tide of the war in Europe shifted with the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad (February 1943). More than one million Soviet troops and tens of thousands of civilians died in the defense of the city, but the destruction of two entire German armies marked the beginning of the end of the Third Reich . 

Why did Adolf Hitler start World War II?

Adolf Hitler had an overriding ambition for territorial expansion, which was largely driven by his desire to reunify the German peoples and his pursuit of Lebensraum , “living space” that would enable Germans to become economically self-sufficient and militarily secure. Such goals were greeted with support by many within Germany who resented the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles , which had ended World War I. Through various means he was able to annex Austria and Czechoslovakia with little resistance in 1938–39. Then on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, which had been guaranteed French and British military support should such an event occur. Two days later both countries declared war on Germany, launching World War II. 

Did the Pearl Harbor attack signal the beginning of World War II for the United States?

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor marked the beginning of the Pacific war for the U.S., but it did not necessarily mean that the U.S. had become a combatant in the war in Europe. By December 1941, German armies had stalled on the Eastern Front, and it seemed foolhardy for Adolf Hitler to declare war on yet another great power under such circumstances. The Tripartite Pact only obligated Germany to defend Japan if the latter was attacked, not if it was the aggressor. Nevertheless, Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941. Later that month, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met U.S. Pres. Franklin Roosevelt at the Arcadia Conference in Washington, D.C., and the two agreed on a “Europe first” policy for the defeat of Nazi Germany.

What was Benito Mussolini’s role in World War II?

Benito Mussolini was the less dominant half of the Rome-Berlin axis, formalized by the 1939 Pact of Steel between Adolf Hitler and himself. World War II broke out between Germany and the rest of Europe later that year, but Italy—its resources already stretched thin by preexisting economic issues and Mussolini’s Ethiopian conquest in 1935—was hesitant to join. Anxious that he would lose claim to conquered European lands as Hitler advanced, Mussolini entered the war in 1940. Italy fared poorly from the outset, with ignominious defeats in North Africa, Greece, and the Soviet Union. When the Allies touched down in Sicily in 1943, Mussolini’s own government arrested him.

What did Winston Churchill do during World War II?

As prime minister (1940–45) during most of World War II, Winston Churchill rallied the British people and led the country from the brink of defeat to victory. He shaped Allied strategy in the war, and in the war’s later stages he alerted the West to the expansionist threat of the Soviet Union. 

What was the significance of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II?

The Battle of the Bulge marked the last German offense on the Western Front . The catastrophic losses on the German side prevented Germany from resisting the advance of Allied forces following the Normandy Invasion. Less than four months after the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany surrendered to Allied forces.

How did World War II end?

The Allied landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944, opened a second front in Europe, and Germany’s abortive offensive at the Ardennes in the winter of 1944–45 marked the Third Reich’s final push in the west. The Red Army advanced from the east and effectively claimed all the territory under its control for the Soviet sphere. The Allied armies converged on Berlin. Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, and the war in Europe ended on May 8. 

The American “island hopping” campaign had destroyed key Japanese installations throughout the Pacific theatre while allowing bypassed islands to wither on the vine. Hundreds of thousands were killed in firebombings of Japanese cities, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 knocked Japan out of the war. 

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Causes of World War 2 Essay | Essay on Causes of World War 2 for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Causes of World War 2 Essay:  World War two was one of the biggest global wars of the twentieth century. It started in the year 1939 and continued till the year 1945. It had all the great powers of the world, dividing the war into two military alliances. The Allies were the countries like Britain, France, and the United States, while the Axis powers had Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The Soviet Union began the war on the Axis side but later changed stances and joined the allied forces. There are various socio-political causes of the Second World War. However, the immediate cause of the World war was the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on 1st September 1939.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Causes of World War 2 for Students and Kids in English

We provide students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Causes of World war II.

Long Essay on Causes of World War 2 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Causes of World War 2 is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Causes of World War II:

The Second World war was an aftermath of the discontentment that arose among certain countries after the conclusion of the First World War. The first World War ended with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This treaty left Germany with little political and military influence and burdened the nation with heavy financial reparations. Germany was barred from unifying Austria and had to lose several territories.

Rise of Fascism:

With the Great Depression in 1939, Germany saw the rise of an autocratic Fascist ruler, Hitler, and his Nazi Party, alongside Italy and its fascist Government led by Mussolini. The Nazis attained a totalitarian character in Germany, driven by the idea of “supremacy of race.” Power craving Germany, Italy, and Japan soon took upon themselves to avenge their fallen territory. It hence was the beginning of World War II with the invasion of Poland by German forces.

