Exactly who caused World War II

The 20th world is known as the Century of Bloodshed, and both world wars occurred in this century, especially the Second World War, which was the largest in recent centuries, with the largest number of casualties, to what extent, more than the previous large-scale wars in the world combined. At the end of the First World War, people were shocked by its unprecedented cruelty, and they did not know that the seeds of the Second World War were buried exactly where the First World War ended.

The capital of the two world wars was Germany, but the fuse that indirectly caused the war was missing someone else. Germany is located in central Europe, the land area is similar to Yunnan, has always been a loose federation of small countries, in the mid-19th century, the Kingdom of Prussia launched the German unification war, during which it clashed with the hegemony of the European continent at that time, France, the Milk-France War broke out, oh no, it was the Franco-Prussian War, the war was launched by France, but in the end Prussia won a complete victory, and in turn invaded France, France was defeated, forced to accept war reparations, and ceded a large area of territory, this operation can also be done by France, The Five Scum of War got its name from this. Prussia took advantage of the situation to unify Germany and establish the Second German Empire.

After reunification, Germany's industrialization process was very rapid, soon catching up with other capitalist countries, becoming the world's major industrial country, at the beginning of the 20th century, Germany's strength increased greatly, and it became more and more dissatisfied with the old capitalist countries such as Britain and France, hoping to redivide the world, which eventually led to the outbreak of the First World War.

When Germany declared war with August 1914, the German people were ecstatic, including Adolf. German soldiers including Hitler. Most Germans were agitated by fanatical nationalist sentiments, believing that after the outbreak of war they could bid a pleasant farewell to dull civic life, and they hoped that the war would end perfectly before Christmas. Just like a certain country later thought on the Korean battlefield. However, the victory did not come as smoothly as the Germans imagined; on the contrary, the war became a desperate war of attrition, which expanded from the European battlefield to the world war, and the number of participating countries reached a staggering 33, covering five continents, affecting a quarter of the world's population, and almost all the countries you can name have thrown themselves into the war, whether active or passive. Countries mobilized 74 million people to the battlefield, 10 million killed and 5 million missing.

Two years before the War, the Allies led by Germany and the Allies led by Britain and France attacked and defended each other, each with victory and defeat, and on April 6, 1917, German submarines attacked American merchant ships, and the United States declared war on Germany under the pretext of declaring war on Germany. It is just that more than twenty years later, a certain country has never learned the lessons of history, and it is estimated that it is related to the habit of rewriting historical facts, forgetting the lessons of the past. After the outbreak of World War I, the United States has been selling weapons to the warring sides in the name of neutrality and making great gains in the war. After the twins were squeezed dry, the United States decided to intervene, and the strong productivity of the United States determined that it was only a matter of time before Germany was defeated.

On November 11, 1918, Germany was defeated and the Compiègne Armistice was signed, ending World War I. The victorious powers also began to negotiate German reparations. The venue for the meeting was finalized in Paris, France. On January 18, 1919, the peace agreement was officially opened in the famous Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, which is also the origin of the name of the famous Versailles Peace Treaty. A total of 27 countries participated in the peace conference, and Soviet Russia was not invited. There were more than 1,000 delegates from various countries, including 70 plenipotentiaries, but the actual person who manipulated the meeting was US President Thomas Woodrow, known as the Big Three. Wilson, British Prime Minister David, Lloyd. Georges, French Prime Minister Georges. Clemenceau. The conference, which advertises that it will establish permanent peace in the world, is in fact a conference to divide the spoils. The interests of Britain, France, and the United States are not the same, and each plays its own small calculation. The final treaty was the product of mutual compromise between the three countries. It doesn't have much to do with the other countries participating in the meeting, and it doesn't care what other countries have on this compensation. France wanted to severely punish and weaken Germany, because French territory bordered German territory, and most of the war was in France, france suffered heavy losses, extensive destruction of infrastructure, and about 5 million civilian casualties. Coupled with the feud between Germany and France, the french proposal has a strong sense of revenge. France's desire to gain control of German industry to compensate for its losses in the war also represented french public opinion. French Chancellor Clemenceau advocated punishing German militarism, including the public execution of The German Emperor so that Germany could no longer return to the pre-1914 political pattern, and France reclaimed Alsace and Lorraine, territories ceded to Germany during the Franco-Prussian War. The establishment of the Rhine Demilitarized Zone, and even a Rhine Republic between France and Germany, as a buffer state between the two countries. This is really scared. And Germany paid war reparations for France's losses during the war, reducing its military strength to a minimum. The victors divided Germany's overseas colonies. Of course, the so-called victorious countries basically refer to Britain, France, the United States and other brothers, and it is estimated that they have little to do with other countries. Because of these harsh conditions, Clemenceau earned the nickname Tiger. It is like a mouse in wartime, and a tiger after war.

