What economic factors after World War I do you think might impact the beginning of World War II?
139891
I like the first answer!\n\nHowever, I'll give in and give a bit more information.\n\nLook at Germany after WWI.  They were devastated, morally and economically.  They were supposed to pay gigantic reparations which realistically they could never pay.  Thus, they fell into a huge depression and were quite vulnerable to anyone who promised to "save" them.  A little wimpy untalented artist named hitler used incredible propaganda to bolster himself and his disgusting ideas.
83816
Well, to work backwards, then forwards: The men who owned the military equipment factories and other factories, wanted to take over the world's markets.  The American businessmen and the German businessmen wanted to conquer the world, but the Germans got greedy and wanted it all, so we split.  This is what caused the war with Germany and America.  Japan was allied with Germany, as was Italy and Mussolini wanted colonies in Africa, as did Germany.  The United States put an oil blockade around Japan, which in Napoleon's time was considered an informal declaration of war, so Japan bombed Pearl Harbon on December 7th, 1941.  \n Before that, General Motors made Tanks for the Germans and engines for one of their fighter bombers, (the JU-88, I think).  Germany had a Steel Empire called KRUPP steel.\n  This steel company financed Hitler and later used slave labor in the war. Krupp steel also built steel mills in Japan, which were used to make Japanese weapons, guns, cannons and aircraft carriers.  After the war, that steel company was called Mitsubishi steel, which now makes automobiles.  Krupp steel was divided up into 68 companies after the war.  \n  World War I was also financed by Krupp steel, which made a lot of money selling guns and cannons to the government.\nIt involved Trench Warfare, and almost became a stalemate, since until the Tank was invented, there was no way to go across No Man's Land to attack the enemy with enough force to destroy him. \n  By the way, in 1916, an epidemic of flu broke out which later became the Pneumonia Pandemic of 1918, which killed millions of people and is supposed to come back any year now, (but Bird Flu has taken the spotlight in the news.)  But the bad weather and unsanitary and unhealthy conditions in the trenches gave the soldiers this sickness in WW1.\n  For the causes of World War I and World War II, we have to go back a long time.  The land called Alsace-Lorraine, in France now, has/and had iron ore and coal.  During the Black Plague a lot of people left this area and a man named Krupp bought up 243 deeds.  About two hundred years later, one of his descendents started making iron, and later, an heir wanted to make steel, and learned how to do that.\n  With this steel he first made spoons, but they were too small for him to sell in Austria.  He later started making gun barrels, and made a lot of money selling gun barrels.\n  At that time cannons were made out of brass, and brass cannons start to melt when they are fired too much.  The land where the steel was made was in what used to be called Prussia, which had a king named Frederick the Great, who was a Despot.  A despot is an isolated, individual will who is unchallenged.  Frederick the Great was considered educated, or Enlightened.  Other examples of a despot are Catherine the Great of Russia, and Louis XIV of France, Hitler, Stalin, and Franco.  Also, Henry VIII could be called a despot.  Anyone that says The State is Me, or I am the Law, who can have your head cut off if you disobey them, is a despot.  In a democracy we can challenge despots because we have the Bill of Rights, which allows freedom of assembly, and of speech, and of belief, etc.\n  Also, we have three branches of governement, so each branch checks the other to keep it from becoming despotical.\n Otherwise the President would be a despot.  But the people must maintain eternal vigilance to preserve their Liberty.\n  And other people do not have our system of government.\n France lost Alsace-Lorraine to the Prussians in 1871.  France got the land back after WWI, at Versailles.  The Germans took it over from the French when it invaded France after it invaded Poland, Austria, and cut Czechoslovakia in half.  If France had resisted with 3 divisions it could have stopped the german advance.  If the german tanks had not stopped to call Berlin for directions, they could have gone all the way to the Atlantic the first few days without any resistance.  The german c
1141060
It's obvious that you are not a "historian" by any stretch of the imagination.  To be truthful with you, WW II started on 11/11/1918.  The treaty of Versailles was not inforced by the "League of Nations" as it should have been.  The "Great Depression" which began in 1929 devastated the world's economy.  With this having been said, Hitler was a very charasmetic person who played on the German people's fears and their anger.  \n\nGermany began by annexing Austria as well as other Germanic counties that were broken up due to the Treaty of Versailles.  His emphasis of German "nationalism" united the former empire, thus creating the "Third Reich".  Poland was annexed (by invasion) in September of 1939 and this was the "last straw" for England.  France was invaded  in 1940 and quickly fell.  \n\nThere was no one left to stand against Germany (Hitler) but England.  Hitler then began his "blitzkreig" against England. \n\nThe U.S. entered WW II on December 7, 1941 due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the destruction of our Pacific fleet.  \n\nI could go on and on but, I don't think that this forum could handle much more information.  May I suggest that you read some books on WW I as well as WW II and you will see for yourself the political events that lead up to the beginning of WW II.  And of course you will find out that most of Hitler's conquests were to gather the raw materials that would have enabled him to conquor the entire world.  \n\n"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it".  This is why we (U.S.) must oppose tyrinical governments such as Iraq and the terrorism that he (and others like him) would like to inflict upon The United States of America.  Read, read and read some more.