Failure of the League of Nations:

The League of Nations was the forefather of the present United Nations. It was created as an international peace-keeping organization to prevent further escalations of military supremacy in the world. The League of Nations was the brainchild of American President Woodrow Wilson, yet the United States did not participate. The failure of the League of Nations to control the rising turbulence throughout the world and protect the world from a fascist attack was one of the notable causes of World War II.

Munich Agreement:

The region of Sudetenland was a predominant German region with more than three million ethnic Germans. In the treaty of Versailles, Sudetenland was given to Czechoslovakia despite strong opposition. This angered the Germans.

Germany, under Hitler, pressed for the incorporation of Sudetenland into Germany.

Finally, the Munich Agreement was signed on 30th September 1938 by the British, French, and Italian Prime Ministers to appease Hitler and give him what he wanted. Sudetenland was given to Germany, but this did more harm than good. Germany regained its political and military strength.

Rising Power of Japan:

In 1931, Japan faced a massive economic depression, and the people lost their faith in the Government. Hence, Japan turned itself into an imperial power and started capturing the resources and territory of Japan. This gave her authority over the East Pacific and made her crave for more.

Invasion of Poland:

Poland wanted to be in good relations with both Germany and the Soviet Union. However, Germany wanted Poland to join it as a satellite state. When Poland did not agree with this proposition, Germany invaded Poland on 1st September 1939 and triggered the Second World War.

Spanish Civil War:

During the time between 1936 and 1939, Germany and Italy supported the fascist General Francisco Franco while the Soviet Union started supporting the democratically elected state government. This became an issue among the world’s great powers since the League of Nations had a major involvement in the crisis.

These were the major causes of the Second World War.

Short Essay on Causes of World War 2 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Causes of World War 2 is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

There are various major causes of the Second World War. However, the most notable was the aftermath of the First World War. To conclude World War I, the treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919.

However, this treaty was extremely biased towards countries like Britain, France, and the United Nations. Germany had to go through a loss of several territories and also was burdened with huge financial reparations.

This massive discontentment of Germany made her come under the fascist rule of Hitler and his Nazi Party. Moreover, Italy came under the fascist rule of Mussolini at the same time. This rise in Fascism was a notable cause of the World War.

Some other causes were the failure of the League of Nations, the Spanish Civil war, the Munich agreement, and mostly Japan’s rise as an imperial power. The immediate cause of World War II was the invasion of Poland by Germany on 1st September in 1939.

10 Lines on Causes of World War 2 Essay in English

1. World War II began in the year 1939. 2. It was triggered by the invasion of Poland by Germany. 3. The war was divided into two military alliances. 4. The two groups were Axis and Allied. 5. The war ended in the year 1945. 6. The war ended with the bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 7. World War II witnessed the first use of Nuclear Bombs. 8. Re-militarization of Rhineland was a major cause. 9. The Germans were driven by the idea of the “Supreme Race.” 10. World War II led to the formation of the United Nations.

FAQ’s on Causes of World War 2 Essay

Question 1. Was World War II against Hitler?

Answer: World War II was initiated by Hitler and later resulted in his defeat.

Question 2. Whose side was Russia on?

Answer: Russia was an Allied force.

Question 3. Who bombed Pearl Harbour?

Answer:  Japan bombed Pearl Harbour.

Question 4. Was Spain a party to the war?

Answer: No, Spain remained neutral as a country, but Franco supported Germany and the Axis powers.

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The Nature of World War II

• Thomas B. Robertson

World War II was a total war—a mobilization of nearly all human and natural resources. That meant it was also a war that shaped and was shaped by nature. 

Written by Thomas B. Robertson. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Cody Patton, Laura Seeger, and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle.   

The Axis Powers: Central Players and their Role in World War II

This essay is about the Axis Powers during World War II primarily composed of Germany Italy and Japan. It discusses their formation through diplomatic and military agreements their aggressive territorial expansion and the eventual downfall due to lack of strategic coordination resource limitations and the resistance from Allied Powers. The text also highlights the post-war consequences including the Nuremberg Trials and the establishment of the United Nations to prevent future conflicts.

