WW II Causes

The Treaty of Versailles was the peace agreement between Germany and the Allied powers after World War I. What did this treaty do?

• made Germany accept responsibility for the war

• forced Germany to give up a large amount of territory

• decreased the size of the German military

• required Germany to make payments to the Allied governments

After World War I, the Allied powers wanted to weaken Germany. The Allied powers didn't want another world war. As part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to do the following:

• • give up more than 27,000 square miles of its land in Europe

  • pay the Allied powers money, later set at $63 billion

After the Treaty of Versailles, a German newspaper stated the following:

Today German honor is being carried to its grave. Do not forget it! The German people will, with unceasing labor, press forward to reconquer the place among the nations to which it is entitled. Then will come vengeance for the shame of 1919.

unceasing: nonstop

vengeance: payback

The author wants Germany to become a mighty nation again.

How did Germans react to the Treaty of Versailles?

Many Germans were angry about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Some people protested.

Between 1921 and 1924, Germany experienced hyperinflation. In other words, the price of goods went up a lot in a short period of time because the German government began printing a lot of money.

Why does printing money lead to inflation?

In general, when something becomes common, it also becomes less valuable. For example, a rare metal like silver is expensive, but a common metal like aluminum is cheap. The same idea is true for money.

When Germany printed more money, that money became common. When the money became common, it became less valuable. When money loses its value, it takes more money to buy the same things. In other words, the prices of goods increase. This process is called inflation because the prices "inflate" like a balloon being filled with air.

When did Germany pay off its debt from World War I?

Germany made its last payment on its World War I debt in 2010, over 90 years after the end of World War I!

In the early 1900s, a new idea for a form of government developed. This form of government was called fascism.

• to make people's lives better. Fascism was often popular in places where people had experienced hardship. The economy was not good. Many people didn't have enough food or money. Fascism promised to fix these problems.

• to make the country strong. Fascism was often popular in countries that had once been important and powerful. Many people in those countries felt humiliated, or embarrassed, after World War I. They wanted their countries to become strong again.

• to create order and stability. Many countries were unstable before fascist governments came to power. There was a lot of violence, and governments kept changing. Fascism promised to create order, often using force.

The Nazi Party was a fascist political party in Germany. Starting in 1921, the leader of the Nazi Party was Adolf Hitler. One Nazi election poster from July 1932 read as follows: "Workers of the mind and hand, vote for the soldier Hitler!" What kind of workers were the Nazis trying to reach through this campaign?

The text of the poster mentions "workers of the mind" and "workers of the hand." "Workers of the mind" refers to office workers. "Workers of the hand" refers to factory workers.

In March 1938, an American newspaper printed the following news article.

Chancellor Hitler, President Roosevelt and Premier Mussolini were named by students of journalism at New York University as the outstanding news figures of the world.

In the annual poll, made public yesterday, students placed Hitler at the head of the list of ten greatest news names, two votes ahead of Roosevelt and five votes ahead of Mussolini.

annual: yearly

The students picked Adolf Hitlers as the most important.

How did Americans learn about Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini?

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were both famous world leaders in the 1930s. Americans learned about them in the following ways:

• • through newspaper articles

  • through radio broadcasts

  • through news clips shown before movies

Under the fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Italy had a policy of expansion. In 1935, which Italy invaded Ethiopia.

Fascism and expansion

Leaders of fascist governments in Italy, Germany, and Japan all wanted to gain more land. These leaders wanted to strengthen their nations. Having large empires was one way of showing that their countries were strong.

In addition, taking more land through violence showed that their countries had strong militaries. Fascist leaders hoped that their militaries would scare anyone who disagreed with them.

In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, a part of China.

From 1931 through 1945, Japan had a fascist government. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, a part of China. However, the League of Nations didn't have much power. It couldn't make Japan leave China. It didn't have a military of its own. So, the League of Nations told Japan to remove its soldiers from China.

In response, the Japanese representatives left the room. They never came back to the League of Nations.

In 1938, the leaders of Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy met to discuss the future of the Sudetenland. The Sudetenland used to be part of Germany. It was given to Czechoslovakia after World War I. The leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler, wanted Germany to take back the Sudetenland. World leaders at the Munich Conference decide to allow Germany to take the Sudetenland.

