To what extent was Germany to blame for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939? by Sophia Zhuang

To what extent was Germany to blame for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939? by Sophia Zhuang https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt World War II in Europe and North Africa Project en-us 2023-02-13 17:47:31 UTC 2026-02-21 05:30:31 UTC hello@padlet.com Introduction zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2490074863 After WW1, the world fell into a Great Depression, which caused countries to take action to rebuild their country. For example, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles multiple times which provoked Britain and France. All the countries wanted to gain power and prevent further losses from WWI by isolating other countries abilities to gain power. Britain, France, Poland, Italy, and the Soviets were somewhat to blame for the outbreak of war. Ultimately, Germany was to blame for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 because of political, economic, and ideological components. ]]> 2023-02-21 17:54:22 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2490074863 Germany did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles and decided to rebel against it. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491497707

The Allies made the Central Powers the scapegoat and sign the Treaty of Versailles and take the blame

Germany had no choice but to be involved in the Treaty of Versailles

It was especially strict on the Germans, they had no other choice but to start a war to gain back their power

It restricted Germany from rearmament

France had a much larger army than Germany during the disarmament of Europe

Although, Germany had a much larger population which the French feared would attack back

Both Britain and US disagreed when France asked for a security alliance before agreeing to disarmament (Daily & Webb, 118).

Despite the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935) violating the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was allowed to have naval but less than Britain's navy.

]]> 2023-02-22 17:35:13 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491497707 Germany did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles and decided to rebel against it. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491498248 The Treaty of Versailles that was signed between the Allies and the Central Powers. ]]> 2023-02-22 17:35:40 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491498248 Germany did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles and decided to rebel against it. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491498350 Germany's Supporters:

Italy violated the League of Nations when it invaded Abyssinia
As a result, economic sanctions were pushed upon Italy from Britain and France (Daily & Webb, 119).
Italy ended any relations with Britain and France in 1936
Italy would join the war if Germany could provide them with weapons and raw materials (Tucker, 13)
Germany and Italy created political and economic relations with each other
Germany had a pact with Italy (Rome-Berlin Axis 1936)
Britain and France tried to create an alliance with the USSR so that it'll prevent a war with Germany
USSR rejected the alliance with Britain and France due to the fact that they had problems with Poland
Germany promised the USSR parts of land that Poland owns and they would not fight each other (Daily & Webb, 121)
Germany had a pact with USSR (Nazi-Soviet Pact 1939) to gain support to invade Poland (Daily & Webb, 121)
The Soviet was given Lithuania, military technology, and goods in exchange so that Germany could make further advancements in Poland and raw materials. (Tucker, 12)

]]> 2023-02-22 17:35:44 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491498350 Germany did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles and decided to rebel against it. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491513523 Due to the Treaty of Versailles, Poland took part of Germany which consisted of Germans. ]]> 2023-02-22 17:48:03 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491513523 Germany's economy went down during the Great Depression. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491523330

In the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to pay for the damages of WWl

Germany suffered from an economic crisis after WWl and they had more materials (Daily & Webb, 126)

It was essential for Germany to capture more land due to the economic crisis (Daily & Webb, 126)

Britain doubted that Germany could pay back all the reparations

Hitler decided to spend more money on rearming than on reparations (Tucker, 4)

]]> 2023-02-22 17:55:57 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491523330 Germany's economy went down during the Great Depression. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491540190 In this image, France is correcting the phrase "They Shall Not Pay!" to "They Shall Pay!" while holding bills for Germany to pay reparations. (132 billion gold marks in reparations)]]> 2023-02-22 18:09:44 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2491540190 The issues in Germany that couldn't be solved by the government, were charged by the Nazis. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494200676

The government struggled to solve the economic crisis due to inflation and unemployment

Hitler supported radical changes even though they may lead to war

The economy started to get worse and worse so people voted for Hitler in hopes it'll make the economy better since democracy didn't. (Tucker, 4)

The Nazi party gained popularity by confronting the economic issue and the fear of communism (Daily & Webb, 115)

Later on, people from Germany, Britain, and the U.S. started to believe that the Central powers were not to blame for WWI

]]> 2023-02-24 17:53:45 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494200676 Germany's economy went down during the Great Depression. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494202010