How it works

Alludes plenary “Powers of Axis” to coalition of people that opposed to Allies during the World Second War. This alliance was foremost difficult from Germany Italy and Japan though the second countries and puppet states also joined to their category. Formed through different diplomatic and soldiery agreements Axis Strengthens it directionally to extend their territories and influence contesting the existent world mode and setting fire a global conflict that it is hugged with 1939 to 1945.

German under guidance Adolf of Hitler was primary a trouble-maker coalition axis.

Expansionist of politician Hitler celite for acquisition of vital “space” (living space) for the German people took to annexation of Austria occupation of Czechoslovakia and intruding of Poland in 1939. These actions put in an operation brilliance of the World Second War directly. German soldiery strategies what is characterized by war of blickrygu or “lightning” allowed rapid and wide submissions on Europe.

Italy brought Benito over Mussolini joined to Axis with ambitions of revival of new Roman Empire in Mediterranean and Africa. The fascist mode of Mussolini aimed to renew Italian past glory through military expansion and colonial acquisitions. However the Italian soldiery campaigns were often less than successful comparatively with Germany cladding substantial remains in North Africa and Greece. Without regard to these calls Italy remained the critical member of Axis providing military support and participating in the united operating under German zmusza.

Japan third main power of Axis pursued the own emperor’s ambitions in Asia and pacific ocean. Managed aspiration of natural resources and regional influence China of Japan what breaks in in 1937 initiating a not nice conflict that the World Second War what is preceded. Attacking Port of Pearl in December 1941 marked the Japanese entrance to the global conflict entering the states united to war. Japanese strategy included rapid expansion on South-east Asia and pacific ocean taking territories for example Philippines Indonesia and parts of China and Burma.

Plenary Powers of Axis were connected by their separated aims of territorial expansion and establishment of new orders in their corresponding regions. They opposed to Interallied plenary Powers that included the united states Soviet Union United Kingdom and the second people did to aggression of Axis what halts. Without regard to their initial successes Axis Strengthens clashes eventually represses resistance from Allies conduces to the substantial soldiery defeats and possible disintegration of alliance of Axis.

One of key factors helping a crash plenary Powers of Axis was their absence of coordination and strategic unity. Every member pursued the own aims often conduces to contradictory priorities and uneffective collaboration. For example the German center on the submission of Europe not always became level with Japanese ambitions in Asia. This disorderly approach weakened their collective force and allowed to Allies to exploit these separations.

The Axis Powers also faced significant challenges on the home front. As the war continued the economic and industrial resources of Germany Italy and Japan were stretched to their limits. Allied bombing campaigns targeted Axis industrial centers and infrastructure crippling their ability to sustain prolonged military efforts. Additionally resistance movements within occupied territories and growing dissent among civilian populations further undermined the Axis war effort.

The defeat of the Axis Powers marked a significant turning point in world history. The aftermath of World War II saw the dissolution of the Axis alliance the occupation of Germany and Japan by Allied forces and the establishment of the United Nations to promote international cooperation and prevent future conflicts. The Nuremberg Trials held key Axis leaders accountable for war crimes setting a precedent for international justice.

In summary the Axis Powers were a coalition of nations led by Germany Italy and Japan whose aggressive expansionist policies and military actions led to the outbreak and escalation of World War II. Despite their initial successes the Axis Powers ultimately faced defeat due to their lack of strategic coordination resource limitations and the determined efforts of the Allied Powers. The legacy of the Axis Powers serves as a stark reminder of the destructive consequences of unchecked ambition and the importance of international cooperation in maintaining global peace.

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PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Axis Powers: Central Players and Their Role in World War II . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-axis-powers-central-players-and-their-role-in-world-war-ii/ [Accessed: 11-Jul-2024]

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China is not going to cause World War III

• Using historical precedents to gauge the possibility of a world war is fraught with limitations and could lead to sensationalist conclusions

However, the question as to whether these developments signal that we are on a path to World War III is difficult to answer, and the Manichean arguments put forth by officials so far do the complexity of the issue a disservice. Using history as an analytical framework to assess current issues is popular but also fraught with limitations. No two periods are exactly alike. The cases of World War I and World War II offer limited value when examining the current global crisis.

World War I, for example, showed the danger of rampant popular nationalism. While the leaders of the central powers have been much criticised, in reality, all parties involved were heavily constrained by the growing nationalistic fervour in their countries that made rapprochement politically untenable. In an exchange between Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II in the days before their countries declared war on each other, both leaders expressed a desire for peace but by the end of the exchange the kaiser stated that he had “gone to the utmost limits of the possible in [his] efforts to save peace”.

