WAW: Lesson - Causes of World War II
The Causes of World War II
While those that lived through World War I optimistically called it “The War to End All Wars,” a decade after the war was over, international conflict began again, culminating in World War II. World War II was even more deadly and more destructive than the First. Many historians blame World War II on the conditions left by the Treaty of Versailles. With the benefit of hindsight, the “Big Four” (Italy, France, the United States, United Kingdom)’s focus on European Nationalism and War Reparations left the world economy destabilized and populations increasingly embittered.
Image note: Fascist leaders Benito Mussolini (left) and Adolf Hitler (right) on the eve of World War II.
Rise of Fascism in Europe: Mussolini
The post-World War I conditions were ripe for Fascism. Fascism is a political belief that all individual liberties and interests should be subservient to a militaristic, ever-expanding, rigidly classist and racist nation. It came out of a political theory by Giovanni Gentile that all nations and empires would decay without a strong authoritarian leader.
Following WWI, Italians were frustrated with their government for its inability to gain more land at the Treaty of Versailles, fix the ruined economy, and halt the spread of Communism and Socialism. Benito Mussolini led fascist street attacks on Communists and Socialists, then they marched on the government. The king swiftly appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister. Mussolini consolidated his power and appointed himself as “Il Duce.” Once in power, he turned the Fascist state into a Totalitarian Fascist state when he abolished democracy, jailed opponents, limited speech, reduced the press to propaganda machines, and outlawed strikes. The people appreciated that he improved Italy’s industry and literacy rates and promised that Italy would become a world leader.
To demonstrate his power, Benito Mussolini successfully invaded Ethiopia in 1931. This was part of his larger plan to remake the Roman Empire and to prove how much stronger Italy was under his control, compared to when Ethiopia ousted Italy in the 1890s. The League of Nations condemned (but did not stop) Italy. This was in part because the British advanced a policy of appeasement, which meant giving an aggressor what it wanted in hopes of avoiding another world war. As we will see, appeasement only emboldened these fascist leaders.
Rise of Fascism in Europe: Hitler
In Germany, Adolf Hitler was inspired by Mussolini and tried to replicate his success. He also formed a fascist group (the National Socialist German Workers Party or the Nazis) and attempted a coup. He was thrown in jail and wrote Mein Kampf, his manifesto that decried democracy and communism in favor of German fascism that extolled “Ayran” racial superiority. By the time he was out of jail, the Great Depression in Germany was even worse. He rallied the desperate people and was so popular that by 1933, the German president named Hitler the chancellor. Hitler immediately called for a new election that put the Nazis in power and named himself the Führer.
Like Mussolini, Hitler’s Fascism became Totalitarian when he abolished democracy, jailed opponents, limited speech, reduced the press to propaganda machines, and kept the people in line with a strong police force. And, like Mussolini, Hitler was supported because he reduced unemployment and improved Germany’s industry. And when Hitler saw that the League of Nations did not stop Mussolini, Hitler revived the German military and moved the troops into the Rhineland (the border between France and Germany) in opposition to the Treaty of Versailles.
That same year, Germany even supplied air and armored military units to support the fascist leader General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The League of Nations did not stop Hitler. In one year, Hitler advanced through the Sudetenland (German-speaking Czechoslovakia), the rest of Czechoslovakia, and eventually Poland. In response, France and Britain finally declared World War II on Germany on September 1, 1939.
Rise of Fascism in Asia: Japan
Japan’s parliamentary democracy (from the Meiji Restoration) controlled domestic policy but did not control the military. The military was under the control of the Emperor and his council. However, under the pressures of the Great Depression, the people turned against the government and the military took control.
Emperor Hirohito and his council (most importantly including Hideki Tojo, who would become head of the military and Prime Minister) pushed emperor worship and that the Japanese were destined to push out Western imperialists and take over Asia themselves.
While Japan at this time was Fascist, the Emperor could not achieve totalitarianism over the people’s private lives. Japan first invaded Manchuria (northern China) in 1931. When the League of Nations demanded it withdraw from China, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations instead. Six years later, the emperor led the military through Shanghai and into the capital, Nanjing. The military butchered civilians in the capital – by some estimates, 200,000 people were sexually assaulted and/or killed. This is considered one of the worst atrocities of World War II, even if it predated the declaration of World War II itself.
Image notes: In the image to the left above, Japanese emperor Hirohito wears full military regalia. In the image to the right above, people place offerings at the Nanjing Massacre memorial site in Nanjing, China.
Reviewing Authoritarian Leaders
The table below lays out the main details of the fascist leaders we have discussed: Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Emperor Hirohito. Be sure to take careful notes on the following:
| Leader (Nation) | Government | Ideas | Actions Leading to WWII |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stalin (USSR) |
Communism
|
|
Sent millions to labor camps or wastelands 1936-39: Great Purge, executed millions of “enemies” and starved Ukraine |
| Mussolini (Italy) |
Fascism
|
|
1935: Invasion of Ethiopia |
| Hitler (Germany) |
Nazism
|
|
1936: Army in the Rhineland 1938: Annexation of Sudetenland 1939: Invasion of Poland |
| Hirohito (Japan) |
Fascism
|
|
1931: Invasion of Manchuria 1937-8: Nanjing Massacre |
Practice Activity
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