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... m loans that could be withdrawn at any time. The problem for Germany came with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929... America; Thousands of companies lost millions and there was a sudden rush of people trying to withdraw their savings. The banks, who couldn't cope with this, withdrew their German loans which caused thousands of new and vulnerable German businesses to go bankrupt, 30 % unemployment, poverty, homelessness and starvation.
In Germany's abysmal position, people began to look for someone to blame and Nazi propaganda helped to direct the blame at those that had signed the Treaty (the democrats). This is why there was a sudden increase in votes for the antidemocratic parties (Communist and Nazi) as people had lost faith in democracy. People were attracted to the Nazis as they wanted to overthrow the thing that had caused all the problems (the treaty). The Depression is the main reason how a politician with such radical views was able to come to power as those in trouble (the Germans), became selfish and they felt Hitler could revolutionise and 'restore' Germany. They needed a 'strong' leader and Hitler was felt to conform to this need. The League of Nations was set up soon after the Treaty of Versailles and it was meant to keep peace within Europe.
It had several problems from the start, namely America not joining and a conflict between France and Britain over what the league should be doing. In the 1920 's it was quite successful settling many minor disagreements. However, in the 1930 's it came across the problem of having to deal with two strong countries. The League had no successful way of punishing or dealing with countries; it had no army of its own and had to rely on trade sanctions. Due to the Depression Italy turned to aggression to aid its economic situation and also to take the hardships off its peoples' minds. When Italy attacked Abyssinia no one felt compelled to help as they had economic problems from the depression at home.
Sending troops would have been too costly whilst economic sanctions would not have worked as America would not have supported the sanctions as they had been hit hard by the depression (Wall Street is the American stock exchange). As well as this, Britain and France had been hit by the depression and needed trade for money and jobs. Japan attacked Manchuria as it was a relatively small island with few raw materials; Japan thought they had not been rewarded satisfactorily from WWI when they had helped the allies. Japan's attack on Manchuria was treated similarly; no one could afford to send troops to help and trade sanctions would not have worked. Britain was also worried that if she helped Manchuria, her colonies nearby would be at risk.
The two countries, Italy and Japan, both left the League after being condemned. They both became Hitler's allies. The failure of the League in these two cases showed Hitler he could most likely get away with anything and it also gave an impression of an international lack of caring. Britain and France hold some responsibility for World War 2 as their policy of appeasement allowed Germany to be in a position of strength. However, Hitler's early demands were reasonable and he didn't begin to make unreasonable demands until he was in a position of strength, when Britain and France could not easily refuse. Germany had been spending 23. 5 % of her budget on the military, whilst Britain and France had been spending much less as they were not preparing for a war and they had also spent more on trying to sort out the depression.
They had to let Germany get away with things so that they could get stronger. When they were strong enough to resist Germany, they declared war. However, before conquering Poland, Hitler was very scared of a war on two fronts meaning Britain, France and Russia fighting him from both directions. Stalin (dictator of Russia) offered Britain and France an alliance against Germany but they were too untwisting of communism which as capitalists, they were scared of and disliked.
They took 5 weeks to send a reply which did not impress Stalin. When he got in touch with Hitler he got an immediate reply and a visit from an ambassador who had the power to sign an agreement. They made a non-aggression pact so Germany could attack Poland without the fear of a war on two fronts. In return Russia would receive a portion of Poland. As we can see there are lots of reasons why Hitler was able to get into a position to start World War II, but it was Hitler who was the aggressor who had prepared his country for war and this is why he is to blame for the war. However, is it actually possible for one man to be responsible for pulling the whole world into disarray?
Hitler only wanted a war with the East. We must remember there are many others responsible for allowing the war to happen. The Treaty of Versailles stabbed the new Weimar Republic and democracy itself in the back setting up their demise (soon to be followed by Hitler) just over a decade later. The treaty, through reparations made the depression so much worse in Germany which made people support the radical extremist parties. The Depression, although no-ones responsibility allowed Hitler to get into power. It caused the failure of the League of Nations and weakened many countries as they limited their military spending.
Perhaps it was the responsibility of Britain and France for following such a loose policy of appeasement. It was definitely blind of them for not accepting Russia's offer of alliance as that would surely have stopped Hitler; at this point they should have realised how much of a threat Hitler was and combined with Russia to stop him. Little has been said about America whos presence in the League may well have saved it; however they followed an isolationist policy and preferred not to get involved in important world affairs. Their added support may well have prevented the war. So concluding although Hitler was to blame for the war, there are many others responsible for allowing him to become strong. Luckily for Hitler the Depression happened, without which he would never have got into power and become so much stronger militarily in comparison to other countries.
I believe those responsible helped to cause the war as they should not have allowed Hitler to be in such a strong position and the whole international nativity in not being prepared to react, was a cause for the war.
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Research essay sample on Britain And France Treaty Of Versailles
