Cause and Effect

Was World War II a Continuation of World War I?

It has been said that the Great War of 1914-1918 ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.  In other words, WWII was a gruesome continuation of WWI but with newer weapons.  In order for this theory to be properly explored, we have to go back just before the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

            Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points laid the foundation of how things were to be in Europe.  Most of Europe’s old empires were split apart in the hopes that another outbreak of World War would be avoided.  Yet with the splitting of Europe into smaller nations, many people saw this as a personal affront, one not to be taken lightly.  The denizens of the continent were none too excited about how their governments were to be. 

            Governmental grudges against Germany were not going to remain unheard.  They wanted to get the most from Germany that they could.

Germany’s militarism was to be crushed for all time through stringent restrictions on her armed forces.  Germany’s army was limited to 100,000, and they were not to have an air force, or tanks.  Even the size of caliber weapons they were allowed to keep was limited to no more than 150 mm.[1]

A string of treaties were formed in the years between 1919 and 1939.  Some of the more notable treaties were the Treaty of St. Germain, which created Czechoslovakia and the former nation of Yugoslavia.  The Treaty of Sevres disbanded the Ottoman Empire. 

            With Germany broke apart into a farce of its former self, many nations stepped in to stake their claim.  France claimed the mineral rich areas, west of the Rhine.  Germany’s economy was in shambles after the war.  Yet the question on a good deal of governments’ minds was if they were actually going to be repaid for what the war had cost them. 

            The French and British governments were in debt to the United States.  Yet, they wanted their reparations from the former Triple Alliance.[2]

No one was really sure whom Germany was to repay and how much.  The German government was uncertain as to how it would pay if it did not already have the resources to do so.  This sparked a recession with tremendous inflation for Germany. 

The League of Nations was without one nation that could truly enforce the Treaty of Versailles, The United States.  If the United States Senate had ratified the resolution to become a member of the League of Nations, then it is almost without a doubt that a former Austrian Corporal would not have come to be known as “Der Fuhrer.” 

With Germany struggling to get back on its feet, a new political party emerged, the National Socialist Worker’s Party, more commonly known as the Nazis.  In 1932, the Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag, the supreme legislative body of the republic.[3]  A feeling of being betrayed by the allied powers was widespread amongst the German populace.  This was something Adolf Hitler took much advantage of. 

When one looks at who the major players were in the Second World War, one notices a striking similarity to the players of the First World War.  Alliances were essentially unchanged by the onset of WWII.  The Spanish Civil War was a sign of who was going to ally with whom and what their values were.  Germany, now under the Nazi party, along with Fascist Italy came to aid of the Francisco Franco led rebels, while the Soviet Union assisted the loyalists. 

With the Spanish Civil War completed, Italy, Germany, and now Spain were allied with each other.  Japan and Germany later allied to help along Japan’s aims of control over East Asia.  With Germany reclaiming the territories it lost due to the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations was all but powerless to stop the Third Reich without the help of the United States.  A peculiar policy of appeasement was in full force during Germany’s expansion.  In other words, the League of Nations thought that if they were to give Germany what they wanted at first, that Germany would merely graciously accept non-interference and leave things small.  This policy is a prime example of the cliché, “Give them an inch and they take a mile.”

World War I had engendered anti-war sentiments in France, Britain, and other Western Democracies.[4]  This led Great Britain to attempt disarming by example.  Britain hoped that if they showed that they were standing from the large standing army they had at the end of WWI, that Germany would do the same and not attempt more violence upon Europe.   Suddenly Germany’s rebuilding of itself was not enough to pacify the Axis powers.  The Second “War to end all wars” officially erupted on September 1, 1939. 

Japan felt much the same as Germany with the outcome of WWI.  In 1931 Japan had moved to expand its territory by overrunning Manchuria and taking it from the Chinese.  With the Rome-Berlin Axis political and military pact in place in Europe, Japan entered into an anti-Communist alliance with the European Axis powers.  It didn’t take very long after the singing of this alliance with Europe for Japan to invade China.[5]

The stage was set for a true global war with only one player still on the sidelines.  The United States was still working on completing its recovery from the Great Depression and was not able to garner enough support in its government to truly help out her allies.  It wasn’t until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 did the United States have that support.  On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and shortly thereafter, declared war upon Germany and the rest of the European Axis powers. 

In conclusion, with the advent of air superiority, tanks, the death of trench warfare, chemical and biological agents, machine guns and the like, World War II was the second act of the play that started with World War I in 1914, but with newer weapons and theories on battle.  With the inclusion of the battles in the Pacific and Asian theatres, it was the first true global conflict that would leave its mark on the world ever since. 

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