Why Did WW2 Take Place?
Why did WW2 start?
Although each of the regional wars of WW2 began for a different reason, it is generally understood that WW2 was started because of Axis aggression.
In Europe, the cause of WW2 could be traced 20 years earlier. At the end of WW1, the Treaty of Versailles failed as an instrument to maintain peace as it seemingly served the agenda of depriving Germany of her status as a sovereign nation. Such deprivation, along with the subsequent hyperinflation and global economical depression, set up the grounds for the rise of the Nazi Party. Many scholars note that Europe might had saved had the Western Allies abandoned the policy of appeasement, which was done in the interest of curbing the expansion of communism. Prompt action committed by the Western Allies against Germany might had removed Adolf Hitler from power, hence possibly lessen the scale of the war.
Additionally, the Nazi Party's racist agenda also provided Germany a distorted justification for their brutal occupation policies.
Italy, which fought on the side of the victors in WW1, believed she deserved much more territorial gains than it received at the end of that conflict. This led to Italy's belief that her invasions against Abyssinia, Albania, and Greece were justified.
In Asia, Japanese expansion led to a brief confrontation with Russia and a full-fledged war against China. The primary motivation was to acquire natural resources to feed the rapidly growing Japanese industry and military. The western imperial powers had long been fueling their industrial might by exploiting their colonies, but Japan, late to the imperial game, always had to import raw materials from abroad. The subsequent Japanese expansion into the South Pacific was Japan's attempt at establishing her base for raw materials, particularly oil, and this attempt brought it directly against the interests of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Why did WW2 end the way it did?
WW2 ended with an Allied victory after Germany and Japan surrendered in 1945. The main reason for the eventual Allied victory was more so economic in nature than military. The Allies possessed vast manpower, raw materials, and manufacturing capacity, something the Axis could not match. As the war dragged on, the Axis powers simply could not handle the seemingly endless supply of weapons that the Allies could bring to the front.
Next: Legacies of the War
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Visitor Submitted Comments
25 May 2010 09:19:51 AM
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3 Oct 2010 10:04:44 PM
Can you give a date?
9 Nov 2010 05:59:04 PM
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16 Mar 2011 09:50:29 AM
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18 Apr 2011 03:33:57 PM
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29 Apr 2011 11:53:41 AM
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17 May 2011 04:11:02 AM
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21 Feb 2012 08:37:45 PM
This information is incorrect US and Japan ended later
22 Feb 2012 01:03:25 PM
This helped me a lot
16 Apr 2012 08:11:43 AM
useful but part are incorrect.
24 Apr 2012 09:41:59 AM
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25 Apr 2012 10:36:47 AM
Why was World War II so important?
17 Sep 2012 09:32:20 AM
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24 Nov 2012 08:57:30 AM
hw help thanks
31 May 2013 09:55:16 AM
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17 Sep 2013 08:33:26 AM
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5 Nov 2013 06:10:55 AM
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10 Jan 2014 06:43:54 AM
This website sucks it doesnt say the answer
1 Apr 2014 01:07:00 PM
Using some info for my essay :)
24 Sep 2014 11:33:21 AM
Helped!
18 Nov 2014 07:26:23 AM
Ww2 Began-september 1,1939Ended-september 1,1945
11 Feb 2015 08:06:07 AM
this is all wrong go look at www.ushmm.org/wlc/en for correct information
11 Feb 2015 08:09:09 AM
this helped me
25 Mar 2015 08:12:55 AM
This website was extremely helpful and helped me write a 10 page essay about Germany.
19 Apr 2015 05:55:41 AM
useless
16 May 2015 01:36:27 PM
Japan did surrender in 1945 but later on in the year than Germany
21 Jun 2015 05:10:53 AM
mmm... this didn't help. try writing the FACTS and the IMPORTANT STUFF.
4 Nov 2015 10:18:33 AM
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18 Dec 2015 11:53:53 AM
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20 Jan 2016 04:49:03 PM
it was not that good because it did not give me all that I wanted I thought that the Japaneses wanted more land than that small island and started the second world war that involved the allied force and the Japaneses. Did not rilly help me at all.
6 Feb 2016 01:20:23 PM
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24 Mar 2016 10:16:36 AM
no help
25 Apr 2016 10:40:13 AM
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26 Apr 2016 04:43:56 AM
thanks a lot
30 Apr 2016 07:48:20 AM
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10 May 2016 01:53:28 PM
not much info sorry but no help
25 May 2016 09:55:25 AM
This helped a lot, thanks
25 Oct 2016 08:24:44 AM
to small writing
28 Nov 2016 12:37:03 AM
Not bad more description and bigger handwriting
2 Apr 2017 07:21:30 PM
The movie hacksaw ridge was there really a wall that big and had to climb that high
13 Apr 2017 01:37:06 PM
I did not see what I was looking for, I was looking for a reason of war as in a murder or huge fight, not a piece saying axis war or racism.
17 Feb 2019 11:31:02 AM
I was hoping to find why World War 2 started not Axis or racism but thanks *hint* *hint*
30 Sep 2019 10:01:40 AM
I really did not find this helpful. I mean, I wasn't really wanting to find some stuff about axis and racism, I wanted to know a bit about Hitler and stuff
14 Jun 2022 01:50:05 AM
why is everyone saying that this wasn't helpful? these are the real reasons. if you wanted to know about hitler, then look up about hitler
6 Aug 2024 04:33:57 AM
Good overview, summmarises the points in high quality.
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Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal
13 Apr 2010 09:04:15 AM
This information was very useful to me. I'm glad I found this site.