Blog #5: What Caused World War2?

On September 1st, as the German Wehrmacht rolled across the German - Polish border, another disastrous war, named the World War 2 officially announced its beginning. There are many factors and events that have led Europe into another war. For example, the rise of Hitler and the Nazis and their ambition to conquer the entire Europe had a huge impact on the formation of World War 2. Appeasement(the policy of making concessions in order to maintain peace) , Treaty of Versailles(the peace treaty written at the end of WW1 to ensure a lasting peace in Europe), the league of nations (the new league created by the Treaty of Versailles  are all key factors that have contributed to WW2.  However, it is not true that all of them had equal contribution to the war. The question is which of these factors has been the most significant contribution to WW2? 

Some people say that the policy of appeasement was the key path to the war. Was it? Appeasement was used and supported by the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain and the Canadian Prime Minister, McKenzie King. Because Britain, Canada, France and other nations had fresh memories of WW1, they could not possibly imagine having another war. Therefore, they came up with appeasement after thinking that the peace will be sustained if Germany got a bit of what they wanted, however Germany's ambition was too great for peace. Germany asked for more and more since the other nations were giving them what they exactly wanted. However, i personally think that we cannot blame the prime ministers for using appeasement as their solution to keep peace. Clearly, all the nations were still suffering from WW1 and they were not ready for another destruction. Also, Hitler, with his famous speeches and the use of words, he made sure that the other leaders were convinced that he is a man who keeps his promises. 

I think that the Treaty of Versailles played a larger role than the appeasement in terms of contribution to WW2. The reason is because i think that the Treaty of Versailles is the event that destroyed peace in Europe and caused all the other events that have led to WW2 including the appeasement discussed above. Let's go over all the steps and the chain of the events, starting from the last stage. The WW2 was erupted because of Germany's invasion of Poland  → Germany did not hesitate to invade Poland because of the appeasement.    → the appeasement had to be used because of Germany's ambition to conquer the Europe and their threats of starting another European War. → Germany had the ambition was determined to gain its power and greatness back because they were stripped of its power and wealth through the treaty of Versailles. As you can see, the first stage of the formation of WW2 is the Treaty of Versailles and its harshness toward Germany. therefore, I think that the Treaty of Versailles hass the key factor that has contributed to WW2 by providing a sense of revenge to Germany and encouraging Germany's nationalism created by the destruction of the nation's pride.