Causes of the Second World War (1939–45)
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Flip to reveal answersWhat was the Treaty of Versailles (1919), and why did it cause resentment?
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Question
What was the Treaty of Versailles (1919), and why did it cause resentment?
Answer
The harsh peace that blamed Germany, took its land and colonies, limited its army and demanded reparations. Germans called it a 'diktat', and the anger fuelled Hitler's rise.
Question
Why did the League of Nations fail to prevent war?
Answer
It had no army, the USA never joined, and it only talked when Japan took Manchuria (1931) and Italy took Abyssinia (1935) — teaching dictators that aggression paid.
Question
How did the Great Depression contribute to WWII?
Answer
The post-1929 slump destroyed jobs and trust in democracy, helped Hitler take power in 1933, and left Britain and France too weak and inward-looking to confront the dictators.
Question
Define Lebensraum.
Answer
'Living space' — Hitler's plan to conquer land in Eastern Europe, especially Poland and the USSR, for German settlers.
Question
What were the three main ideological drivers of WWII?
Answer
Nazi expansionism (Lebensraum), Italian Fascism (a new Roman Empire), and Japanese militarism (an Asian empire).
Question
What happened in the Rhineland in 1936?
Answer
Hitler sent troops into the demilitarised Rhineland, breaking Versailles. Britain and France did nothing.
Question
What was the Anschluss (1938)?
Answer
The forbidden union of Germany and Austria, achieved when German troops marched in and Hitler annexed Austria unopposed.
Question
What was the Munich Agreement (September 1938)?
Answer
Britain and France handed Hitler the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to avoid war. Chamberlain called it 'peace for our time' — the peak of appeasement.
Question
Define appeasement.
Answer
Giving a dictator what he demands, hoping each concession will be the last — the policy Britain and France used towards Hitler in the 1930s.
Question
Why did the Nazi–Soviet Pact (August 1939) matter?
Answer
Germany and the USSR agreed not to fight and secretly divided Poland, freeing Hitler to invade Poland without a two-front war.
Question
What was the immediate trigger of WWII in Europe?
Answer
Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939; Britain and France declared war on 3 September 1939.
Question
How did WWII become a global war?
Answer
Japanese expansion in Asia and the Pacific and the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 brought in the USA and merged the European and Asian wars.
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Causes of war
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