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World War 2

A comprehensive World War 2 history guide with facts and information on one of the most important events in British history.

  • Overview
    • World War 2 Summary
    • World War 2 Facts
    • World War 2 Timeline
    • World War 2 Prisoners Of War
    • Soldiers In World War 2
    • WW2 FAQ
      • Who Started World War 2?
      • Causes of World War 2
      • When Did WW2 Finish?
      • Which countries were involved in World War Two
      • When was World War 2?
      • Who won World War 2?
      • How Many People Died In World War 2
    • WW2 Planes: A History of World War 2 Aircraft
  • Battles
    • The Blitz
    • Pearl Harbour
    • Battle Of Britain
    • Dday
    • Operation Barbarossa
    • The Battle Of Kursk
    • Operation Overlord
    • Battle Of Midway
    • Battle of Stalingrad
    • The Invasion Of Poland
    • Operation Cerberus
  • Leaders
    • Winston Churchill
    • Franklin D Roosevelt
    • Adolf Hitler
    • Benito Mussolini
    • Emperor Hirohito
    • Joseph Stalin
  • Home Front
    • Evacuees Of World War 2
    • World War 2 Recipes
    • World War 2 Shelters
  • Anne Frank
  • Miscellaneous
    • World War 2 Books
    • World War 2 Movies
    • World War 2 Poems
    • World War One
    • The Phoney War
    • Blitzkrieg
    • World War 2 Allies
  • World War 2 For Kids
    • World War 2 Facts Kids
    • Children in World War 2

Who Started World War 2?

After his rise to power in 1933, Hitler led Germany on a mission of invasion and occupation. He had instilled into the country a desire for expansion in Europe, and in the years leading up to the Second World War, he expanded the army far beyond what was agreed in the Treaty of Versailles. This was the treaty which followed the end of the First World War – it caused Germany to undergo significant disarmament, and forbade the country from forming allegiances and invading other territories.

The Treaty of Versailles included some terms which many Germans considered unduly harsh, and bred a feeling of resentment in the German population. The fiscal depressions of the 1920s and early 30s caused almost all European economies to collapse, meaning that Germany was unable to pay the extortionate reparation fees that had been set in the Treaty, and other countries – in particular, the USA – began to act with more lenience towards Germany. As such, when Hitler rose to power and formed an alliance with Austria, thought this was also banned in the Treaty of Versailles, many other countries decided to overlook it, given how extreme the terms had been in the first place. Hitler took advantage of this, and by the middle of 1939, had occupied much of what was then Czechoslovakia, and had set his sights on Poland. It was the invasion of Poland which caused Britain to take action and declare war.

It is almost indisputable that the actions of the Nazi party – the then leaders of Germany – were the cause of the outbreak of the Second World War, but one can certainly argue that other events laid the foundations for those actions to have gone ahead, such as the uncompromising approach of the Treaty of Versailles, and the turn-the-other-cheek attitude of other countries in the early 1930s. If other countries had not been so lenient with Germany when, say, Hitler significantly expanded the army in 1935, then perhaps later events could have been avoided. The German population had immense confidence in Hitler – a charismatic leader who promised to right all the wrongs of the past twenty years. Had the USA, or Britain, or Russia, or France intervened at any earlier point, it is possible that Germany would not have been strong enough to hold off a foreign threat, and the confidence that German citizens had in the Hitler regime might have been diminished.

One can also argue that, had the terms of the Treaty of Versailles been less extreme, the German population might not have come to have been so passionately resentful of its treatment, and thus there would have been no need for the charismatic Hitler-figure to right all the wrongs. However, had the terms not been so harsh, it would have been easier for Germany to recover earlier, and perhaps Europe may have been thrown into a second war before it had sufficiently recovered from the first.

There are many ‘if’s and ‘but’s about history, and where the outbreak of war is concerned, it is often difficult to firmly determine where blame must be placed. However, it is widely agreed that Hitler and the Nazi regime was the driving force which led Europe into the Second World War. It certainly seems convincing that there were things other countries could have done to have at least attempted to stand in Hitler’s way, but the German Fuhrer was set on a path of destruction, and it seems unlikely that much could have stopped him in his thirst for domination on the European stage. The question of who started the Second World War must, therefore, be answered with the blame being placed on Nazi Germany.

 

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Overview

WW2 Summary
WW2 Facts
WW2 Timeline
Soldiers in WW2
WW2 Planes
WW2 Prisoners Of War

Leaders

Winston Churchill
Franklin D Roosevelt
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Emperor Hirohito
Joseph Stalin

Home Front

Evacuees of WW2
WW2 Recipes
WW2 Shelters

Misc

WW2 Books
WW2 Movies
WW2 Poems
World War One
The Phoney War
Blitzkrieg
WW2 Allies

Kids

WW2 For Kids
Children in WW2
WW2 Facts For Kids

Battles

The Blitz
Pearl Harbour
Battle of Britain
D-Day
Operation Barbarossa
The Battle Of Kursk
Operation Overlord
Battle Of Midway
Battle Of Stalingrad
The Invasion Of Poland
Operation Cerberus

Common Questions

Who started WW2?
Causes of WW2
When did WW2 finish?
Which countries were involved in WW2?
When was WW2?
Who won WW2?
How many people died?

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