World War II was set off by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, in which Germany was forced to comply with a set of very strict terms which were intended to prevent the event of another war. Obviously, this backfired spectacularly; this much can be seen from the very fact that the Second World War did indeed happen. These terms caused national outrage, as Germany’s pride as a country had suffered greatly. One individual who sought to restore the nation back to its former glory had been Hitler, who, once he had gained political control of Germany, began to break various terms set by the Treaty. This included quietly remilitarising the Rhineland, bringing back conscription, annexing Austria and other actions not listed. Another cause for the
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All of this then led to the event of the Second World War, occurring a disturbingly short length of time after the conclusion of the first.
The terms set by the Treaty of Versailles included total demilitarisation of Germany, the prohibition of Germany becoming unified with Austria, the removal of the German air force, the forced surrender of all external German territories, the massive cut to the size of their army, the forced abolishment of conscription and a reduction in size of the police force, among other restrictions not listed. Germany was also required to pay reparations for the war (thus covering the costs of the damage wrought by the events of the First World War), totalling the modern equivalent of thirty-three billion US dollars. The sheer size of this figure was so great that it took the country almost 100 years to pay – the …show more content…
It appeared, to itself, that the country was at risk of overpopulation due to its smaller borders as enforced by the Treaty, and therefore needed to gain more territory in order to prevent this eventuality. However, plans were also made for expansion without acquiring new territory – this would be done by eradicating the classes and races considered to be inferior, allowing the upper class and Aryan so-called “master race” to occupy the space freed up by this action. The acquisition of living space through the act of war was seen as a “biological necessity”, and was then carried out in several places. Germany chose to occupy and then colonise southwest Africa, an action which was then followed by mass genocide against the local inhabitants. It was also planned that part of Poland would be annexed, with the intent of building a defensive space with which to block inbound attacks. The concept of lebensraum was not new at this time – it had been well known even before the 20th century. Hitler, however, had made it more prominent and set it as a goal to be achieved through war. It appears that he had also planned to attempt to claim Russia – which, of course, would have enormous agricultural value due to its sheer size. It seemed an absurd goal, as Russia’s size would
All of this then led to the event of the Second World War, occurring a disturbingly short length of time after the conclusion of the first.
The terms set by the Treaty of Versailles included total demilitarisation of Germany, the prohibition of Germany becoming unified with Austria, the removal of the German air force, the forced surrender of all external German territories, the massive cut to the size of their army, the forced abolishment of conscription and a reduction in size of the police force, among other restrictions not listed. Germany was also required to pay reparations for the war (thus covering the costs of the damage wrought by the events of the First World War), totalling the modern equivalent of thirty-three billion US dollars. The sheer size of this figure was so great that it took the country almost 100 years to pay – the …show more content…
It appeared, to itself, that the country was at risk of overpopulation due to its smaller borders as enforced by the Treaty, and therefore needed to gain more territory in order to prevent this eventuality. However, plans were also made for expansion without acquiring new territory – this would be done by eradicating the classes and races considered to be inferior, allowing the upper class and Aryan so-called “master race” to occupy the space freed up by this action. The acquisition of living space through the act of war was seen as a “biological necessity”, and was then carried out in several places. Germany chose to occupy and then colonise southwest Africa, an action which was then followed by mass genocide against the local inhabitants. It was also planned that part of Poland would be annexed, with the intent of building a defensive space with which to block inbound attacks. The concept of lebensraum was not new at this time – it had been well known even before the 20th century. Hitler, however, had made it more prominent and set it as a goal to be achieved through war. It appears that he had also planned to attempt to claim Russia – which, of course, would have enormous agricultural value due to its sheer size. It seemed an absurd goal, as Russia’s size would