The leaders of Britain and France wanted to keep the peace. They thought that Adolf Hitler would be satisfied with the Sudetenland. They agreed not to send soldiers if Adolf Hitler took the Sudetenland.

After the Munich Conference, European leaders agreed to allow Germany to take the Sudetenland. Compare these two quotes from after the Munich Conference:

"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time."

—Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of Great Britain

"We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude which has befallen Great Britain and France."

—Winston Churchill, member of the House of Commons of Great Britain

Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain disagreed about the policy of appeasement.

Neville Chamberlain supported appeasement. Winston Churchill did not.

To appease someone means to make them feel better by giving into their demands. The leaders of Great Britain and France appeased Adolf Hitler by giving him what he wanted. By doing so, they thought they would prevent war.

Why didn't Churchill agree with appeasement?

Winston Churchill thought that Adolf Hitler was dangerous and would keep taking more territory. Churchill warned that Germany was becoming too powerful. He thought that Great Britain and France should stand up to Adolf Hitler.

Today, the swastika is mostly used as a symbol of the Nazi Party. It represents hatred of Jews and other groups. After World War II, the swastika was banned in Germany.

Where did the swastika come from?

The swastika was used by people for over 5,000 years before the Nazi Party chose it as a symbol. Many cultures and religions across Europe and Asia used the swastika as a good luck symbol.

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party had strong racist and anti-Semitic views. Anti-Semitism is a hatred of Jews.

Adolf Hitler believed:

• Jews were responsible for economic hardship in Germany. Adolf Hitler often said that Jews took all the money for themselves. He claimed that Jews took jobs and money away from non-Jewish Germans.

• Jews were their own race. Adolf Hitler said that being Jewish was passed down through blood. According to Adolf Hitler, people were born Jewish. Being Jewish was not something a person could choose.

• Aryans, or western and northern Europeans, were the best race. Adolf Hitler thought that western and northern Europeans, especially people of pure German blood, were the strongest and smartest race. He thought that Jews were a lesser race.

In 1935, the German parliament approved a set of laws called the Nuremberg Laws. It took German citizenship away from Jews.

What else did the Nuremberg Laws do?

The Nuremberg Laws affected Jewish people in many ways:

• • They made it a crime for Jews to marry non-Jews.

  • They took away Jews' right to vote.

  • They made it against the law for Jews to be elected to government.

The Nuremberg Laws set the stage for more laws against Jews. But they weren't the first laws that the Nazis had made about Jews. Earlier laws did the following:

• • They kept Jews from working in the German government.

  • They only let a small number of Jews go to public school.

  • They kept Jewish doctors and lawyers from doing certain parts of their jobs.

  • They kept Jewish actors from performing in public.

Who was seen as Jewish?

The Nuremberg Laws said that Jews were a race, not a religion, under German law. The law defined a Jew as anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents. This definition included people who may not have viewed themselves as Jewish.

Between November 9 and 10, 1938, Nazis attacked Jews, Jewish businesses, and synagogues. The attacks happened in Germany and German-occupied areas.

How did Kristallnacht get its name?

Kristallnacht means Crystal Night in German. Many windows were shattered in the violence, and "crystal" refers to the broken glass. Another name for Kristallnacht is the Night of Broken Glass.

How did people around the world react to Kristallnacht?

Many people around the world were horrified at the violence of Kristallnacht. One British newspaper described Kristallnacht in this way:

[No one] could outdo the tale of burnings, beatings and. . .assaults upon defenseless, innocent people.

However, governments were unwilling to go to war to stop the violence.

In May 1939, a ship called the St. Louis arrived in Cuba. The ship had over 900 passengers aboard. Most were Jewish men, women, and children trying to escape the Nazis. The passengers wanted to wait in Cuba until they were allowed to enter the United States.

However, Cuba would not let them enter. The passengers were afraid they would be sent back to Europe.

The passengers on the St. Louis afraid of being sent back to Europe because they were afraid of having to live under Nazi rule.

What happened to the passengers on the St. Louis?

The St. Louis was forced to return to Europe after Cuba and the United States refused to admit its passengers. Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France agreed to accept the passengers. Half of these passengers later died in the Holocaust.