Although British soldiers also suffered heavy losses in the war, and britain also wanted to severely punish Germany, British Prime Minister David. Lloyd's. George did not think so, he believed that the French proposition was too harsh, in line with the consistent policy of the world's churning stick, Europe should maintain a balanced environment, to avoid any one country dominant, this is mainly against France, if France's claim is satisfied, then it will become a superpower on the European continent, thus destroying the balance of European countries and affecting the long-term interests of Britain. In addition, George also feared that too harsh conditions would arouse Germany's sense of revenge, which was not conducive to long-term world peace. The point is that Germany was Britain's second-largest trading partner at the time, and excessively weakening Germany's economy also hurt Britain's economic interests. Generally speaking, Britain demanded the weakening of Germany's military power to the lowest level, the guarantee of British maritime hegemony, the division of Germany's overseas colonies, and war reparations to Germany, but not too much, to save Germany's revenge. And we must also help Germany rebuild its economy, so that we can make money later.

Compared with Britain and France, U.S. President Wilson was much more idealistic, and Wilson proposed the fourteen-point principle of peace long before the armistice. Its purpose is to maintain the balance of European countries, to ensure free trade, and to make money is the first principle, and nothing else matters, and to make as much profit as it can be. The United States did not lose much anyway. Of course, the main United States does not want to see a monopoly, let alone affect its own financial path. Wilson was even more enthusiastic about building the League of Nations, not to establish an International League to maintain the international order, but to see it as a fundamental plan to replace Britain and France as world hegemons. But Britain and France were not interested in this, and their top priority was how to divide Germany. In addition to Britain, France and the United States, italy and Japan are indispensable. At this time, they also came to the meeting with their own hegemonic ambitions and plans for plunder. Italy wanted to acquire the port of Fuum as a base for Italian expansion in the Balkans. Japan's main aim was to seize German leases in Shandong, China, and important islands in the Pacific to establish its superiority in East Asia, and Italy's claims were eventually rejected. Japan's demands were met, which provoked strong outrage among the Chinese, and the May Fourth Movement broke out, and China ultimately failed to sign the contract. In order to strive for their own best interests, the representatives of all parties repeatedly engaged in verbal battles, and finally after constant quarrels and compromises, they reached an agreement on the draft agreement. On June 28, 1919, Germany signed the treaty.

Although the French's extreme retaliation was partially opposed by Britain and the United States, the punishment for the defeated countries in the final adoption of the Treaty of Versailles was still quite severe. So much so that the Treaty of Versailles became an imperialist treaty for the sharing of spoils, which Lenin called a pact of bandits and predators, which stipulated that all German colonies would be divided among the major imperialist powers. It also redivided Germany, causing Germany to lose important industrial areas, one-eighth of its territory, one-tenth of its population, 65 percent of its iron ore and 45 percent of its coal mines, as well as most of its overseas investment merchant ships and warships. The contract also imposed strict restrictions on Germany's armament, with no more than 100,000 troops in the army and 15,000 in the navy, no capital ships and submarines, no air force, basically no heavy equipment, no aircraft, tanks, and heavy artillery. In addition, Germany had to pay huge war reparations. As the terms of the contract spread, anger and humiliation spread rapidly in Germany. The German National Assembly called on the government to refuse to accept the contract. Thousands of Germans rallied everywhere, angrily denouncing the Allies' plundering of Germany. However, Germany entered the First World War with the aim of robbing other people's colonies and competing for Hegemony in Europe, and as a result, due to defeat, it was forced into this step. It is conceivable that the Germans are completely unacceptable psychologically.