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said nations were caught in a “doomsday machine” at the onset of World War I, referring to the network of interlocking alliances and military mobilisation timetables.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin visits China’s ‘little Moscow’ Harbin as part of state visit

Equating China with Putin’s Russia or with any historical examples of rising, expansionist powers, is a slippery slope that leads to naturally sensationalist conclusions. A more fruitful starting point would be to treat China as its own entity with unique domestic and international constraints and opportunities.

The greatest threat to international politics is not the rise of revisionist powers but the growing belief on both sides that the other is evil and must be stopped. Such a twisted mirror image is hard to walk back from when it comes to dominate the views of leaders and officials. This is why we should be concerned about the growing use of World War III in leaders’ rhetoric.

Nicholas Ross Smith is an adjunct fellow at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand

World War 2 Consequences Cause and Effect Essay

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Causes of World War 2

The reason why the u.s. was involved in the war, why the allies in europe and the pacific won, consequences of the war.

The World War 2 began in 1939. This is when France and Britain declared war on Germany. This occurred when Germany invaded Poland and therefore, this is what triggered the outbreak of war. However, the causes of the war are more complex.

The major causes of this Great War were the unresolved issues that resulted from the World War 1. Another reason was due to the effects of the Great Depression. This occurred in the 1930s. Another reason is the interwar period in Europe. Several events accumulated and led to the outbreak of the war.

One of the events that contributed to the series of events includes the invasion that occurred in Poland in 1939. Soviet Russia and Germany were responsible for this invasion. Another event that had a great effect was the invasion into Republic of China. The Empire of Japan was responsible for this and this occurred in 1937.

Several European powers such as the United Kingdom, Russia and France expanded their territories using force and aggression. This is a process that was referred to as expansionism or imperialism. Germany and Italy were not as successful as the other nations when it came to gaining territory under colonial rule.

When Germany lost land to the other nations, it led to their relocation. This cause the Germans to get bitter and this interfered with their relations with their neighbors. This contributed to the feeling of revanchism. Under Nazism, Germany started a program that would lead to the restoration of the country’s rightful boundaries.

These were the boundaries that were in place before World War 1. This lead Rhineland to reoccupied. When Hitler saw the success of this action, he believed that he could further invade Russia and Poland without causing any major war.

Another leading cause is the failure of appeasement. The actions by Germany were thought to be reasonable since they thought that Germany had the right to re-arm herself in order to be ready to defend itself.

Therefore, the Munich Agreement was signed. This was between Germany, Italy, Britain and France. Czech was not invited and this made them feel betrayed.

However, Hitler went ahead to break the terms and conditions of the Munich Agreement. He invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. It was evident that the policy of appeasement had failed. Another thing that led to the World War 2 was the failure of the League of Nations.

The United States had remained neutral in the war but they were provoked into it. This was when the Japanese bombed the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. This made the Japanese official enemies of the United States.

The Japanese later bombed the U.S. fleet in the Philippines. This then agitated U.S., which decided to declare war on the Japanese. A few days later, Hitler decided to declare war against the United States. This led the U.S. to respond with fire. This then led to the full involvement of the United States in World War 2.

FDR also wanted the United States to be involved in the war. He made public statements about Germany’s attacks. The Germans had made three separate attacks on U.S. vessels that had carried civilians. The U.S. pressured the Japanese with embargoes and caused their economic fall.

It was after that when Hitler did what has been referred to as the ‘greatest military blunder in history’. This was when he declared war against the United States. He also wanted the Japanese to attack Russia on the eastern side. However, this did not happen.

Since the Japanese were not involved, Germany had to fight on both sides and this is the main reason why Germany did not succeed. Hitler tried to help the Japanese because he was not aware how badly off they were. He believed that Japan had an army that had not seen defeat for more than a century.

Since the Japanese were misguided, they made a mistake of attacking Pearl Harbor. This gave the Americans an incentive.

The reason why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor dates back to the time when the U.S. banned any form of trade with the Japanese. This was because the Japanese had been aggressive towards the Chinese. As the U.S. embarked fully in the war, it ended up spending 42 billion dollars towards the war.