France had to take control of the Treaty and impose reparation on Germany

Germany asked France to delay the reparation payments because they were unable to repay the 132 billion gold marks in just 42 years (Daily & Webb, 114)

France refused and made it harder for Germany to pay all the reparations

Germany included the obstruction policy in 1923 which stopped them from paying for preparations, France acted upon it and sent troops to Germany so they'll pay (Tucker, 4)

Germany told workers not to work and waited it out so they wouldn't have to pay reparations. However, France was determined to make Germany pay so it caused Germany to go into inflation

It only made the economy worse because their money value went down

During the Great Depression, there was mass unemployment

The highs level of unemployment caused the economy to go down

This further prevented Germany from paying the reparations

]]> 2023-02-24 17:55:07 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494202010 The issues in Germany that couldn't be solved by the government, were charged by the Nazi's. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494210722 Nazi Beliefs

The Treaty of Versailles should be eliminated and lost territories should return to Europe
Germany should rejoin with territories that consists of Germans
Nationalism in German was intimidated by communism and it shall be objected

]]> 2023-02-24 18:03:45 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494210722 Conclusion zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494211245 Germany was greatly at fault for the outbreak of WW2 in Europe. Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, which they violated several times. Germany failed to pay reparations for WWI due to the Great Depression and high levels of unemployment. However, Nazi ideology accommodated the public's concern about the economic crisis, the Nazi came into power. Hitler invaded Poland for their own advantage despite objections from other countries.]]> 2023-02-24 18:04:19 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494211245 Bibliography Sources zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494360363

Roberts, Priscilla Mary, and Spencer Tucker, eds. World War II: A Student Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO Interactive, 2005.

Bessel, Richard. Germany after the First World War. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Daily, Andy, and Webb, Sarah. Causes and Effects of 20th-century Wars, Second Edition. London, UK: Hodder Education, 2015.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “INVASION OF POLAND, FALL 1939.” United States holocaust memorial museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, August 25, 2021. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939.

Deinhard, Astrid, and Spartacus Olsson. 001 -The Polish-German War - WW2 - September 1, 1939 [IMPROVED]. YouTube, 2020. https://youtu.be/2b7GY4BSUmU.

]]> 2023-02-24 20:48:09 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494360363 Bibliography for Photos zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494361655

Photo of map: From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_eastern_territories_of_Germany

Photo of art/image: From blendspace https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/vqGrSZ9skUmJpg/copy-of-america-in-world-war-1-ch-9-key-terms-and-people
Photo of treaty: From TotallyHISTORY

https://totallyhistory.com/treaty-of-versailles-1919/

]]> 2023-02-24 20:49:59 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2494361655 Germany did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles and decided to rebel against it. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2495523833

Poland was giving some part of West Prussia that consisted of Germans
Germany wanted to reunite the parts of land that had Germans
Hitler wanted to take back and rule the proportion of land that Poland took
Polish-German Non-Aggression Pact 1934: Both Poland and Germany agreed to not attack each other
Poland had a better army than Germany, but Poland's main worry and enemy during that time were the Soviets (Daily & Webb, 118).
In 1936, Germany gained Rhineland but France couldn't fight back and Britain thought it'll lower the risk of Germany wanting to go to war (Daily & Webb, 119).
Later in 1938, --with the consent of Italy-- Germany annexed Austria with no opposition from Britain or France again.

]]> 2023-02-26 21:27:29 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2495523833 Germany did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles and decided to rebel against it. zchen172 https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2495529030 Germany's Enemies:

Britain, France, and Italy want to establish a Stresa Front in 1934 to isolate Germany's foreign policy.
Britain did not believe that it'll restrict Germany in any way so they signed the Anglo-Germany Naval Agreement, not thinking much about it.
Poland disagreed with the negotiation and it displeased Britain and France ( Daily & Webb, 120)
Britain, France, and Poland declared a military alliance (Daily & Webb, 120)
However, Poland was never armed with weapons from Britain or France in hopes that Germany will back down just from the declaration of the alliance
Britain and France told Germany to back out of Poland or else it'll result in war
Germany did in fact invade Poland, angering Britain and France
Britain and France declared war on Germany

]]> 2023-02-26 21:36:51 UTC https://padlet.com/szhuang1/g010zygcnwq29mkt/wish/2495529030