World War II
World War Two - Main Causes
<!-- placeholder 1st image when javascript is off --><img src="http://www.historyonthenet.com/rotator/images/Ww2gen/ww2causesworksheets.gif" alt="World War Two Causes Worksheets"> World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany's invasion of Poland. Although the outbreak of war was triggered by Germany's invasion of Poland, the causes of the war are more complex. Click on the topics below to learn more about what caused World War Two
Inter-War Period, 1919 - 1939
Detailed Timeline of European History Inter-War Period (1919 - 1939) Global Depression and Tensions Preceding World War II Go to European History Interactive Map
League of Nations
Background The League of Nations came into being after the end of World War One . The League of Nation's task was simple - to ensure that war never broke out again.The League of Nations Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes
From World War I Document Archive WWI Document Archive > Conventions and Treaties > The League of Nations Protocol for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes 2 October, 1920 Animated by the firm desire to ensure the maintenance of general peace and the security of nations whose existence, independence or territories may be threatened; Recognising the solidarity of the members of the international community; Asserting that a war of aggression constitutes a violation of this solidarity and an international crime;
The Palestine Mandate
From World War I Document Archive WWI Document Archive > Post - 1918 Documents > Conventions and Treaties > Palestine Mandate Extracted from: The Israel-Arab Reader, edited, Walter Laqueur, New York, Bantam Books, 1976, pps 34-42. "The San Remo Conference decided on April 24, 1920 to assign the Mandate [for Palestine] under the League of Nations to Britain. The terms of the Mandate were also discussed with the United States which was not a member of the League.
World War I: Treaties and Reparations
After the devastation of World War I , the victorious Western Powers imposed a series of harsh treaties upon the defeated nations. These treaties stripped the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary, joined by Ottoman Turkey and Bulgaria) of substantial territories and imposed significant reparation payments. Seldom before had the face of Europe been so fundamentally altered. As a direct result of war, the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires ceased to exist. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of September 10, 1919, established the Republic of Austria, consisting of most of the truncated German-speaking regions of the Habsburg state. The Austrian Empire ceded crown lands to newly established successor states like Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929.
From World War I Document Archive WWI Document Archive > 1918 Documents > The Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 3 March, 1918 ( Including Appendices: Russia-Germany, Part I ) ( Including Appendices: Russia-Germany, Part II ) ( Including Appendices: The Russian Fleet ) Article I.
The Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Treaty of Lausanne
From World War I Document Archive WWI Document Archive > Conventions and Treaties > Treaty of Lausanne Treaty of Peace with Turkey Signed at Lausanne, July 24, 1923 From: The Treaties of Peace 1919-1923, Vol.
What were the consequences of the war guilt clause
The treaty of Versailles had many negative impacts on most of the countries that it involved. There were many ethnical minorities within the new boundaries that the treaty created, as well, the boundaries made industry a lot different for most countries. The most impactful part of the treaty was the War Guilt Clause, which blamed the Germans for starting the war. When the German politicians signed the clause, the German people would never forgive them. The civilians' angst against the government in Germany made it so that the fascist Nazis came into power. The treaty of Versailles included points dealing with German economy, military, and citizens.
Treaty of Versailles, text of Article 231, the "War Guilt Clause" | weimar.facinghistory.org
Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, known as the War Guilt Clause , was a statement that Germany was responsible for beginning World War I. It reads as follows: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies." The War Guilt Clause was added in order to get the French and Belgians to agree to reduce the sum of money that Germany would have to pay to compensate for war damage.Stab-in-the-back legend
The stab-in-the-back myth ( German : Dolchstoßlegende ) [ 1 ] is the notion, widely believed in right-wing circles in Germany after 1918, that the German Army did not lose World War I but was instead betrayed by the civilians on the home front, especially the republicans who overthrew the monarchy. Advocates denounced the German government leaders who signed the Armistice on November 11, 1918, as the " November Criminals " ( German : Novemberverbrecher ).Territorial concessions by Germany were significant and accounted for about 13 percent of the German Empire's pre-World War I territory. German diplomats were shoocked when they wwre presented with the Allied plans. Most Germans had expected with the exception of Alsace-Loraine, a return to the 1914 borders.
vpc-ter
The treaty was signed today at Versailles. At 10:30 am Washington time Phillips and I sat in the telegraph room on the 4 th floor of the Dept. and had a direct wire from there to Versailles - with only two relays, one at London and one at Newfoundland, where it went into and came out of the submarine cable. It was 5 ¼ hours different time at Versailles. As each signed it was signalled out over the wire and ticked off on the receiver at our side and the operator read it by ear and wrote it out as received on a typewriter. We leaned over his shoulder and read the bulletins.