Due to strong popular opposition, the German government initially refused to accept the contract. The German Navy also protested by self-sinking ships. The result was useless, this kind of behavior directly angered the victorious powers such as Britain, France, the United States and Italy, and the victorious countries issued an ultimatum to Germany, warning Germany that if it did not agree to sign the contract again, it would re-enter the war against Germany, at this time the German army was no longer able to fight, and finally after a fierce political struggle within Germany, it was decided to sign the contract. World War I was officially over.

During world war I, the German people were indoctrinated with the idea that victory was inevitable, and until the last months of the war, the German people still believed that they would achieve the final victory. This led directly to the fact that most Germans could not accept defeat. It is even more impossible to accept such a harsh extortion agreement.

The terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which involved reparations, were the most punitive, and the peacemakers held Germany fully responsible for the war. Germany had to bear all the losses caused to the Allies, and the most embarrassing thing was that the Versailles Conference did not specify a specific compensation figure, but only said that a special compensation committee should be set up to finally determine the amount of compensation, which is a bit shameless, which is equivalent to asking Germany to sign a blank check, and others can fill in as much as they want. Of course, as everyone knows, when others are stronger than you, all those who shout protest are generally ignored, and Germany is no exception at this time.

In 1921, the Victorious Powers Compensation Commission, after unremitting efforts to make sure that it was all your fault, declared that the total bill of German reparations, 132 billion gold marks, would be paid within 66 years, and 2 billion gold marks must be repaid every year, and paid in gold, when this figure came out, the German side exploded, with the ability of Germany after the war at that time, in the next few years, even if the German people did not eat or drink, I am afraid that they would not be able to pay back so much money. Reality also confirms this speculation, after the German government tried its best to raise, only after paying 2 billion gold marks, Germany can no longer come up with a penny, coupled with the need to rebuild after the war, the families of the casualties of soldiers need to be compensated, Germany began to drag on no longer pay back, and began to print a large number of currency, and then a large number of printing and distributing tens of billions of marks, Germany's currency has depreciated into worthless waste paper, and finally forced the people into a Stone Age barter, at this time the German economy is on the verge of collapse, In the end, the United States intervened, lent Germany $200 million, and finally saved the German economy, otherwise the German economy did not know where it would go and fell into a financial crisis. Putting aside the ideas of the German people, the people on the victorious side were really overwhelmed, and there was a famous economist at that time, John. Maynard. Keynes believed that this astronomical reparations would directly destroy the economic life of Germany, Germany's imports have been far more than imports, and now Germany has lost all its colonies, shipping merchant ships, and lost 10% of its land and population, as well as 45% of the coal mines and 65% of the iron ore, 2 million men have become victims of war, the people have also suffered from four years of famine, and bear huge debts, the currency has also depreciated to one-seventh of the previous value, under the internal and external troubles, the blow to the German people is huge. Keynes accused the peacemakers of being hypocrites, ostensibly speaking of world peace, but in fact sowing the shadow of war for the future. Although Germany was forced to surrender, but it was not really destroyed, Germany was still a large country, with a population of 65 million at that time, while France had a population of only 40 million, and had great economic growth potential, which was comparable to that of the United States. The severe punishment of Germany by the victorious powers sowed the seeds of revenge for Germany. In the long run, Germany will never be willing to accept its own defeat, let alone tolerate the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles for a long time, French Marshal Fouchy commented afterwards, this is not peace, it is only a twenty-year truce.

