Aaron Loh (17) 2O1 The main reason as to why World War 2 happened is due to the fact that

Hitler had an aggressi e foreign policy! Hitler aimed to ma"e #ermany a superior country again $y destroying the Treaty of %ersailles and reco ering territory for #ermans to li e in& as he iewed #ermans as the superior race in which they deser e to occupy whate er land they want to! 'ecause of the Treaty of %ersailles& some #ermans were spread amongst Austria& ()echoslo a"ia and *oland& thus he needed the anne+ation of Austria and the territory from the other 2 countries! ,ue to his aggressi e foreign policy& he threatened to ha e armed conflicts with whoe er opposes him and therefore managed to force Austria into -oining the .eich and in aded /udetenland& then the whole of ()echoslo a"ia! Therefore he set his sights onto *oland and made ad ances towards in ading *oland! At this time& 'ritain had already signed a pact with *oland to protect it from any in ading country as a warning signal to Hitler that they are going to ta"e things seriously and ta"e action! Hitler did not comply and thus war had to $e declared! 0f Hitler did not ha e the mind1set that he could do whate er he wanted and get his way& perhaps he would not ha e thought of in ading an forcing the 2 countries to $e within the .eich& and war could ha e $een a oided! Thus& the foreign policy is the main reason as to why war $ro"e out! Another reason as to why World War 2 $ro"e out is due to the fact that 'ritain maintained an Appeasement *olicy and attitude towards #ermany! The Appeasement policy meant that ma-or powers were to gi e in to some demands made $y the dictators such as Hitler and 3ussolini so as to hope that they do not as" for more and $e satisfied! /ome 'ritish sympathi)ed with #ermany as they had suffered great losses due to the treaty of %ersailles and hoped that #ermany would $e a$le to reco er thus they supported the Appeasement policy! /ome iewed #ermany as a strong $arrier to $loc" communism from spreading& while others -ust did not want another war! Howe er& the flaw in the policy is that 'ritain was suffering from a decline in power and that 4ascism and 5a)ism were unappeasa$le due to their e+treme ideologies! 4or e+ample& when 5e ille (ham$erlain isited Hitler and con inced Hitler to sign the 3unich agreement& Hitler& later went $ac" on his promise and in aded the /udetenland region! 'ritain still did not want to do anything or ta"e any action! Thus the appeasement policy did not wor" and was one of the reasons contri$uting to the out$rea" of war as if Hitler iewed 'ritain as a formida$le force he would not ha e out right $ro"en the 3unich agreement and this perhaps may ha e dissuaded him from in ading countries! Another reason as to why World War 2 $ro"e out is due to the fact that the League of 5ations was for the most part a failure and could not do anything! The League of 5ations "ept pro ing themsel es incapa$le of sol ing conflicts around the world and this con inced Hitler that it was not a threat or something to $e ta"en seriously! 0t had no military of its own and also could not con ince 'ritain and 4rance to send in their troops! 0t could ha e $een the mediator and easily stepped in to inter ene $ut $ecause of its limitations& it could not! 4or e+ample& during the 3anchurian (risis when 6apan had an aggressi e foreign policy to in ade 3anchuria& The League of 5ations tried to con ince America to send in troops to inter ene& $ut $ecause of

America7s isolationist mind1set& they did not! ,uring the A$yssinian crisis& the sanctions imposed $y the League of 5ations were not se ere enough& furthermore& America was so frustrated $y the League7s (lac" of) efforts that they -ust decided to continue with trade with 0taly! 4rom this we can see that $ecause of the lac" of a mediator& no one could inter ene as e eryone had their own ris"s to ta"e and "ept to themsel es! Howe er& all the reasons stem down to the fact that Hitler ne er iewed anyone as a force to $e rec"oned with! He was not intimidated $y 'ritain nor the League of 5ations! 0f he were to feel as such& he would not ha e offended them $y going $ac" on his promises and in ading countries! Thus the main reason for the out$rea" of war is Hitler7s aggressi e foreign policy