What Caused WW2 Flashcards
(8 cards)
Treaty of Versailles
Punished Germany (lost land, pay large fines and had to reduce its army)
Many Germans felt this was unfair and humiliating
Creating anger in Germany and made people support leaders who promised revenge
The rise of dictatorship
In the 1920-30 dictators came to power, hitler (1934) with nazism and Mussolini (1922) with facism
Mussolini invaded countries like Abyssinia
Hitler wanted to unite all German speaking people and take land in Eastern Europe for more space
Hitler breaks rules
He ignored the treaty of Versailles:
Rebuilt the German army
Sent troops to Rhineland
Took over Austria
Took land from czechoslovakia
Other countries like Britain and France did nothing to stop him
Why did France and Britain nothing to stop Hitler from taking land?
They feared another war
Their armies were not ready
They were still recovering from the Great Depression
Some thought Germany was treated unfairly
For Churchill, the best strategy to keep in Europe is to stem nazi agreement
This made Hitler more confident to continue his actions
Failure of the League of Nations
Created to keep peace but failed:
It did nothing to stop Japan in Manchuria, Italy in Abyssinia or hitlers moves in Europe
By the late 1930s, it was seen as weak and useless
The German-soviet pact
In 1939, hitler singed a secret deal with the USSR, the Nazi soviet pact
The terms of the German-Soviet Pact state that Germany and the USSR could in no way
support or join an alliance that would be actively fighting against the other power.
On September 1 1939, Germany invades Poland
Britain and France had warned Hitler not to attack Poland, when he did, they declared war on Germany, starting the second world war
Define the Great Depression
World wide downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until 1939. It caused a decline in economic output and mass unemployment
How did the Spanish civil war play a pivotal role in the lead up of world war 2?
Germany and Italy became closer by helping Franco’s side in the war.
Britain and France did not want to fight dictatorships; Britain kept trying to make peace, and France copied.
The Soviet Union started to doubt if the West could stop fascists
