Why should Hitler be the one to be blamed for incurring World War 2 when there are other factors that led to it as well? Before we can condemn Hitler for the onset of World War 2, we should also consider the circumstances that caused World War 2. Before World War 2 started, there was World War 1 which was then followed up and dealt with by the Treaty of Versailles (TOV). I would like to propose that the Treaty of Versailles was the spark for World War 2. The rationale is that in the treaty, the Germans had to pay heavy reparations to the Allies. This created strong feelings of resentment in the German people against the Allies. This situation was further worsened when the Germans were struck by poverty, and France decided to take over the Ruhr. It would not be strange for the Germans to strike back at the Allies as they were humiliated to such an extent. In addition, the state of the country made the Germans disregard peaceful polices as they were induced with bloodlust due to the unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, they preferred to listen to extreme ideas from the communist party or from the Nazis which Hitler led. These factors are the ones that encouraged Hitler’s boldness and aggressiveness. Nevertheless, the actions of Hitler can be considered a consequence/result of the weaknesses of the LON as well as the failure of disarmament. The major powers that drove the LON, Britain and France had refused to intervene despite the fact that they knew Hitler had crossed the line by breaking the terms of TOV one after another. Let us consider this, before we had looked at the weaknesses of the LON, let’s look at its credibility. With its close relations to the TOV, it severely affected its credibility, as many Germans abhorred it and wanted it abolished due to the severe terms they had to abide by. And also, the LON was considered weak as its major powers were also harshly affected by the war and focused more on running their country then the LON. Also, these powers also refused to disarm as they did not want to risk invasion. Disarmament policies failed. This gave Hitler an opportunity to leave the LON and pursue his expansionist policies. Also, if we were to consider a possibility, that Hitler was stopped by Britain and France before he could build up Germany’s military capabilities would World War 2 occur? Probably not, and even if it did, it would not have such an adverse effect on the world, and perhaps Germany could’ve even been stopped by Britain and France. Britain and France’s refusal to intervene due to a policy of appeasement act which then convinced Hitler that they would not try to stop him. They should have gotten warning signals when Hitler announced his remilitarization programme to the world in March 1935. Hitler then proceeded to remilitarize Rhineland. It was clear the Hitler had already went against the treaty and should be punished. Yet, Hitler was not stopped when he mobilized troops to take over Rhineland. Since Hitler was allowed to continue with his ambitions, it contributed and encouraged him to be more aggressive with his demands as he started to want more for Germany, which was where his expansionist policy came about. Furthermore, when Hitler made Germany join with Austria and Czechoslovakia, Britain and France still kept to their policy of appeasement. If either Britain or France had attacked Germany for violating the conditions enacted by the treaty, Hitler would probably not have dared to be so bold. However, both countries had failed to stop Germany from expanding. This made Hitler audacious, which started World War 2.Also, if the major powers in LON had disarmed to attain peace, predicaments might’ve been different as Hitler would’ve been unable to withdraw from the disarmament conference and be able to increase military capabilities to ‘protect’ his country. Hitler’s expansionist policy is significant as it did cause Hitler to be more demanding and aggressive. Yet, if the TOV and LON had no weaknesses/flaws, and all powers had a general consensus, World War 2 probably would not have occurred. Hence, from this, I believe that Hitler’s expansionist policy is merely 1 factor that aroused from these others that led to World War 2.

~Kelly and Regan