SHORT TERM CAUSES - WW2 - Revision Cards in A Level and IB History

ECONOMIC & POLITICAL FACTORS

German economy was booming until the economic crash of 1929 - great depression & rise of a nationalist regime in Germany, dedicated to ending their humiliation
German farmers didn't share in late 1920s boom and suffered from worldwide decline in agricultural prices
US crisis in 1929 led to US withdrawing its loans to Germany = economy deeply suffered, banks collapsed, businesses failed etc
Extremist groups offered drastic solutions - Nazis wanted a new Germany who could protect its people & blamed wealthy Jews for their problems
Nazis stated that Germany needed a strong army, lebensraum, to take control of their resources and set up a German racial state

1 of 8

Rearmament - a great Germany couldn't permit fellow Germans to exist under foreign rule or to live under constant threat from France
Racial state proposed by Hitler & Nazis also had a mission to eradicate communism & end conspiracy of Jews & communists which had taken over Russia in 1917
Think they would have all the lebensraum they needed for the German racial state
If a fraction of this was carried out, then war would be inevitable
If Hitler's plans were fully executed, Germany would take over all lands populated by German minorities & assault communist Russia

2 of 8

Appeasement emboldened Hitler
Easy to understand why Chamberlain & Daladier acted to appease Hitler, and easy to see that criticisms of them at the time were not always realistic - they were facing resistance but wanted to get re-elected
Difficult to consider appeasement a success - war still happened, therefore it was essentially unsuccessful
Britain & France became involved in the war despite the policy
Appeasement undoubtedly encouraged Hitler to pursue policies that made war more likely
Hitler was skilled at exploiting any weakness on the part of his enemies
Stalin viewed appeasement as hostile towards the USSR - made it easier for Hitler to gain a pact with Stalin in 1939 - worried that Germany were becoming stronger at the expense of the USSR
This allowed him to conquer Poland & attack the West without fear of Russian intervention

3 of 8

German conquest of Poland 1939 - partly to regain lost territory but also to expand lebensraum at the expense of racially inferior people (ghettos, concentration camps, death camps for Jews, communists, gypsies)
WW2 had little to do with traditional concerns about balance of power & diplomacy = much more driven by ideology
Hitler's invasion of the USSR in 1941 was motivated by several factors:
- Ideologically would be the final great battle between the 'forces of light' against a conspiracy planned in the name of Judeo-Communism
- Politically would confirm strength of Nazism
- Racially would mean extermination of millions of Jews = racially pure state
- Siimply thought he would succeed due to previous success e.g. Russian troops defeated by smaller armies in the past
Widespread surrender of Soviet armies in first weeks after invasion seemed to confirm expectations = appeared successful

4 of 8

Britain needed to motivate their people for what was clearly going to be a long conflict = trying to portray that they are fighting for a higher ideal
As Britain cooperated more with USA in 1940&41 there seemed a need for clear ideology, so the Atlantic Charter was hastily drawn up
- Declaration of a set of common beliefs that all people had the right to self-determination
Affirmed that there should be freedom of trade - Britain & USA weren't yet in the war but were supplying lots of goods as well as loans

5 of 8

Has been argued that GB & USA could have chosen not to take any action in the face of the rising power of Germany - they didn't want another war, had no need to expand their power and neither had a large army
However, both concerned about significant shift in the balance of power in Germany's ambitions were realised - British security and trade would be threatened and they would be at Germany's mercy
US trade would also be threated if controlled by a Nazi-dominated system because Germany and Japan were allied
1940 - US held the key to Britain's continuing participation in WW2 - without US supplies Britain wouldn't be able to carry on

6 of 8

Difficult for FDR after 1933 - had to pacify a public that demanded economic recovery & resisted any potential war in Europe whilst also considering the USA's wider interests
He expressed sympathy for the cause of democracy but Britain and France were both imperial powers, who showed little interest in trading with the USA - won't intervene and kept credit links open but wouldn't do anything else
USA's neutrality wasn't whole hearted due to Atlantic Charter - declared an ideology that agreed with Britain and disregarded Germany
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7/12/1941 led to disparate conflicts of WW2 coming together when Germany declared war on the USA
Hitler's sudden declaration linked three ongoing conflicts:
- Britain & Germany: struggly over Versailles, balance of power & ideological conflict
- Britain's efforts to cooperate with US & attacks made by Japan on British & US colonies in SE Asia linked Britain & USA to a conflict in the Far East
- Germany's declaration of war on the USA turned this series of wars into a world war

7 of 8

Difficult for FDR after 1933 - had to pacify a public that demanded economic recovery & resisted any potential war in Europe whilst also considering the USA's wider interests
He expressed sympathy for the cause of democracy but Britain and France were both imperial powers, who showed little interest in trading with the USA - won't intervene and kept credit links open but wouldn't do anything else
USA's neutrality wasn't whole hearted due to Atlantic Charter - declared an ideology that agreed with Britain and disregarded Germany
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7/12/1941 led to disparate conflicts of WW2 coming together when Germany declared war on the USA
Hitler's sudden declaration linked three ongoing conflicts:
- Britain & Germany: struggly over Versailles, balance of power & ideological conflict
- Britain's efforts to cooperate with US & attacks made by Japan on British & US colonies in SE Asia linked Britain & USA to a conflict in the Far East
- Germany's declaration of war on the USA turned this series of wars into a world war

8 of 8