28818
After WWI the victors forced Germany to pay reparations from the war. This forced Germany into a huge defecit and resulted in the rising of Hitler. After WWII many learned the lesson from WWI and determined that we should provide assistance to the countries most devastated by the war, one being Japan. America and other countries provided money and instituted a democracy in Japan. The people of Japan were able to take advantage of this and rise to become the nation they are today.
1133876
This question is best considered separately for Japan and for Germany.\n\n1. Japan, which was historically a militaristic society, wished to develop economically to a status similar to that of the Western powers. However, as an island state Japan has very few natural resources. It is notably lacking in oil, but more generally it has to import raw materials such as metallic ores. Therefore Japan wished to conquer territory in South East Asia to control resources. This initailly brought Japan into conflict with China, an ancient enemy, and then Dutch, English and American possesions in the Far East.\n\n 2. The war in Europe resulted from  Germany's agressive actions. In part it had economic causes: Germany had punitive financial conditions imposed upon it by the Versilles Treaty which end the First World War in 1919. France in particular pressed for these conditions, but the Treaty was the joint responsibility of all the allied powers. The main ones, which formed a sort of inner cabinet that actually agreed the Treaty, were the United States, France, United KIngdom and Italy: there were also various minor players such as Greece. The consequences of the Versailles Treaty were made worse by international economic decisions that resulted in massive unemployment in the developed world continuously between 1919 and 1939. Hitler was the only leader to address this, by expanding his arms industries, but this led to War becuase the output was geared to foreign agression and because without War Germany's credit would have run out. Another problem which encouraged war was that the First World War was not fought on German soil, but French, and a myth developed in Germany as a result that their country had been treated as the loser when they had not really been defeated.\n   The above describes the causes of the Second World War in general terms,  but at another level Hitler was hugely responsible as an individual. He whipped up military feeling and hostility towards foreign nations and races as a means, in the early days of his rule, of courting political popularlity.\n    Technically, England and France declared war on Germany in 1939 over the invasion of Poland. It is arguable that more competent politicans between the wars in these two countries would have stopped Hitler without a major War, e.g. by calling Hitler's bluff when he entered the Rhineland in 1936.\n\nCulpability for the Second World War in Europe is now really a historical question. The countries and people today who threaten world peace are quite different from  those whose evils caused the Second World War. \n  .
115581
here is a link that will help u http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_I
6230
Like any other nation, a war is costly and, during teh war, production is high and productivity is better than it was before. After the war, there is less need for production (since artillery and war materials are not as necessary). The veterans from the war also come back to the workforce, and the backlash would result in unemployment, whether it be for the veterans or the current workers. Also, due to the German air raids over britain, the cost for reconstruction would hinder other areas of productivity that would boost teh economy. The lack of demand over luxury goods, since people need money to buy other things like food, would lessen still since the people may fear losing their jobs. The overall world economy after world war I was devastating, not only in Great Britain.
636465
These would be hard to get as it would probably be very hard to identify a specific effect of the war in Iraq on our economy.  The war is simply too small and our economy too large.
