CHQ: Could WWII have been prevented? Could the war have been smaller?
Using Hindsight
Activity
Event Description (Brief)
Treaty of Versailles The harsh Treaty of Versailles created tension
between major Western powers and Germany
in the 1920s and early 1930s. The
enforcement of the treaty led to economic
crisis and social pressures in Germany that
contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Growing Nazi Threat By 1936 Hitlers Nazi military was the most
powerful in Europe. Hitler had forged an
alliance with fascists in Italy and Japan,
moved troops into the Rhineland in violation of
the Treaty of Versailles, and was supporting a
fascist revolt in Spain.
Japanese Japanese imperialism affected many areas of
Imperialism Asia, including Manchuria, a Chinese territory
rich in mineral reserves that were important
for supporting the military. The invasion of
Manchuria was marked by the indiscriminate
killing of unarmed civilians.
Munich Agreement In 1938 Hitler met with British prime minister
Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain appeased
Hitlers demands for territory in
Czechoslovakia and invaded Poland.
U.S. Isolationism In spite of the threat of fascist aggression, the
United States pursued a policy of isolationism
throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
The Bombing of On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese navy
Pearl Harbor and air force attacked the American fleet at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Within three days the
United States had declared war with Japan,
What might the United States and/or its allies
have done to prevent the event?
America could have pushed the 14 points more
to try to get it passed instead of the treaty of
versailles this would have stopped the war
They could have told Hitler to stop when he
violated the treaty and scared him and his
forces with a mobilization of troops to make
sure he would back off
The US could have sent peace keeping agents
to try to appease the japanese or send in their
own military to protect the chinese from the
brutal attacks of the japanese
The US could have advised against appeasing
hitler and told Chamberlain to say no and
mobilized an army to scare his forces so Hitler
would have stopped his invasion
The US could have exposed what Hitler was
doing and what war crimes he was committing
to the citizens of the US so they would feel
obligated to come and help Europe.
The US could have not placed the embargo act
on japan and piss them off several times before
that happened since it basically provoked the
Why didnt the United States and/or its
allies take action to prevent the event?
The allies of the US wanted the treaty to
pass while the US didn't push hard enough
to get the 14 points passed
The US was supporting its idea of
isolationism while the USs allies did not
want to go to war since they still had the
effects of World War I to deal with
The US was trading with japan at the time
and great britain was trying to handle a war
with Hitler so if the US went to war with
japan they would have no backup
No one wanted another world war since the
first one left most countries devastated
financially and most countries did not have
enough money for a strong military
The US thought that it was a bad idea to
enter another war in Europe since they
thought it wasn't their war to begin with.
Different departments of the US were getting
different parts of information so they could
not use the information well enough to
 Germany, and Italy. japanese to attack the US predict that the japanese would attack pearl
harbor

Could WWII have been prevented? Could the war have been smaller? Explain MASON
I think that WWII could not have been prevented but postponed for a later date. If the US actually would have gotten involved earlier Hitler would
have backed off but they would still have to deal with the japanese and the Nazis were allied with the japanese so starting a war with would mean
starting a war with Germany as well. The war would still be the same size but with maybe the US would have had a few more allies to fight with in
the war.