The allies included the U.K., U.S., France, Soviet Union, Republic of China and Poland. The emperor of Japan had underestimated the abilities of the U.S. to make war in the Pacific. However, the Japanese army did not have sufficient resources to go ahead with the war.

The British, on the other hand, pushed the Japanese killing all those who appeared on their path. As a result, almost a half a million of them were killed. The U.S. also continued to capture the islands and drew closer to the Japanese territory. China, Russia and Britain then liberated the portions of China that had been occupied by the Japanese.

The attempts of the Italians and Germans to greedily capture and expand their empires were not successful. This was because they had bad strategy and morale. The Russians came in from the east and killed more than half of all the German soldiers. This led the allies to land in Normandy and they liberated France.

World War 2 had diverse effects throughout the world. The consequences included both positive and negative effects. Firstly, millions of lives were lost as a result of the war. Millions more were left homeless. Another consequence was the division of Germany.

It was divided into four and each was governed by the allied powers. These included the United Kingdom, United Nations, Soviet Union and France. These were the direct effects.

However, there were indirect effects and consequences of the war. One of the direct effects was that the war acted as a catalyst for various local, regional and global phenomena. This included the redrawing of the borders of Europe. U.K.’s welfare state was also born as a result of the war.

Another result of the war was the creation of Israel. Various organizations also rooted as a result of the world war. Such organizations include the World Bank, the United Nations, World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund.

The war also led to the emergence of new technologies. One of such technologies was nuclear fission. This was necessary for the nations to produce nuclear weapons in order to protect themselves from future attacks. Another technology was the invention of the jet engine and electronic computer.

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IvyPanda. (2019, April 5). World War 2 Consequences. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-war-2-3/

"World War 2 Consequences." IvyPanda , 5 Apr. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/world-war-2-3/.

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IvyPanda . 2019. "World War 2 Consequences." April 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-war-2-3/.

1. IvyPanda . "World War 2 Consequences." April 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-war-2-3/.

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IvyPanda . "World War 2 Consequences." April 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/world-war-2-3/.

Home — Essay Samples — War — Aftermath of World War II — The Effects of World War Ii in the World

The Effects of World War Ii on The World

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Opinion: Omnicause: the ‘fatberg’ of activism

photo by: Tribune Content Agency

Clarence Page

When does political protest seem to become an end in itself?

Climate firebrand Greta Thunberg, 21, seems to  raise that question when looking at photos of her arrest last month outside the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.

Wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh scarf and shouting, “Shame on you,” in a show of solidarity with the pro-Palestinian cause, the famous climate warrior was protesting the participation of Israeli singer Eden Golan. I was not familiar with Ms. Golan or her actual position on the war that has ravaged Gaza, but I immediately felt sympathy for her, which was hardly what the protesters seemed to have in mind.

What does Thunberg have to do with the war in Gaza? She certainly has the right to object to any cause she chooses. But, after decades of witnessing similar displays of organized outrage around causes of the moment, I felt drawn to conclude that what mattered most to these protesters was the protest itself.

“Welcome to the Omnicause,” wrote Andy Kessler, a Wall Street Journal opinion columnist, borrowing a term that has gone viral on X, formerly Twitter. “If you protest one thing, you protest everything — intersectional inanity.”

Omnicause? Welcome to the ever-changing vocabulary of today’s social and political activism.

Coined by Alysia Ames, an Iowa accountant who writes for Ordinary Times, Omnicause is an alternative label for intersectionality. That’s the social theory credited to Kimberle Crenshaw, a leading legal scholar of critical race theory, which in today’s political arenas has become a widely known term to many more people than those who actually understand it. Put simply, Crenshaw points out that one identity is not enough for many people when one examines systems of oppression. For example, a woman of color may face obstacles that a white woman or man of color might not.

But the risks inherent in a theory like that include whether and how one is supposed to measure and compare levels of oppression felt by various sorts of victims.

Protest signs such as “Queers for Palestine” and “Palestine is a climate justice issue” illustrate the tangle of competing interests or victim groups that various causes can raise. The hazard of fighting for too many worthy causes at once is a confusing and often counterproductive victimization competition. The result can be a competition for sympathy and prioritization.

That’s why, as a strong and longtime believer in equal opportunity, I am troubled by the more arguable quest for “equity,” which employs a variety of controversial yardsticks for measuring who deserves compensation or reparation for historical abuses.

