The Second World War (1939-1945)
Senior 6 · History (Languages)
The Second World War (1939-1945)
Lesson 1 of 5
25 min
In the photograph below, the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, signs a treaty in the Kremlin. Standing behind him, smiling, are Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler's Foreign Minister, and Joseph Stalin. Nazism and Soviet communism were sworn enemies; Lenin's portrait hangs on the wall above a Nazi minister. Why would they sign anything together in 1939? Answering that question takes you to the heart of how the Second World War began.
Definition
Appeasement: the policy of avoiding war by giving in to an aggressor's demands, followed by Britain and France towards Hitler until March 1939.
Lebensraum ("living space"): Hitler's aim of conquering land in eastern Europe for German settlement.
Non-aggression pact: a treaty in which two states promise not to attack each other. The Nazi–Soviet Pact of 23 August 1939 had a secret protocol dividing Poland and eastern Europe between them.
Axis: the alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan.
Figure 1. Each step tested whether Britain and France would resist. Until March 1939 they did not.
| Cause | Explanation |
|---|---|
| The Treaty of Versailles | German resentment of lost land, disarmament and the war guilt clause gave Hitler a popular cause: tear up the treaty. |
| Hitler's aims and ideology | Unite all Germans in one state, win Lebensraum in the east, and destroy communism; his racist ideology made conquest and persecution part of the plan. |
| The failure of the League | Manchuria (1931) and Abyssinia (1935) showed that aggressors would not be stopped. |
| The Depression | Brought Hitler to power, pushed Japan towards conquest for resources and made democracies reluctant to spend on arms. |
| Appeasement | Britain and France, fearing another war and more afraid of communism, gave way over the Rhineland, Austria and the Sudetenland at Munich (September 1938). |
| Aggressive alliances | The Rome–Berlin Axis (1936) and the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan; Germany and Italy also tested their weapons in the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939). |
| The Nazi–Soviet Pact | Removed Hitler's fear of a two-front war and let him attack Poland. Stalin gained time and territory. |
| The immediate cause | Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939; Britain and France, which had guaranteed Poland in March, declared war on 3 September. |
In Asia the war had already begun: Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and the rest of China in July 1937.
History Matters, "Was Appeasement Justified?" (short animated documentary, about 4 minutes). Watch for the reasons Chamberlain had for appeasing Hitler, and decide which of them still look sensible with hindsight.
Warning
Do not confuse the two wars. In 1914 the trigger was an assassination; in 1939 it was a planned invasion. And the Nazi–Soviet Pact was not an alliance to fight together: it was a promise not to fight each other, which Hitler broke in June 1941.
Tip
Rank, don't list. In an essay on the causes, decide which cause made the others dangerous. Many historians put Hitler's aims at the centre and treat Versailles, the Depression and appeasement as the conditions that let him act. Say which cause you rank first, and why.
Important
Discuss. Should Britain and France have fought in 1936, when Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland? Consider what they knew then, not only what we know now.
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the diagram, the table, the analysis and the exercises.
