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Topic: What are the causes of World

War II?
Abstract/Introduction
Second World War is occurred roughly about 20 years after the first world war. It is believed
by many that the second world war is the result of the unresolved tensions and anger from
World War One. The following podcast is a prototype in which we use historians perspective
to calibrate our finding with the purpose of developing a response to the question; What
caused the Second World War? This podcast delves into the origins of the second world
war by illustrating the causes and importance of diplomacy to the resolution of international
conflict.

Background info:
- Hitler is unhappy with their crappy situation, such as economic problems, and
restrictions of land, making him want to revolute and create a better and stronger
Germany.>.<
- The great war cause instability in Europes economy, along with the great
depression, this causes them to leech money off the Germans, causing them to go
deeper into an economic crisis.
- The leftover scars of WWI. The treaty of Versailles posed on German destructed
them. This disarms Germany, they are forced to give up land and there are military
restrictions.

The people in Germany want back their power and rights, so they supported the Nazis, the
minister also died later on, promoting Hitler into first place, giving him more power than he
should have.
With the rise of Hitler seat, he can now secure power in the inner place >.<

The league didnt stop the Abyssinian Crisis and didnt manage to get everyone to disarm (or
was it arm), the abyssinian crisis was the main reason why the Leagues power keep
declining and eventually reached failure.

There is no main causes that led to world war II, the entire thing is caused by (is it butterfly
effect or domino effect?) the treaty of versaille -> great depression -> political failure (weimar
republic) -> abyssinian crisis -> war outbreak.
Summary of the Causes of Second World War
There are the following causes of the second world war:
- The Great Depression of the 1930s led to bitterness and shifting in the public attitude

towards strict dictatorships in World War One facilitate the rise of Hitler and the Nazis.
- Italy and Japan were also allies with Hitler because they hope to expand their territory by

being hostile to communist countries that is united with the Soviet Union. Soviet Union can
still be considered as a factor to help lead to war
- In fact, a number of ideologies helped to spark the war aggressive expansion, by countries

like Germany and Italy fascism and deep rooted racisms were also another contributing
factor
- Germanys racisms believed that the Aryan race was the master race and superior to all the

Slavic people
- The Countries aligned with Germany finalled formed the Allied Alliance and faced the Threat

of the Axis. Axis as in the communist nations


- The German people were very unsympathetic because the Treaty of Versailles blamed

Germany for everything done in World War One and countries like Britain and France
underestimated the power of Hitler
- The League of Nations are also ineffective in fighting to keep the peace in China in 1933

Main causes of WWII: (Nikki)


- Failure of treaty of versailles (hurt Germany economy & pride, making the Germans
bitter towards the other country)
- League of Nations let italy do its stuff (failed to stop war -> the abyssinian crisis)
- Politic

2nd Historian: http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25268


Points got from this thing:
- All historians thinks that hitler rise to power was one of the main catalyst for
the war
- Hitler rise to power was due to his promise of restoring Germanys pride :3
- Hitler was very aggressive :|
- But hitler was piss because of the treaty?? And the humiliation caused by the
war.

1st Historian: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/ww2/overy.htm


http://ww2history.com/experts/Richard_Overy/Causes_of_WW2)
Script:
N: Hello everyone, today we are going to discuss about the causes of world war II. I am Nikki
and I am joined by Laura and two professional historians. The historians that we have invited
are Professor Richard Overy and Mr Christopher Hamner. This podcast will use the
historians perspectives to the causes of world war II and calibrate a conclusion to the
question. So, to start off, lets remind you about some key facts about World War II before
we ask the historian their opinion towards the incident.

L: World War II occurred roughly around 20 years after World War I. The gap between was
supposed to be a time of peace. Unfortunately, World War I have brutalized an entire
generation of Europeans and many others by making them realize that war in this scale is
not only possible but also thinkable. Furthermore, everyone with half a brain knew the treaty
of Versailles was unfair and was one of the huge factors that caused world war II. As this
unfair judgement has caused a lot tension which resulted with damaged infrastructures and
international order being disrupted.

N: Now that we have given a brief background to what we believe the causes of World War II
are. Lets ask the historians.

L: Hello, I am Richard Overy. Now back to your question, Nikki. I believe there is no simple
answer to question of what caused world war II as there are both short term and long term
explanations. However, I believe many people reach the conclusion that without Hitler there
would have never been a war. This statement in my opinion is a vast over simplification
because even without Hitler, the "treaty of Versailles" that was created to punish and
penalize the Germans after the first world war had terms that were highly unacceptable and
unjust.

On the other hand, there was the birth of communism which made the entire world extremely
unstable. This instability influenced me to believe that instead of us asking what caused wwII
we should put the question the other way round. The actual question we should ask is why
did Britain and France declare war and what created the Second World War, rather than
solely blaming Hitler for causing the Second World War. I strongly believe that the first and
second world war is a war with one global conflict but it just happened to have 20-year gap
of peace in between.

N: Thank You for answering our question Professor Overy. According to your response you
believe that politics and the treaty of versailles is the sole cause of World War II? If not,
what else would have trigger WWII.

L: I believe that other than the causes I have stated above, there are also other factors like
Germanys racisms beliefs that the Aryan race was the master race and superior to all the
Slavic people and the League of Nationss failure. As the League had the chance to
showcase its power and stop Germany if it reacted towards the Italian aggressor during the
Abyssinia Crisis. Due to the League of Nations choosing not to react to this agression,
Germany believed that it was safe for them to take back what was rightfully theirs and
caused the outbreak of war. The German believed that they were the master race and
superior to all. This caused many German to follow and rally behind Hitler. The British and
French chose to turn a blind eye as Hitlers first mission was to destroy the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately things did not turned out as planned and it resulted with disastrous incidents
and unfolded a world crisis that sucked everbody in.

L: How about you Professor Hamner what do you think cause World War II?

N: I believe pinpointing a cause for such a vast and global event like the Second World War
is a rather challenging task, since the second world war is a multifaceted event. However, I
do believe the sole reason for the second world war is due to the unfair Treaty of Versailles.
This treaty has forced Germany into a crippling peace period and the global depression at
the time made the Germans life even harder. Due to the economic issues and the
unreasonable terms posed in the Treaty, it resulted in Adolf Hitler gaining power and ascend
to become the German Chancellor in the 1930s. Many historians and I believe that Hitlers
rise to power is the most crucial factor for this cataclysmic war to occur .without a
megalomaniacal leader like Hitler, it will be hard to imagine such a lengthy and devastating
war to outbreak. His will to take back the Germans pride has made the Germans who are
suffering all agree with his perspective and rise to support him.

L: Thanks You Professor Hamner for your response is different from Professor Overy
Statement because you believe that the treaty of Versaille was the main cause whilst
Professor Overy believed that it was based on many different causes like the Treaty of
Versallies, The Great Depressions and Slavic and Aryan discrimination.

In conclusion for the podcast, world war two was caused by many different factors. World
War breaks out when there are too much tension and conflict between nations that are
constantly unsolved. Imaging the World War s breakout to be a balloon. The balloon will
expand based on different global issues for example, the treaty of versailles, the great
depression, extreme nationalism, failure of the League of Nations. All these failure give the
balloon air and cause the balloon to expand. This expansion can be tolerated throughout
time but when too many equilibriums has been disrupted. The balloon will be strained and
struggle to expand, resulting with pressure building up causing the balloon to break and
cause World War II in this case. Nevertheless, we have concluded that the treaty of
versailles was the main cause of the war as it lit a fire in peoples heart and caused them to
rebel and speak up.

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