Between the years of 1919 and 1939 the situation in Europe changed dramatically from the peace treaty at the end of the First World War to the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939. The change escalated with the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and its leader Adolf Hitler. This essay will examine whether Hitler was solely to blame for the outbreak of war in Europe. The essay will examine each situation that arose between Hitler's rise to power and the outbreak of war, analysing it and giving evidence for the argument that Hitler bore sole responsibility and the evidence against that view.
Two key issues, which Hitler presented in his book 'Mein Kampf' (My Struggle), were those of 'Lebenstruam' (Living Space) and his desire for a European war. Hitler made no secret of his views in his book, which he wrote while in jail in the 1920's. It could be argued that with this publication Hitler made his views and plans perfectly clear. If this is so it just highlights the stupidity of the allies' policy of appeasement as Hitler had already declared that wanted war. The issue of Lebenstruam could be argued against with the view that Hitler only wanted to re-establish German rule over German speaking areas which had been taken from them at the treaty of Versailles.
It could be argued that Hitler broke key treaties such as the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Locarno in a number of ways. He rearmed Germany to the point where his neighbours, particularly France, felt threatened. The counter argument for this point is that Germany had the smallest army in Europe as she had been forced to disarm but the other European powers had never disarmed after the First World War. Also Great Britain had encouraged Hitler to rearm with the Anglo-German naval agreement. Hitler was not the first German leader to rearm the country but he was the first to announce publicly that he was doing so. Other German leaders had continued to develop weapons in Russia after the signing of the Rapallo Treaty between Russia and Germany.