After the Paris Peace Conference, the conflict of interests between the major powers was temporarily suppressed, and an international order was gradually formed under the Versailles system, and the new order played a certain role in adjusting the contradictions between the victorious powers, but its essence was still the use of force under the power, which failed to fundamentally resolve the contradictions between countries. It can be said that the end of the First World War sowed the seeds of the outbreak of the Second World War, and the location was at the Palace of Versailles in Paris. Seeds need external conditions such as air, water and soil, and the world economic crisis that broke out in 1929 provided the conditions for the outbreak of World War II, which was unprecedentedly serious in the history of capitalist development, the longest lasting crisis, from 1929 to 1933, in addition to the long time, there is also a wide area, almost the entire capitalist world is not spared. And extremely destructive, production fell by 44%, the number of unemployed reached more than 40 million, the unemployment rate in various countries reached an unprecedented 30%-50%, the total amount of international trade fell by 65.9%, causing material losses of as much as 250 billion US dollars, more than the losses of the First World War, 80 billion US dollars more, in order to pass on the domestic crisis, countries have taken tariff protection measures to prevent other countries' goods from entering the country, first the United States raised tariffs, and then the United Kingdom passed a series of bills to significantly increase tariffs. Other countries have also raised tariff barriers according to the gourd. International trade has thus reached an impasse. In the face of the economic crisis, all countries have proceeded from their own interests, all of them have adopted those economic measures that harm others and benefit themselves, completely disregarding the overall security of the world economy, and the means of trade wars in various countries are to use cheap commodities to dump other countries and abandon the gold standard in the financial field. Let the national currency depreciate rapidly, and the big brother who leads is the United Kingdom. Immediately after that, other little brothers followed suit. The international credit market was in chaos, and ordinary people were wailing. In this process, there has been a group confrontation with a certain country as the core, and countries with relatively close financial ties have formed a pair of opposing and closed currency groups such as the pound group, the dollar group, and the yen group, and finally formed a situation of confrontation between the group of countries. This economic crisis was of great help to the rise of fascism to power, Germany was hit very hard, at the peak of the crisis, Germany's industrial output fell by more than half, a large number of people, and at this time the ruling class transferred the crisis to the ordinary people, increased taxes, reduced wages and pensions, resulting in a rapid intensification of social contradictions, in this form, the influence of the fascist party expanded rapidly, and finally paved the way for Hitler to come to power.

Coupled with the fact that the US Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles in the end, it meant that the United States could not join the League of Nations, which greatly weakened the League of Nations' role in the world. At that time, the United States had already leapt to the top position in the world and had become the world's largest creditor country, but due to the long-standing isolationist trend in the United States, the US Congress negated the covenant after a long debate on the grounds that certain provisions of the League of Nations harmed the interests of the United States. The largest democracy at that time refused to shoulder international responsibilities, so that after the formation of the cradle of World War II in Europe in the 1930s, the United States did not join the ranks of preventing the outbreak of war, but only cared about its own development, and the League of Nations under the leadership of Britain and France was unable to impose effective sanctions on the countries that were the source of the war, but instead implemented a policy of appeasement favorable to Germany, which encouraged the Nazis to launch a war.

At that time, Japan was also affected by the economic crisis, which made the already turbulent political situation in Japan more and more chaotic. The economy has also deteriorated. Those who go out to escape the wilderness, sell their children and sell their daughters abound. Faced with a dilemma, the Japanese chaebols had the impulse to establish power, causing the forces with the army as the main force to take advantage of the opportunity to rise, take advantage of the Anglo-American economic crisis, China's civil unrest, and increase the pace of invasion of China. However, the covenant provisions of the League of Nations at that time also limited the role of the League of Nations and reflected the weakness of the League. The Covenant stipulates that the League of Nations must obtain the consent of all member states before it can implement collective security measures. In this way, every country has the right of veto. When countries signed the covenant, they promised to abide by it, but in practice they themselves could decide what sanctions to take and how to impose them, and they were not constrained by a higher authority. Britain and France were the main members of the League of Nations at that time, but because the covenant did not have the highest authority, it was generally based on their respective interests when sanctioning countries, and it was difficult to impose substantive sanctions. When Japan launched the September 18 Incident in 1931 to establish the puppet state of Manchukuo and split our country, our country informed the League of Nations of the matter, hoping that through the League of Nations it would prevent Japan from controlling the three eastern provinces. However, in 1932, due to their respective interests, Britain and France only did not recognize the puppet state of Manchukuo in the resolution adopted by the League of Nations, and did not impose corresponding sanctions on Japan.

Under the conflict and confrontation of the world economic and political environment, Hitler gradually stepped onto the German political stage, and his powerful incitement speeches, coupled with the humiliation and exploitation left by the German people for the Treaty of Versailles, led to the brutal Second World War.