Causes of World War II

There are many causes of the war and some of them go back to the end of the First World War. The end of World War I and the peace that followed in 1919 changed the face of Europe and the borders of countries completely. New nations emerged. The countries that lost the war, especially Germany and Austria had to give up a lot of land. They also had to pay money to other countries for the damages that happened during the war.

Economic problems

After the war many countries were in debt. The losers had problems paying reparations and the winners borrowed a lot of money from the United States which they could not pay back. Inflation in many countries left people without any savings. In the 1930s the Great Depression, starting out in the USA, spread to Europe and stopped the continent's recovery. Millions of people were out of work and poverty rose.

Political movements

The problems after the war made the governments in many countries weaker and weaker. Two movements became more and more powerful: Communism, known as the Left, called for a revolution of the working class. Fascism, known as the Right, wanted a strong national government

The Axis and Allied Powers

Two groups of nations fought against each other during the Second World War.

During the 1930s Germany, Italy and Japan led a group of nations called the Axis. The leaders of these countries were dictators. They wanted their own countries to grow and others to become weaker. In the years before the beginning of World War II all three Axis powers had strengthened and modernized their armies.

In the 1930s the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany. In 1933 the party's leader Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor and became known as der Führer. He promised to take revenge on the countries that had defeated Germany in the First World War and make Germany the most powerful country in the world. He also claimed that only Germans were the true race and wanted to get rid of Jews, Communists and other weaker people.

In Italy Benito Mussolini, known as the Il Duce, became the leader of the Fascist Party, which gained many supporters. He promised to bring law and order to the country and help solve its economic problems.

The Axis Powers invaded other countries and expanded their territory. At the beginning of the 1930s Japan invaded Manchuria because it had a lot of raw materials. In 1938 it attacked China and later on expanded to Southeast Asia. In 1935 Italy took over Ethiopia. Germany started its conquest of foreign territories by invading Austria. Italy and Germany also sent soldiers to help another dictator, Francisco Franco, in the Spanish Civil War.

The Allies were made up of a total of 50 countries. They were led by Great Britain, the Soviet Union, France, China and the United States and opposed the Axis.

The beginning of the war

On September 30, 1938 Great Britain, France and Germany signed the Munich Agreement. It gave Germany the right to take over the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia. The two Allies hoped it would satisfy Hitler and keep them out of the war. The agreement, however, was broken and Hitler not only invaded the Sudetenland but took over all of Czechoslovakia.

It was clear that Poland, on Germany's eastern border, would be the next target. Great Britain and France promised to help Poland if it were attacked. In August 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union signed a "non-aggression pact", in which they promised not to attack each other. Germany did this so that it would not have to fight on two fronts.

On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and World War II had begun.

World War II - Table of Contents

Online Exercises

Downloadable PDF Text- and Worksheets

Words

agreement = when two people, groups or countries promise to do something
Allies = the countries that fought against Germany in the Second World War
appoint = to choose someone for apposition or job
Axis = the countries who fought against the Allies in World War II
border = the line that separates two or more countries
call for = here: want to have
cause = reason
chancellor = the leader of a government in some countries
Civil War =a war in which groups of the same country fight against each other
claim = declare , to say in public
conquest = take-over ; to take control of a region by fighting
damage =the harm that you do to something or someone
defeat = to win against
economic =everything connected with business and the economy; the buying and selling of goods
emerge =come up
especially =above all
expand = grow
foreign = from another country
gain = get
get rid of = lowered
government = the group of people who rule a country
Great Depression = period after the stock market crash of 1929 ; the time before the Second World War in which millions of people all over the world were out of work and many were poor
in debt = when you owe someone money
inflation = when prices go up and the value of money goes down
invade = to take control of a country by sending an army into it
law and order = situation in which people respect the law and follow the rules of a country
Manchuria = part of China
modernize = to make more modern
movement = group of people who believe the same things and have the same ideas
Nazi = short word for National Socialist
oppose = to be against
peace = opposite of "war"
poverty =the situation of being poor
race = group of people who have the same skin color
recovery = to get better
reparation = money which a country that loses a war has to pay for all the deaths and damages that it was caused
rise -rose = go up, grow
satisfy = to please, make happy
savings = all the money that you have saved
sign = to write your name on a document
solve =work out, find an answer to a problem
spread = to go to
strengthen = to make stronger
supporter = people who follow a leader and his group
take over =to take control of
take revenge = something you do to punish someone who has hurt you
target = object of attack

English Online

Articles in Easy Understandable English for Learners