While there is much debate in the historical community about the actual causes of World War II, about who was responsible, what might have prevented it, or what exactly went wrong, there is a strong desire to understand it. Could it be that only one person was the cause of such an enormous event? This essay will explain why it was not Hitler alone that caused the 2nd World War.
One of the major causes of the War was the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles had further effects than the crippling of German military power and economy. It was an insult, which the Germans could not overcome, and was to be one of the major forces of World War II. Many who were against the Weimar government from the start, and later the Nazi party in its rise to power, would describe the Treaty as a "stab-in-the-back" by traitors such as Jews and communists, later named the "November Criminals", who set out to destroy Germany.
They believed that the "invincible" German army could not have been defeated, since no allied troops had set foot in Germany during the war. German aggression was high.
Another major cause to the war was the Great Depression of 1929-32. Germany was the country worst affected by the Depression. This was because Germany depended upon loans from the USA to help repay the Reparations set by the Treaty of Versailles.
Unemployment in Germany rose very quickly, reaching 6,000,000 by the end of 1932. This gave Hitler and the Nazi Party the chance that they had been waiting for. Hitler was able to use unemployment to gain support in the general elections from 1930 to 1933. He posed as Germany's "last hope". As Germans became more and more desperate, they became more and...
Proportional representation
dont forget that it was the voting system of the time that allowed hitler to take control in the first place. By following PR instead of the more traditional "fist past the post system, it allowed extreamist groups of people to gain a foothold, when they wouldnt normally have won seats. It was also this systems lack of a true party of power that forced hasty coillitions, that brought about very little change when drastic measures were needed to deal will the social and finacial problems of the country. So when Hitler turned up, with strong ideas and seemingly the way out of the countrys mess, people were more inclined to listen. All the other points you mention are valid and well described, although a little more elaboration on the injustices of the treaty of versailles wouldnt go amiss!
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