What Led to World War 2

Lloyd George from England, Woodrow Wilson from the U.S., Orlando from Italy, and Clemenceau from France held a meeting in 1919 to discuss the manner through which Germany was to be made to pay for the harm that had been brought about by World War 1. According to Woodrow Wilson, an agreement founded on his 14-point plan was the most appropriate way of bringing peace to Europe. However, Georges Clemenceau wanted payback. He wanted an assurance that Germany would never attempt to begin another war. Lloyd George welcomed Wilson's idea, however, realized that the British public welcomed Clemenceau's idea. He attempted to find some compromise amidst Clemenceau and Wilson (World War Two -- Causes). Germany was anticipating an agreement founded on Wilson's 14 points, and was not pleased with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Nonetheless, they had no option but to sign the treaty.

The League of Nations was simply a global association, established in 1919, to assist in the maintenance of world peace. It was planned that every nation would be a member and that in case of any disagreements amidst nations, they could be sorted out through negotiations instead of force. In case this was not successful, nations would cease trading with the violent nation, and if that failed too, nations would not utilize their armies to fight. The League of Nations was initially an amazing idea, however, it eventually failed. In the late 1920s, the entire world was hit by a depression (World War Two -- Causes).

A depression refers to when the economy of a nation fails. Trade is minimized, businesses lose profits, prices reduce and unemployment increases. Japan was terribly hit by the depression in 1931. Citizens lost trust in the government and relied on the army for a solution. The army attacked Manchuria, located in China, a region filled with resources as well as minerals. China requested the League for assistance and the Japanese government was instructed to command the army to immediately depart from Manchuria. The army, however, continued with its invasion of Manchuria. The League then requested nations to cease trading with Japan, but due to the depression, several nations did not wish to risk losing trade, and hence, did not do this. The League then made an additional request for Japan to leave Manchuria, but the response from Japan was to depart from the League. Italy attacked Abyssinia in October 1935, and the Abyssinians did not possess the strength to survive an invasion by Italy, and hence, requested for assistance from the League of Nations (World War Two -- Causes).

The League requested the member nations to inflict trade limits on Italy. The trade limits were, however, not conducted since they possessed minimal influence. Italy would still be capable of trading with non-member nations, America to be specific. France together with Britain did not wish to risk Italy attacking them. The failure of the League in 1931 to cease the second Sino-Japanese War was followed by increased treaty infringements and violence acts. When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, he reformed the German army and made it ready for a conquest war. Benito Mussolini defeated (1935-1936) Ethiopia on behalf of Italy; and from 1936 to 1939, there was a rage in the Spanish civil war, having Italy and Germany assisting the fascist forces of Francisco Franco to triumph (World War II: Causes and Outbreak). Germany seized Austria in March 1938, and in September 1938, the French and British policy of conciliation towards the Axis got to its height with the surrendering of majority of Czechoslovakia to Germany in the Munich Pact.

Although Russia was eventually an Allied force in World War 2, as a nation it was formed with toils and instability in the mid-years of war, implying that other European powers perceived Russia to be dangerous (Causes of World War 2 - What REALLY caused WW2! ). This terror of communism resulted to a somehow more laid-back approach to right-wing powers in the 1920s and 1930s. Other nations previously viewed the Germany NAZI ideology as not a significant threat in comparison to the hawkish, uncontrollably left-wing powers observed in Eastern Europe.

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler became Germany's Chancellor. He secretly started building up an army and weapons for Germany, almost instantly. By 1934, he had raised the size of the army, started constructing warships and also established a German air force (World War Two -- Causes).