World War II: Causes and Early Stages

World War II (1939-1945)

1. Causes of World War II

1.1 Expansionist Policies of Nazi Germany

Following Hitler's rise to power, Germany left the League of Nations in 1933, signaling its rejection of the international order. This mirrored Japan's actions after its 1931 attack on China, which drew condemnation from the League. Italy followed suit in 1935 after being censured for its invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Nazi Germany aimed to establish a vast Reich, imposing its vision of Lebensraum (living space) on Europe. In early 1935, Germany annexed the Saarland following a plebiscite. It promoted rearmament, established compulsory military service, created an air force, and remilitarized the Rhineland in March 1936, all in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, yet the democracies failed to react effectively.

1.2 Weakness of the Democracies

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) fostered closer ties between Hitler and Mussolini, who supported the rebels against the Second Republic. In October 1936, they formalized the Rome-Berlin Axis, and a month later, Japan joined Germany in the Anti-Comintern Pact against the USSR. Hungary joined the Axis powers a year later, followed by Spain after Franco's victory. The Spanish Civil War exposed the weakness of the democracies, which pursued a policy of non-intervention. Inaction towards Hitler stemmed from political divisions within Britain (Conservatives vs. Labour) and France (Popular Front vs. Right). British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain championed appeasement, hoping that satisfying Hitler's German unification ambitions would halt further expansion. Chamberlain, with French consent, believed Hitler could be an ally against the USSR and communism. This policy allowed Britain to rearm, but Hitler interpreted it as tolerance for his expansionist plans.

1.3 Appeasement and Early Nazi Expansion

In March 1938, German troops occupied Austria, and a forced referendum led to the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria into the Reich. Germany then occupied the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, again without significant response from the democracies. Hitler convened the Munich Conference in September 1938 with the prime ministers of Britain, France, and Italy. The agreement allowed German occupation of the Sudetenland in exchange for guarantees of non-aggression against the rest of Czechoslovakia. Appeasement seemed to have averted war, but Hitler's subsequent annexation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 exposed its failure. Hitler also annexed Memel in Lithuania, while Mussolini occupied Albania (April 1939). The Pact of Steel (May 1939), a political and military alliance between Germany and Italy, further alarmed the democracies.

1.4 Outbreak of War in Europe

Poland was Hitler's next target, but he knew an invasion could trigger a war with France and Britain, Poland's allies. To secure his eastern flank, Hitler sought a non-aggression pact with the USSR. Concerned by German advances and facing Western isolation, Stalin agreed to the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (August 1939). Signed by Molotov and Von Ribbentrop, it temporarily neutralized the conflict between the two powers and included secret clauses for partitioning Poland and recognizing Soviet control over Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Hitler used the pretext of a claim on the German-inhabited Free City of Danzig and the right to build a transit route through the Polish Corridor to invade Poland on September 1, 1939. France and Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, marking the beginning of World War II.