Historical Causes of WWII

            Historians are quoted as saying that although World War I was not inevitable; World War II was due to the unresolved tension between nations. Countries stopped trusting one another only sharpening existing rivalries. World War II officially began in September of 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following its direct violation of the Munich Pact by invading Poland. While the outbreak of war was triggered by Germany's invasion of Poland, the causes of the world war are much more complicated. Due to unresolved anger with the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of dictatorship in Europe, and United States isolation countries around the world took part in history's bloodiest and most widespread war, World War II.
             The 1919 Treaty of Versailles was one of six treaties that ended World War I. Of the six treaties, the Treaty of Versailles was by far the most prominent. It was written by the Allied powers, including Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, and Germany. The treaty was signed and ratified by every country involved with the exception of the United States. The Treaty of Versailles did the most damage to Germany leaving them with unresolved anger toward other countries. As part of the treaty, Germany lost much of their European territory. In the west, Germany returned Alsace-Lorraine to France, after occupying it for 40 years. Belgium received both Eupen and Malmedy. Denmark received Northern Schleswig. In the east, Poland received parts of West Prussia and Silesia. Finally, Czechoslovakia received the Hultschin district from Germany; and Memel, a small territory in East Prussia along the Baltic Sea, was ultimately given to the Lithuanians.1 In addition to the loss of land, reparations had to be paid to the Allies by Germany. The reparations completely destroyed the German economy and caused the whole country to fall into a severe depression. Wages were cut from nearly every worker and thousand were left unemployed.