Causes of World War II

In this video, you will learn about how the United States prepared for and fought in World War II. But before we get into that, we must first understand the causes. There are four main causes of World War II. A worldwide depression, the failure to achieve peace after World War I, the rise of fascism in German and Japanese aggression in Europe and East Asia. The end of World War I in 1918 led to a depression, or an economic downturn, all across Europe, many businesses and factories closed, and there were not enough jobs. In the 1930s, the same economic depression that hit the United States also affected countries in Europe, especially Germany and Italy. Once again there were millions of unemployed people and businesses and they were all going bankrupt. Germany in particular, Germany in particular was also suffering from the effects of the global depression. In addition, many Germans were furious about the Treaty of Versailles, which required Germany to pay the allied powers billions of dollars for the damage of the war caused. The war debt hurt Germany badly and made it difficult for the economy to get back to normal. At the same time, most Germans considered this requirement grossly unfair. A deep and long-lasting anger against France, Great Britain, and other allies was the natural result. High inflation was another problem for the German economy after World War I. The German government kept printing more and more paper money to try and cover its war debt and expenses. That made the value of the money itself drop rapidly. The term for this problem is inflation. The German woman on the right shown here is lighting the wood burning the stove in her kitchen with paper money that had become almost worthless because of inflation. The high inflation made it very difficult for German businesses and banks to operate properly or create new jobs. The problems in Germany and Italy during the 1920s led many different groups to try and gain political power. At times, there were riots in the streets among the supporters of different political parties. Politician and World War I veteran Adolf Hitler took advantage of public anger to gain power, a fiery speaker. He inspired huge audiences by vowing to restore Germany to prosperity in a position of international power. Hitler also offered Germans a scapegoat or someone to blame for their problems. He accused intellectuals, communists, and especially Jews of causing Germany's defeat in World War I in its economic problems after the war. He said only by ridding itself of Jews. Would Germany again rise to greatness. Hitler's national Socialist Party or the Nazis gained a large following. It became Chancellor in 1933 and quickly seized all government power in Germany. Italy also suffered an economic depression, unemployment strikes and riots. Those Italians looked for a strong leader who could bring stability to their country, they found such a leader in Benito Mussolini, pictured here on the left. He gained power. Mussolini's rule was based on fascism or a political system in which the state or government is seen as more important than individuals. Fascist systems typically are militaristic and headed by a strong leader. Japan, under Hideki tojo, also set up a fascist government in the 1930s. Although Japan, Japan traditionally had an emperor, most of the real power was in the hands of a group of military leaders. Hideki tojo, shown on the right was a Japanese general who became a fascist dictator. He pushed Japan to join the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. He also helped Japan plan for war with the United States. Like I said, tojo, in both Hitler and Mussolini, believed in a political system called fascism. And remember, in a fascist government system, total power is given to a dictator. Individual rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press are denied. The nation in its power are what counts, not the life of the Hitler dreamed of avenging Germany's defeat in World War I. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler began to rebuild the German military. In 1936, Nazi troops invaded the Rhineland, a former German territory lost during World War I. That year, he also signed the lions with Mussolini, forming the Axis powers. Japan would later join this pact. In 1938, Hitler forced Austria to unite with Germany, then he demanded control of the sudetenland, a region in Czechoslovakia, where many Germans lived. When the Czechs refused, Hitler threatened war. No one in Europe was doing anything to stop Hitler's and Germany's aggression and World War II was just around the corner. In the next video, we'll look at Japanese aggression in East Asia, East Asia, the United States supported the allies early on in World War II. And the United States path to war. In 1942.