What Is the Main Cause of Ww2

Final Essay

More than half a century later, the world still looks back at the second world war to study the mistakes that mankind has made. Some concluded that the world war occurred by coincidence, others feel as though it was the sole responsibility of Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany. This essay serves to show that the main trigger of the Second World War was the decision to cripple Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. After the Great War, Germany was forced to accept the war guilt clause and pay for the total reparations that followed. In addition, territories that were important to Germany’s economy and lands that contained many native Germans were taken away from them. The Treaty eventually resulted in a deeply rooted resentment amongst the Germans towards the Allied Powers which gave Hitler the opportunity to rise to power. Furthermore, it resulted in the German republic becoming more susceptible to supporting Hitler’s foreign ideologies as he felt an obligation to reclaim the territories that rightfully belonged to Germany. They developed ultra-nationalism which resulted in massive support for Hitler’s campaigns. This eventually led to the Second World War.

Following Germany’s defeat in the Great War, they were made to accept the war guilt clause and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. These terms included the reparations for war which totalled 6.6 billion pounds and they had to give in to the territorial demands made by the Allied Powers, for example, their richest farmland (West Prussia) and coal-rich Saar minefields.

As a result of the treaty, Germany was believed to be crippled economically as they had to pay the immense amount of reparations while losing most of their sources of income. Taylor (1961) explained in his book that the reparations served as the catalyst for the Second World War. It sent a message of hatred, paranoia and bitterness towards Germany. (Taylor, p. 21) The Germans became outraged at both the Allied Powers and their government. The terms of the treaty were vindictive, yet their government accepted the treaty without any resistance. They were angered by the loss of territories because they viewed these territories as rightfully theirs. Many were saddened over the fact that parts populated by native Germans were now in foreign hands. This meant that some of the German families were separated because of the Treaty. Birdsall (1941) mentioned in his book where the German republic grew weary and resentful towards the Weimar Government and the peace treaty as they were plagued by the worsening economy due to the reparation liabilities. (Birdsall, p. 29)

However, in actuality, the Treaty had little economic impact on Germany. Though the terms looked vindictive and harsh, the treaty depended on Germany’s compliance for it to work. Taylor (1961) demonstrated how the Treaty did not really have a great economic impact on Germany. Allies merely collected the reparations from the government. If at any point of time they decided not to comply, they could shake off the Treaty and rise back into power. (Taylor, p. 14) Hence, it might have led some to believe that the treaty shouldn’t have been able to cause hatred and resentment amongst the Germans. Dray (1978) adequately put in his book that Taylor sees the Treaty as something that allowed Germany to stay unified. This gave Germany to opportunity to rise to power in the future which put Germany in a largely factitious position. (Dray, p. 160) Taylor (1961) further explained that the Germans had been told from the start that the cause of their miserable plight was due to the terms of the Treaty. Therefore, they blamed the Treaty for all their problems because they could not comprehend the complexities of their economic problems. (Taylor p. 26) The ordinary German could not be expected to understand the economic situation of Germany and they were easily swayed by words and ideas. After experiencing the devastating effects of the hyperinflation and the Great Depression, the German republic came to the consensus that the terms of the Treaty coupled with the failure of the Weimar government were responsible for their miserable plight. To sum up, the terms of the Treaty had a huge social impact on the Germans. Eventually, they bore a huge grudge against the Treaty and they lost their faith in the Weimar government.

During this period, Adolf Hitler evolved into a man with revolutionary ideas for Germany. Hitler made use of the hatred of the Germans towards the Treaty as a recruiting ground for his Nazi Movement.  Bendersky (2007) explained that after the disastrous effects of the Great Depression, the Germans looked everywhere for an explanation and Hitler and the Nazi party was able to gain the support of the largest group in Germany: the middle class because the Nazi party gave them “an explanation of their plight, a focal for discontent and hope for the future.” (Bendersky p. 44) It is mentioned that Nazism came into existence not just because of the use of propaganda but also due to the adverse economic conditions of unemployment and impoverishment. The German republic was so desperate such that anyone who could offer them salvation or a solution to their problems could sway the economic and political decisions of the Germans to their own favour. In that case, Hitler was sufficiently appealing. (Yourman, 1939, p. 160)

Another example would be in 1930, just before the elections. The Nazi Party went around exaggerating how bleak the future would be under the existing Weimar government by creating chaos in the streets. The Germans then saw that the government is unable to safeguard the safety of them and hence lost more faith in the government. (Bendersky, 2007, p. 82) Therefore, the Nazi party obtained an overwhelming success as they gained seventy seats in the Reichstag in the 1930 elections, this was a key to Hitler’s rise in power thereafter.

Given that Hitler was a man who believed in obtaining more living space for Germany through acquiring them from foreign lands, his rising to power can be seen as one of the main triggers of the Second World War. None of this would be plausible without the festering hate and resentment from the German republic coupled with them losing their faith in the Weimar government in the first place. All these could only be made possible through the Treaty.

Critics argue otherwise. The desperation of the German republic was not enough to have allowed Hitler’s rise to power. Hitler’s natural charisma as a leader and his eloquence as a speaker which enticed the Germans played an ever bigger role in his path to being the supreme leader. While not trying to downplay Hitler’s strong leadership qualities in any way, we have to realise that he had the most radical ideas for Germany that did not gain the approval of majority of the Germans. This was demonstrated by Bendersky (2007), before Hitler rose to absolute power in 1933-1934, he could hardly gather the support of one third of the German republic. This was because they felt that his policies were totally absurd and denied his ideologies. (Bendersky, p. 44) Therefore, their argument can be refuted as the Germans supported Hitler due to their desperation in the worsening economic situation which they believed was caused by the Weimar government and the Treaty.