Hitler's Aims, Appeasement, and WWII Causes

Hitler's Aggressive Aims

Hitler's aims were aggressive, and he openly stated them in his book "Mein Kampf" in 1924:

1. Destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
2. Create a Greater Germany (a country of all the German people).
3. Lebensraum (living space) to conquer land for Germany in Eastern Europe.

The Policy of Appeasement

During the 1930s, Britain and France followed a policy of appeasement - they gave Hitler what he wanted in order to keep the peace.

British public opinion did not want another war. People believed Germany was treated harshly by the Treaty of Versailles, so were entitled to take back the Rhineland and do all the other things they did.

Political opinion: Chamberlain was a pacifist.

German propaganda led Britain to believe that Germany was too strong to be defeated by Britain at that time. France could not help as it was in the middle of a political struggle (constant elections).

Hitler's Actions Leading to WWII

Hitler caused WWII by:

• Announcing he would not obey the Treaty of Versailles
• Bullying Austrian leaders
• Demanding to be given the Sudetenland

Other Causes of WWII

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I between Germany and the Allied Powers. Because Germany had lost the war, the treaty was very harsh against Germany. Germany was forced to "accept the responsibility" of the war damages suffered by the Allies. The treaty required that Germany pay a huge sum of money called reparations. The problem with the treaty is that it left the German economy in ruins. People were starving and the government was in chaos.

The League of Nations

The failure of the League of Nations also contributed significantly to the Second World War. After WWI ended, countries such as Canada, France and Britain formed the League of Nations, an international organization intended to maintain world peace. The League of Nations was supposed to stop aggressor countries from attacking other countries. However, it failed to do so.

The Great Depression

The Great Depression decimated the economies of Europe and the United States. This was fertile ground for the emergence of the Nazis to power in Germany, and a military clique to take power in Japan. In the United States and in Western Europe, the pre-occupation with the domestic economic crisis contributed to the political failure to meet the rising threat of fascism.