609113
Wow, that's an indepth question to ask.\n\nFor starters, World War I completely reshaped the map of Europe and parts of the Near and Middle East.  The Austrio-Hungarian Empire was divided into Czechoslovakia, Hngary, Yugoslavia, and Austria; parts were also given over to Romania and to Italy.  The Ottoman Empire was divided into British and French Mandates, forming Iraq, Palestine, and Jordan for the British and Syria and Lebanon for the French, as well as the independant state of Turkey.  The Russian Empire was separated into Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.  The German (Prussian) Empire was divided as well, with part of their territories going to create the Polish Corridor, giving Poland access to the North Sea, an allotment was also made to Czechoslovakia, Blegium, and, of course, the German independant state.\n\nSome of the statistical information concerning World War I is as follows:\n\n-10 million soldiers dead\n-6.6 million civilians dead\n-21 million wounded\n-8 million MIA (Missing In Action) or POW (Prisoners of War)\n-Cost of War appx. $180 billion\n-Other Costs in Relation ~ $150 billion\n\nThere was also a mass movement of displaced people as their homes were utterly destroyed in the wake of the war.\n\nIn terms of politics, the ultimate loss of Russian troops allowed for the successful usurpation of the government by the Communist party.  Since Europe's economy was trashed, the United States became the dominant power in the world financially and wound up being the largest lending agent for the restoration of Europe.  France, bitter at their ultimate defeat, wanted Germany to be punished for its role in the war, which successfully undermined Woodrow Wilson's attempts to settle the Versailles treaty without instilling a sense of anger in the Germans unsuccessful.  Germany was forbidden to have a standing military, and felt betrayed by its high command (Jews, Liberals, Socialists), and combined with the effects of high unemployment created a perfect breeding ground for Hitler and the Nazi party to emerge later.  Italy did not get all that it asked for -- a mutilated victory -- which opened the door for Facism and Musilini.  Britain, with the creation of the Mandates in the Middle East, made a grab for the oil industry.  The Bourgeoisie class was elevated, which mostly eliminated the power of the Aristocracy, which, combined with a deteriorated economy, weakened the strength of Imperial Colonialism and set the stage for the dismantling colonial states held by European states all over the world.\n\nThe full repercussions of World War I would not be felt until World War II with the rise of Nazi Germany and Facist Italy.  The end of the war left countless dead and/or missing and/or displaced, German divided between western powers and those of Russia, who had taken over most of the countries that would later become the USSR.  This set the stage for the Cold War, which would last until the early ninties after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The Holocaust left over six million Jews dead and the remainder displaced.  As a result, many Jews migrated to Palestine, which soon after became Isreal, a nation backed by the west and resented by Muslims everywhere, thus creating tensions between the Middle East and the Western nations.  The advent of the first atomic bomb would also set off a long series of discussions on the US's use of nuclear technology against Japan.  The United Nations also formed as a result of World War II; their first conferences were held in San Francisco (mostly so the NSA could tap the other delegates' phone lines and listen in on other conversations being held).  The Cold War resulted in the Arms Race, and the decision of the US government to simply out-spend the Russians and drive their economy into the ground, slowly deteriorating the basis for their system of government.  Really, we have not seen all the final effects of World War II, though some of the major politica
138731
I think you should look to Germany right after World War II.
4150
Most definitely. As the leader of the United States during arguably the most difficult time of our history, he pushed Congress to pass emergency bills and reform measures that helped improve the economic situation in the eyes of the public. Though many historians say the beginning of World War II ended the Depression, I think that if it weren't for FDR's leadership, American morale would have fell too far to possibly recover economically.
