null
US
Sign In
Sign Up for Free
Sign Up
We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. The dynamic nature of our site means that Javascript must be enabled to function properly. Please read our
terms and conditions
for more information.
Next up
Copy and Edit
You need to log in to complete this action!
Register for Free
855629
The Causes of World War 2
Description
A mind-map summarising all of the key details of the causes of World War 2 for EdExcel GCSE History A Unit 1: International Relations.
No tags specified
history
a-level
Mind Map by
Matthew T
, updated more than 1 year ago
More
Less
Created by
Matthew T
almost 11 years ago
288
17
0
Resource summary
The Causes of World War 2
The Great Depression
1929 Wall Street Crash led to worldwide depression
Production of manufactured goods fell by 80%
European countries dependent on US loans and trade
Helped Hitler rise to power
End of goodwill between nations
Manchuria 1931-33
Causes
Japan a rising Pacific power
Protectionist policies led to loss of trade
Needed to expand beyond Korea, Formosa, Sakhalin Island
Events
Attack by Chinese troops on Japanese railway
Manchuria invaded - natural resources + market
Puppet government instated in Manchukuo
China appealed to L of N
Lytton Commission sent - very slow, over a year to investigate
Results
L of N condemned action
Japan withdrew from L of N
B + F unwilling to support League
Encouraged further aggression
Abyssinia 1935-36
Causes
Mussolini wanted world prestige
No European influence
Revenge for 1896 Battle of Adowa
Events
Brutal invasion involving poison gas
Haile Selassie directly appealed to L of N
L of N imposed economic sanctions - no oil, Suez Canal open
Hoare-Laval Pact compromise to placate Mussolini - withdrawn
Results
Unwilling to use force
B + F undermining League
"the League is all very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all when eagles fall out" - Mussolini
Hitler's aims
Reverse Diktat/Treaty of Versailles
Exit League of Nations
Create Grossdeutschland
Give German people Lebensraum
Plebiscite returning Saar "first injustice to be reversed"
Rearmament and alliances
Disarmament Conference 1932-4 - other powers refused to disarm so Hitler began rearmament
Non-Aggression Pact with Poland 1934 - weaken alliance with France + show no threat to Poland (only USSR)
Conscription - army 550,000 by 1935, Stresa Front formed to preserve peace but collapsed due to Abyssinia and Naval Treaty
Anglo-German Naval Treaty 1935 - Britain sympathy, wanted buffer against Communism, German navy 35% of British
Remilitarisation of Rhineland 1936 - risk due to fears of French retaliation but B + F unwilling to act, key success for Hitler
Rome-Berlin Axis 1936 - informal agreement, led to working together in Spanish Civil War
Anti-Comintern Pact 1937 - Fascist Germany, Italy, Japan work to oppose Communism
Pact of Steel 1939 - formal Italo-German military alliance
Breaches in 1938
Anschluss 1938
Dollfuss 1934 had failed, but Italian support allowed German aggression
Schuschnigg ordered plebiscite for German union
Hitler threatened to make Vienna "Guernica of Austria" if Schuschnigg didn't resign
Seyss-Inquart invited troops into Austria Mar 1938
New plebiscite - 99% wanted union with Germany
Sudetenland 1938
Sudetenland rich in coal + defences
German propaganda showed Czech atrocities
Berchtesgaden and Godesberg meetings no result - Hitler's demands more audacious
Munich Agreement 29 Sep 1938 - Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, NO Stalin or Benes
Mussolini's "compromise" gave Germany all demands
Chamberlain "peace in our time"
Czechoslovakia stripped of all defence + humiliated
Steps to war
Czechoslovakia Mar 1939
Slovak/Ruthenian separatists demand independence
Tiso and Hacha bullied into allowing invasion
Bohemia + Moravia German protectorates
Slovakia German puppet state
Ruthenia to Hungary
Poland Apr 1939
Hitler demanded Danzig + Polish Corridor return
B + F acted decisively - gave guarantees of support to Poland, Greece, Romania
Hitler not yet ready for war on 2 fronts
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Britain sent Reginald Plunkett Ranfurly Ernle-Erle Drax to Russia by boat - slow, no urgency
Stalin offended + suspicious of British
Agreed not to fight in war
Carved up Eastern Europe into spheres of influence
Alliance between opposing political systems
Poland Sep 1939
Pact gave Hitler confidence
Guarantees of support too late
Appeasement backfired
Too far for B + F to help
Appeasement
Reasons for
First World War horrific
Germany treated unfairly at Versailles
Strong buffer against Stalinism + Communism
Britain unready for war
Preoccupied by Depression
Spanish Civil War shocked world
Reasons against
Hitler grew stronger + stronger
Morally wrong + cowardly
Chamberlain misjudged Hitler as rational
Key moments (e.g. Rhineland) missed
War was inevitable
Show full summary
Hide full summary
Want to create your own
Mind Maps
for
free
with GoConqr?
Learn more
.
Similar
Second Boer War
09shor1r
National Socialism
kalle90
Causes of WW1
natashaaaa
Why did Chamberlain's Policy of Appeasement fail to prevent the outbreak of war in 1939?
Leah Firmstone
History - Treaty of Versailles
suhhyun98
Hitler and the Nazi Party (1919-23)
Adam Collinge
GCSE History – Social Impact of the Nazi State in 1945
Ben C
Germany 1918-39
Cam Burke
History- Medicine through time key figures
gemma.bell
History- Religion and medicine
gemma.bell
Weimar Revision
Tom Mitchell
Browse Library