Advocates argue that, if you try to tackle only one part of the pattern of abuses, you often reinforce existing inequalities. Yet efforts to repair only one part of the abuses can create animosity between different races, genders or other marginalized identity groups.

By then, one can find the world of theory collides with a reality that means you lose more supporters than you gain for your efforts, especially when one group feels their problems are being overlooked or minimized in favor of others. Such theories also provide fodder to opponents who point to such conflicts and contradictions in order to deride progressives as practitioners of “reverse racism” or “reverse sexism” and other allegations to which overzealous activists are vulnerable.

That’s not to say, of course, that such excesses don’t arise just as ferociously on the political and social right, as we have seen in disputes among conservatives over how far bans against abortion or in-vitro fertilization should go before they kick up a backlash.

In other words, politics and social policy are complicated.

“Pretending every cause is every other cause gives fuel to the view that there’s a left-wing conspiracy to take over your life,” Ames said in a recent interview on the Symposium YouTube stream, “even if several Omnicause positions are technically popular.”

As Hadley Freeman writes in The Jewish Chronicle,  Omnicause is “the Fatberg of activism,” referring to the label given to a rock-like mass of unprocessed waste matter that can clog sewer systems.

Instead of fighting for the Omnicause, activists are better advised to think small. By taking the time and effort to understand the views and experiences of the marginalized communities they are trying to reach, they can make progress on real problems and sidestep the fatbergs.

— Clarence Page is a columnist for Tribune Content Agency.

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Long-awaited fighter jets to take off in Ukraine 'this summer'; Russian media's NATO coverage betrays 'deep concern'

A NATO summit is getting under way in Washington, with support for Ukraine top of the agenda after a children's hospital was hit by a Russian missile. You can hear more about the damage caused by the attack and the world's reaction in the podcast below.

Wednesday 10 July 2024 20:58, UK

• Kremlin responds to 'irresponsible' suggestion made by Starmer
• Long-awaited fighter jets to take off in Ukraine 'this summer'
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• Ivor Bennett analysis: Deep concern in Russian coverage of NATO summit
• Nicole Johnston: Focus on 'Ukraine of East Asia' as China mimics Russian rhetoric
• Deborah Haynes: Fears UK defence approach not enough to meet mounting threats
• Your questions answered: Has the West been honest about Ukraine's failures? | Is Kyiv next?
• Listen to the Daily podcast above and  tap here  to follow wherever you get your podcasts 

We're pausing our coverage of the war in Ukraine here, but you can follow live updates on the NATO summit over on the  Politics Hub.

The summit, which comes on the 75th anniversary of the alliance, is a crucial moment for Ukraine, as the Biden administration seeks to bake in its support before the November election, which could see a second Donald Trump presidency and a dramatic shift in foreign policy.

For now, a new NATO command for Ukraine to provide security assistance and training is expected to be announced, alongside immediate military support, including air defence.

NATO's 32 members are poised to unveil "substantial" new aid and reiterate a membership pledge for Ukraine.

Alliance partners have already said they will deliver five additional Patriot and other air defence systems.

On the sidelines of the summit, Joe Biden is expected to meet Keir Starmer for their first face-to-face talks.

Before you switch over, here is a quick recap of today's key developments so far:

• F-16 fighter jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer, said US secretary of state Antony Blinken;
• Poland must prepare its soldiers for a "full-scale conflict", said its armed forces chief of staff;
• NATO allies will announce a minimum baseline of €40bn (£33.8bn) in funding for Ukraine within the next year, the White House said;
• Russia scrambled a fighter jet to escort a Norwegian patrol plane away from Russian airspace over the Barents Sea, according to the Russian defence ministry;
• Foreign Secretary David Lammy demanded the immediate release of British national Vladimir Kara-Murza, held in "deplorable" conditions in Russia.

By Deborah Haynes , security and defence editor

Initial noises by the new British government on defence have stirred fears among experts that repairing the UK's war-fighting prowess is not a burning priority despite mounting threats.

Keir Starmer used a trip to Washington for a major NATO summit this week to declare a "cast iron" commitment to increase spending on the armed forces to 2.5% of national income, from just over 2% – but without setting a clear timeframe, which immediately makes the promise look weak to allies and foes.

The government also revealed that a "Strategic Defence Review" will be launched next week – but ministers could not say when that would be concluded either other than "within the next year".

It means any certainty on the size, shape and budget of the armed forces – hollowed out by decades of cuts under previous Conservative and Labour administrations – will not materialise until next summer, even though the problems plaguing defence are well known.

