After world war one the world powers worked very hard to stop the occurrence of another great war. In 1920s several peace treaties were signed in an effort to strengthen relation among European powers. It was however very difficult to create such relations because many European powers were dissatisfied with the condition they found themselves in. So in 1930s there was general increase in aggression which worsened relations between the powers thus culminating the second world war thus the second world was did not break out like thunderbolt from clear blue sky
The factors that made the Second World War inevitable by 1939 include the following
Treaty of Versailles; The terms of the treaty blamed Germany for being responsible for the outbreak of world war one. The allied powers occupied most of Germany territories and forced her to disarm. The Germany blamed the Versailles treaty for their trouble and Hitler wanted to reverse this situation by adopting an aggressive foreign policy
Economic problems; Germany and Italy considered themselves as handicapped in trying to compete with other nations for markets, raw materials and investment areas. As the result Germany and Italy looked for colonies to conquer in what they considered their share in the world market.
The weakness of League of Nations; the league of nations was formed in 1919 as one of the measures to stop the occurrence of another war like world war one. The league was supposed to prevent the growing militarism and armament of Germany and Italy but failed to do so. Many countries were not committed to or ignored the League of Nations
The policy of appeasement; appeasement refers to the policy adopted by France and Britain of giving into Hitler demand instead of opposing him. The reason was that they wanted to avoid the European war and both had the colonial interest in the Far East particularly Japan. Hitler thus realized that he could get away with anything and from 1937 he prepared to make colonial gains by attacking small and weak states, it is this aggression which contributed to the world war two
Nationalism; nationalism hindered international cooperation before world war two. After great depression of 1929-1933, nations were chiefly occupied with solving their own problems instead with cooperating with other nations. Each country sought security for itself in form of re-armament and alliances. Some countries faced additional problems from minority races for example German speaking people who lived in Czechoslovakia demanded complete autonomy from Czechoslovakia on the encouragement from Hitler. German also wished to fulfill her Nazi dream of dominating the whole of Europe
Hitler’s ambition; Hitler’s ambition to restore Germany dominance in Europe contributed to the outbreak of world war two. Hitler made it clear that Germany cannot become world power without starting another war
Alliances; different alliances had been formed in Europe, Hitler and Mussolini signed an agreement known as the Berlin-Rome axis. In 1939 Japan joined in the agreement which thus became known as Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis. This alliance encouraged aggression because the members felt that they could get support from their alliances. For example Germany invaded and ruled Austria counting on support of her allies
The rise of dictatorship; dictatorship developed during 1920s and 1930s which destroyed democratic rights. In Italy Mussolini found fascist party in 1919; he seized all political power of the country and transformed the country in totalitarian state. The national socialist party or the Nazi party came into power in 1933 in Germany with Hitler as its leader. The aggressive foreign policies pursued by these dictators led to outbreak of world war two
The factors that made the Second World War inevitable by 1939 include the following
Treaty of Versailles; The terms of the treaty blamed Germany for being responsible for the outbreak of world war one. The allied powers occupied most of Germany territories and forced her to disarm. The Germany blamed the Versailles treaty for their trouble and Hitler wanted to reverse this situation by adopting an aggressive foreign policy
Economic problems; Germany and Italy considered themselves as handicapped in trying to compete with other nations for markets, raw materials and investment areas. As the result Germany and Italy looked for colonies to conquer in what they considered their share in the world market.
The weakness of League of Nations; the league of nations was formed in 1919 as one of the measures to stop the occurrence of another war like world war one. The league was supposed to prevent the growing militarism and armament of Germany and Italy but failed to do so. Many countries were not committed to or ignored the League of Nations
The policy of appeasement; appeasement refers to the policy adopted by France and Britain of giving into Hitler demand instead of opposing him. The reason was that they wanted to avoid the European war and both had the colonial interest in the Far East particularly Japan. Hitler thus realized that he could get away with anything and from 1937 he prepared to make colonial gains by attacking small and weak states, it is this aggression which contributed to the world war two
Nationalism; nationalism hindered international cooperation before world war two. After great depression of 1929-1933, nations were chiefly occupied with solving their own problems instead with cooperating with other nations. Each country sought security for itself in form of re-armament and alliances. Some countries faced additional problems from minority races for example German speaking people who lived in Czechoslovakia demanded complete autonomy from Czechoslovakia on the encouragement from Hitler. German also wished to fulfill her Nazi dream of dominating the whole of Europe
Hitler’s ambition; Hitler’s ambition to restore Germany dominance in Europe contributed to the outbreak of world war two. Hitler made it clear that Germany cannot become world power without starting another war
Alliances; different alliances had been formed in Europe, Hitler and Mussolini signed an agreement known as the Berlin-Rome axis. In 1939 Japan joined in the agreement which thus became known as Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis. This alliance encouraged aggression because the members felt that they could get support from their alliances. For example Germany invaded and ruled Austria counting on support of her allies
The rise of dictatorship; dictatorship developed during 1920s and 1930s which destroyed democratic rights. In Italy Mussolini found fascist party in 1919; he seized all political power of the country and transformed the country in totalitarian state. The national socialist party or the Nazi party came into power in 1933 in Germany with Hitler as its leader. The aggressive foreign policies pursued by these dictators led to outbreak of world war two
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