175023
1) The US government, despite its pledge of neutrality, extended a large amount of credit to Great Britain starting in 1940; the British used it to buy everything from guns and ammunition to merchant ships.  US merchant ships carried cargo to England before we were involved in the war (US merchant ships were also supplying Nazi Germany, but on a much smaller scale).  President Roosevelt persuaded Congress to approve the "Lend-Lease" program, in which we gave Britain about 100 old US Navy destroyers in exchange for leases on British territory in the Western Hemisphere.\n\n2) Hitler marched his troops into the Rhine, the Sudetenland, the rest of Czechoslovakia, and Austria over the protests of Britain, France, and the US.  On Sept. 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, thereby starting WW2 in Europe.  The Poles fought valiantly against Hitler's forces; when they took refuge behind the Vistula River, and it seemed they could hold on until the arrival of the British and French, Stalin entered the war and invaded Poland from the east.  About 2 weeks later it was all over for the Poles.\nStalin also invaded Finland on the flimsy pretext of protecting his northern frontier.  The Finns, although outnumbered and outgunned, held off the Soviets for several months.\nJapan annexed Korea in 1910.  The militarists of Japan also invaded Manchuria (China) in 1933, trying to create what they called the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."  In their delirious minds, they thought that Asia would thrive if all of it was under their rule.  The rest of Asia disagreed.  Japanese brutality in Manchuria caused the US to enact a trade embargo against Japan.  The Japanese used the embargo as an excuse for the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, thereby precipitating America's entry into WW2.\n\n3) WW2 is thought of as "the good war" because in modern times, the difference between dictatorship and freedom was never so stark.  On one side were the Axis powers, odious dictatorships all, engaging in sneak attacks, breaking every treaty they signed, and trampling on the freedoms of the sovereign nations they invaded (not to mention those of their own people).  Arrayed against them were the Allies, consisting (mostly) of the democratically-run, freedom-loving nations of the world.  Hitler and Tojo thought that "Deutschland über Alles" and "Dai Nippon" would rule the world through their "Übermensch" and "Bushido" warriors.  But both of them underestimated the fury of aroused democracies.  To paraphrase Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack: "I fear that all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."  He was right.\nThe Soviets' entry on the Allied side of the war complicated the moral equation a bit.  They had a history of engineering mass repression, purges, and widespread starvation against their own people ever since the Bolshevik triumph in the Russian Revolution of 1918.  Stalin was quite happy to help Hitler carve up eastern Europe when it suited his purposes.  And the Soviets, despite warnings that the Nazis were preparing to invade Russia, supplied the Nazis with much-needed food and fuel right up to the day of the Nazi invasion in 1940.
74941
Ahh. Finally an intelligent, meaningful, properly spelled and punctuated question.\n\nIn my educated opinion:\n\n1) Because of the way the German people were treated after World War I came to an end. The Americans, French, and English foolishly did not offer any aid to the Germans, but instead allowed the economic conditions in Germany to deterioriate. After WWI, Germany experienced a hyperinflation that, in practical terms, meant that the average person's standard of living got worse every month. People were quite unhappy, and Hitler exploited this unhappiness by pointing to a scapegoat: the Jews. (Please note that the opposite happened after World War II because of the Marshall Plan.)\n\n2) Because of a continuing and underlying hatred of Jewish people, not only in Germany, but across Europe. In my opinion, this hatred was not only tolerated, but to some extent encouraged, by the Catholic church. It goes back to the ridiculous idea that Jesus Christ was killed by Jews. When Hitler offered up the Jews as scapegoats, many Germans agreed with the concept.\n\n3) The unquestioning loyalty to goverment and country of the German people, and the unwillingness of good people to speak out before it was too late. See below.\n\n4) Hitler's brilliance as a motivator and public speaker.\n\n5) The average person's well-founded fear of Hitler's government.\n\nHere is a famous quotation from Martin Niemoller:\nFirst they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—\nbecause I was not a communist;\nThen they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—\nbecause I was not a socialist;\nThen they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—\nbecause I was not a trade unionist;\nThen they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—\nbecause I was not a Jew;\nThen they came for me—\nand there was no one left to speak out.\n\nTHANK YOU for asking this question.
619392
Historically, bad economic times brings out the very worst in people. World War-II began after a very lengthy economic depression and hunger brought tyrants to power.\n\nThe coming commodities crunch - record prices for oil, copper, other important stuff; prices doubling for gold, silver, platinum - along with a Social Security System which now promises retirees NOTHING, is as good a harbinger as any of global war within very few years. That, plus dozens of nuclear-armed countries and terrorist groups.
446480
hi the politial reason for world war to was that germany was getting deapeper and deaper into dept because of the money it had to pay back to england and france because of the first world war. when the plan falied in the usa to get germany right again because of the stock market crash the germans blamed the jews and saw the answer in expantion. this is what hitler called lebons ral or living space. he invaded a few countries but no on cared untill belgium a small country needed to be crossed through to take tettories in france back that were german untill the end of world war 1 when france took them. so when belgium said no to german troops crossing there lines germany invaded anyway and as a result ww2 started. \nsorry about spelling t
385121
Japan invaded China in 1936 some say that was the start of World War Two.  The war in Europe started when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and France and England declared war on Germany.\n\nThe cause of the 2nd World War was the treaty that ended the first world war.
644185
The fact that all the US carriers were out of Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked greatly influenced the outcome of the war.\nThe US winning the Battle of Midway.\nThe dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.