At the same time, Sir Keir will be pressuring other European allies to spend more on their militaries, as NATO countries in Europe adapt to be less reliant on the United States – a shift that will become more urgent if Donald Trump is re-elected to the White House.

"It's contradictory," a defence source said of the prime minister's position.

"The government will ask NATO members to spend 2.5% but will claim it won't do that itself until fiscal rules allow. To be honest, I'm confused."

John Healey, the new defence secretary, has spent the past four years preparing for the job and is very well informed about the challenges and complexities involved in rebuilding the armed forces and also securing much better value for money from the defence budget.

It means he will surely have ideas already about what the outcome of the review will be. 

He will also know that without swift, significant investment, difficult decisions will have to be made to cut programmes that currently are not funded.

Mr Healey will be overseeing the defence review – a return back to how this body of work used to be delivered when George Robertson was defence secretary in the 1990s.

By contrast, under successive Tory governments, these kind of assessments were renamed and widened into a strategic defence and security review and then an integrated review, headed by the Cabinet Office, that covered a much wider remit of foreign policy as well as security and areas such as science and technology.

Returning the running of this new review to the bowels of the Ministry of Defence will allow the armed forces and defence civil servants to have a lot more control over the narrative and the conclusions. 

But at the same time, it risks being far too limited in its remit to ensure the UK is prepared for war.

A future war would be an all-of-nation effort, requiring all departments of state to be prepared to play their part – something that they have not had to consider since the Cold War years.

In a statement released as part of the defence announcements today, Mr Healey said: "Our government's first duty is to keep the country safe. That's why we will increase defence spending and launch a Strategic Defence Review to ensure we have the capabilities needed to protect the UK now and in the future. 

"The review will also set out defence reforms to secure faster procurement and better value for money."

Poland must prepare its soldiers for a "full-scale conflict", says its armed forces chief of staff.

General Wieslaw Kukula said the country must find a balance between army training and border security.

The number of troops on the country's eastern border will increase from 6,000 to 8,000 by August, he said.

"Today, we need to prepare our forces for full-scale conflict, not an asymmetric-type conflict," said General Kukula.

In May, Poland announced details of "East Shield", a $2.5bn programme to beef up defences along its border with Belarus and Russia.

Belarus and China held military drills near the Polish border yesterday.

The border with Belarus has also been a flashpoint since migrants started arriving there in 2021.

Belarus had opened travel agencies in the Middle East offering a new unofficial route into Europe - a move the European Union said was designed to create a crisis. 

The size of the Polish armed forces stood at about 190,000 personnel at the end of last year.

Poland plans to increase this to 300,000 troops within a few years.

F-16 fighter jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer, says US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

The planes are en route to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands right now, he said at the NATO summit in Washington.

An incredibly robust package for Ukraine will be unveiled over the next couple of days, added Mr Blinken.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he expected decisions on more F-16 jet deliveries will be made today.

"We are increasing the number of aircraft available to Ukraine," he said.

Norway has already announced at the summit that it will donate six F-16s.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says it is too early to say when Ukraine will become a member of the alliance.

Speaking at the summit in Washington, he said Russia does not pose any military threat against NATO allies, being preoccupied with Ukraine.

The summit will lead to a substantial package for Ukraine, the secretary general said.

Sources have told Reuters that the latest draft of the summit's declaration says NATO will continue to support Ukraine on its "irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership".

By Ivor Bennett,  Moscow correspondent

The Russian media has generally sought to shrug off the NATO summit, playing down signs of unity within the alliance and talking up signs of division.

Much of the focus is on President Biden and the questions he faces over his suitability for office.

His pledge to defend Ukraine and defeat Russia was covered, but in the context that this is a man who is "out of touch with reality", according to the state-run tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets.

The news outlet describes the US leader as "close to senility", claiming he is trying to salvage his "failed presidential campaign".

As for Ukraine's potential path to NATO membership, coverage has emphasised the hurdles Kyiv must overcome. 

Comments by Poland's President Andrzej Duda, in particular, that accession can't happen until the conflict ends, were seized upon by the TV talk show 60 Minutes. It described them as a "cold shower" for Zelenskyy.

But the fact there is all this coverage here, I think, betrays a deep concern.

The Kremlin knows President Zelenskyy will come away from this summit with more military aid. The question is how much?

