World War II - Lead-up to the War

The Consequences of World War I

• The armistice of November 11, 1918, which ended the fighting of World War I, deeply marked the world. The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 imposed heavy reparations on Germany, restricting its army and territorial integrity. The treaty was seen as humiliating, fueling resentment in Germany and playing a key role in the rise of Nazism.
• In Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires led to the creation of new states, redefining the geopolitical map. These new borders, often drawn without regard to ethnic realities, sparked tensions, particularly in the Balkans.

Economic and Social Crises

• The 1920s, known as the Roaring Twenties, were a period of prosperity and cultural effervescence, particularly in the United States and Western Europe. However, this prosperity was fragile and collapsed in 1929 with the Wall Street stock market crash, triggering the Great Depression. This global economic crisis increased poverty, unemployment, and political instability, contributing to the radicalization of populations.
• The Great Depression weakened liberal democracies, leading to a rise in extremist movements, both on the right with fascism and nazism, and on the left with communism. The inability of governments to restore economic stability favored the emergence of authoritarian regimes.

The Rise of Totalitarian Regimes

• Italy was the first country to shift to a fascist regime. Under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, Italy established a dictatorship in 1922, characterized by aggressive nationalism and total control of society. Inspired by this model, Adolf Hitler took power in Germany in 1933, after years of instability under the Weimar Republic.
• The Nazi regime promoted the idea of "living space" (Lebensraum) and Aryan supremacy, imposing an expansionist policy that led to the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union, under Joseph Stalin, radicalized with massive political purges and harsh repression of opponents. Japan also pursued an expansionist policy in Asia, invading Manchuria in 1931 and aligning itself with Nazi Germany.

Growing Geopolitical Tensions

• The 1930s were marked by a series of international tensions that paved the way for World War II. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations failed to prevent the emergence of conflicts. Germany, in violation of the Versailles Treaty, initiated massive rearmament and remilitarized the Rhineland in 1936.
• Appeasement policies, particularly those of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, attempted to avoid war by accepting some of Germany’s territorial demands, such as the Munich Agreement of 1938, which allowed the annexation of the Sudetenland by Hitler. However, this strategy failed, as Germany continued to expand, annexing Czechoslovakia in 1939.

The Path to World War II

• Despite efforts to maintain peace, Europe inexorably slid toward a new conflict. In August 1939, Germany signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which sealed the partition of Poland between the two powers.
• On September 1, 1939, the invasion of Poland by Germany officially triggered World War II, with the Allies (France and the United Kingdom) declaring war on Germany two days later.

Conclusion

The interwar period was a time of major transformations, where economic crises and political instabilities led to the emergence of authoritarian regimes and the radicalization of societies. Despite attempts to maintain peace, accumulated tensions and the expansionist ambitions of totalitarian powers plunged the world into a second global conflict. This period illustrates how the consequences of World War I were decisive in understanding the evolution of the 20th century.