World War II was caused by a variety of factors and forces.The Second World War can be traced to the Treaty of Versailles, which had been imposed on Germany. This treaty was a kind of dictated peace. It deprived Germany of every scrap of its colonial empire. Danzig was cut off from Germany and the country was forced to stand totally disarmed. Allied troops were stationed in Germany, in order to enforce the provisions of the Treaty. Germany was burdened with reparations. It alone was held guilty of the war. Thus it caused hatred in the minds of the Germans who were born and brought up in the cult of revenge.The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 greatly disappointed victorious Italy. This resulted in the rise ...view middle of the document...
The Allied Powers were committed to the Wilsonian principle of 'self-determination.' However, at the Paris Peace Conference, its application was conditioned by economic necessity, military defense, as well as religious and political traditions. These factors kindled the fire of nationalism and political liberty among national minorities. Germany spread the news that its nationality was being oppressed under the foreign rule in Austria, Sudetenland and Poland. For this reason, Hitler invaded and annexed these territories, thus sparking off World War II.While disarming Germany, under the Treaty of Versailles, the Allied Powers had pledged to apply the same measures to themselves. And Britain did disarm itself to a great extent. However France and the other European powers always upheld the slogan, "Security first, disarmament afterwards." This convinced Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Japan that rearmament was the only road to power and national achievement. Thus efforts at disarmament of the world failed miserably. In fact by 1930 most European nations had spent the maximum of their budget on rearmament. This practice eventually led to World War II.The League of Nations had been formed to promote national security and international peace. However, owing to its weakness, the League failed to achieve its objectives. Britain used the League as an alternative to Bolshevism. France used it as an instrument for perpetuating the peace settlement. Germany condemned it as "a grouping of the victor imperialist powers." Russia regarded it as 'a forum of the imperialists.' When the League failed, the only alternative left was that the parties could settle their disputes by resorting to war.