According to an anonymous NATO official quoted by the Reuters news agency yesterday, Russia is suffering "very high" losses, and lacks the munitions and troops for a major offensive. 

If true, more weapons to Ukraine could create problems.

On the surface, though, there is little sign of alarm. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov merely said that Moscow will "closely monitor" what comes out of the summit.

Russia sent a fighter jet to escort a Norwegian patrol plane away from Russian airspace over the Barents Sea, the Russian defence ministry says.

There was no violation of the air border by the Norwegian patrol plane, the ministry said.

Russia has reported similar incidents before when its planes have confronted military aircraft from NATO countries.

Interfax reported this morning that Russian jet fighters also conducted drills over the sea and the Kola Peninsula.

It is unclear exactly when each of these incidents occurred.

NATO allies will announce at its summit today a minimum baseline of €40bn (£33.8bn) in funding for Ukraine within the next year, the White House says.

A senior civilian NATO representative will be stationed in Kyiv as part of its bridge to membership, it added.

Meanwhile, Norway has said it will donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, daily newspaper Verdens Gang reported, citing the Norwegian prime minister at the summit.

Leaders from NATO's 32 member states are meeting in Washington until tomorrow to mark the 75th anniversary of the alliance, with support for Ukraine at the top of the agenda.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to attend and discuss further support.

By Nicole Johnston , Asia correspondent in Beijing

NATO will appear focused on the Russia-Ukraine war this week, but there is another potential theatre of conflict in its sight - the Indo-Pacific.

NATO leaders understand that stability in the Indo-Pacific is essential to security in Europe and beyond: A war here would ripple across the world.

For that reason, representatives from Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand (called the IP4) are also at the NATO summit.

Secretary-general of the alliance Jens Stoltenberg wrote in Foreign Affairs this week that NATO had entered an era of "enduring competition with China".

The Indo-Pacific is being carved up by alliances and partnerships.

There is the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal between Australia, the UK and the US to counter China's military expansion. 

The "Quad" is a security forum between India, Australia, Japan and South Korea. 

This year the US held military training exercises with Japan and South Korea.

China's Communist Party feels hemmed in by these blocs. These alliances are taking shape in a region China regards as its own backyard. US influence here is not welcome.

The naval ships of Western countries are sailing through the East China Sea and South China Sea, off the coast of Taiwan and across the Pacific. China claims most of the South China Sea as its own.

The Chinese military is operating on the sea and in the skies close to forces from the US and Australia. There have been close calls. The risk of miscalculation is high.

China is alarmed by the strengthening ties between the IP4 and NATO.

On Monday, Lin Jian, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, accused NATO of "breaching its boundary, expanding its mandate, reaching beyond its defence zone and stoking confrontation".

China's argument has overtones of the rhetoric used by Russia in its justification for launching a war on Ukraine. 

Russia blamed NATO's eastward expansion. China compares US alliances in this region as being akin to a "NATO" in Asia.

China is also entangled in the Russia-Ukraine war. Officially it is neutral and calls for peace. But its ongoing trade with Russia allows President Vladimir Putin to continue the war.

The Chinese military has started 11 days of joint drills with Belarus close to the Polish and Ukrainian border, only a fortnight after the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, was in Beijing. 

The big question here is what happens in Taiwan. Japan has said the "Ukraine of today may be East Asia of tomorrow".

China is adamant Taiwan will unite with the mainland eventually.

What's unclear is how the myriad of US-led alliances in the Indo-Pacific would respond. 

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has demanded the immediate release of a British national being held in "deplorable" conditions in Russia.

He branded the sentencing of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison "absurd".

Mr Kara-Murza, 42, was convicted of treason last year over public remarks critical of the Kremlin.

News broke last week that he was being transferred to a prison hospital and his lawyers had been unable to visit him there since Thursday.

"I am extremely concerned that Vladimir's lawyers are being denied access to him in prison hospital, and that the Russian authorities continue to refuse him consular assistance from the British Embassy," said Mr Lammy.

"Vladimir is being held in deplorable conditions in prison for having the courage to tell the truth about the war in Ukraine.

"His absurd 25-year sentence shows the Kremlin's deep fear that more Russians will know the reality of Putin's illegal war – and is further evidence of the targeted repression of the opposition."

Mr Kara-Murza has rejected the charges against him and likened the proceedings to the show trials under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. 

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