Year Nine

nmg08

Some of the causes can said to be LONG TERM – they help to create the situation

These might include:

The Treaty of VersaillesSigned by the

Governments of Great Britain, France,Germany and the USA

April 1919

Loss ofland

Armed forcescut

War Guilt

The Great DepressionOctober 1929 The US Stock Exchange on Wall Street

crashes – shares worth millions are now worthless

Banks close – companies go bust and millions of

workers lose their jobs

As many countries rely on US trade it has a huge impact on their economies too!

The country most immediately hit and with the greatest impact is GERMANY who has been reliant on huge American loans – now the banks want their money back!

Germany & the Depression

A camp for the homeless in Berlin

A soup kitchen supplies food for the unemployed

As unemployment rises the German people turn to

I promise to destroy the

hated Treaty!

I will unite the German people

I will destroy the Trade

Union Movement

I will end the weak

democracy of the Republic

I promise Bread and Work to all Germans

The Failure of the LeagueWas set up to keep peace in the World – part of the Treaty of Versailles

Major blow was Japanese attack on China

Second blow was Italian invasion of Ethiopia

Remember both Japan and Italywere on the Security Council!

Appeasement

Hitler now began to challenge Versailles Treaty

1. German troops occupy the Rhineland

3. Hitler now claimed the Sudetenland

2. Union with Austria 1936

GB & France gave in to Hitler’s demands in the hope of avoiding war. This policy was known as ‘Appeasement’

Steps to War

During the Thirties the French opted for defence – the Maginot Line GB seemed

unable or unwilling to stop Hitler

Only Stalin’s Russia offered any hope of resistance!

Newsflash: August1939 + Russia signs agreement with Germany+

September 1939

Using ‘blitzkrieg’ tactics German forces invade Poland from the West while Russian forces invade from the East.

Britain and France call on Germany to withdraw – war is declared