Causes of World War II in Europe

Failure of the League of Nations and Appeasement Led to Conflict

Nov 11, 2009

The causes of World War II included the failure of the League of Nations to stop German expansion, appeasement of Hitler's annexations, and US isolationist policies.

It is not enough to say that World War II was caused by German antipathy toward the Treaty of Versailles or by the designs of Adolf Hitler to expand Germany in fulfillment of lebensraum. The outbreak of war in Europe had many causes that included appeasement, United States’ isolationist policies, and the utter failure of the League of Nations. Although all of the signs pointed toward war in the 1930s, few people were willing to acknowledge the inevitable result. For many Europeans, the memories of the first Great War were vivid reminders of economic depression and widespread death and destruction. They elected to avoid a repeat of those experiences, yet the costs were far higher than they were willing to pay.

The League of Nations, established after World War I and coming out of US President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, proved to be ineffectual and weak. Its protocols allowed member nations to resign from the League, which is what Japan did before invading Manchuria in China and ultimately beginning a bloody and brutal war with the Chinese people.

When Benito Mussolini’s forces attacked Ethiopia in Africa, Emperor Haile Selassie personally appealed to the League for help but was rebuffed. Neither Britain nor France favored action against Italy, believing that any condemnation involving support for Ethiopia would bring fascist Italy closer to Nazi Germany.

After the League failed to check Hitler’s reoccupation of the Rhineland, the Austrian Anschluss, and the taking of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, under Josef Stalin, correctly assessed the League as a sham. Stalin made a separate deal with Hitler – the August 1939 Non-Aggression Pact, because, as he said at the time, he was not going to pull their chestnuts out of the fire (France and Britain).

The Policy of Appeasement

After the incorporation of Austria into the German Reich, Hitler met in Bavaria with the leaders of France, Britain, and Italy. The resulting “Munich Pact” allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. His reasons centered on the many ethnic Germans living in this region, displaced after the architects of the Versailles Treaty broke up the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires in 1918-1919.

British Prime Minister Chamberlain called the “deal” “peace in our time” and fervently believed war had been averted. But appeasement didn’t work. Hitler occupied all of Czechoslovakia and began preparations for the invasion of Poland.

Although Wilson’s Fourteen Points represented American idealism toward the ending of war, they were not accepted by the American people. The Senate rejected his League and the presidential election of 1920, a referendum on the League of Nations, demonstrated that Americans were not interested in sending their sons overseas again. It was a “return to normalcy” as prosperity and consumerism distracted Americans from the ominous warnings in both Europe and Asia.

Some Americans saw these omens, like Secretary of State Henry Stimson. Much like Winston Churchill in England, whose lone voice warned of the impending peril, Stimson counseled a stronger, more proactive US response to aggression, notably in China in the 1930s. When Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1933, the focus of the federal government was recovery from the Great Depression.

Hitler and the German Military

Adolf Hitler interpreted appeasement as a sign of weakness. He incorrectly concluded that Britain and France would react similarly once Poland was invaded, particularly after his agreements with Stalin. The military, wary of Hitler but eager to prove their mettle, supported his plans. Germany had rearmed spectacularly, and it was time to demonstrate that strength.

A series of incompetent decisions, outright diplomatic failures, and unrealistic notions of peace helped to bring about World War II. These are the lessons of history that still apply in the 21st Century.

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