Option 1 – Essay Structure

The Second World War had lasted from 1939-1945 which was the largest international
event ever. It was a major turning point in history as it had long-lasting impacts on many
countries, citizens, and parliamentary systems. Some of the main causes had helped Hitler
rise into power and take over the role of chancellor, which later allowed him to try and take
over many countries. There were numerous causes, such as the establishment of the treaty
of Versailles, the wall street crash resulting in the Great Depression, the rise of the Nazi
Party and German Expansionism.

The Great War (1914-1918) had devastating effects on many different countries, affecting
their economy and their citizen's health. Arguably, the Treaty of Versailles was the main
cause of the outbreak of World War II. The Treaty was established to discuss who was to
blame for the Great War. The German contribution to the Treaty was minimal, as most of
the contributions to the Treaty were coming from the Big 3, USA (Woodrow Wilson), the
U.K. (David Lloyd George) and France (George Clemenceau). They had forced Germany to
sign the Treaty, or the war would restart, which Germany could not afford to do. On the
28th of June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, blaming Germany for the Great War.
Germany was required to pay reparations of around 132 billion gold marks, reduce the size
of their army to 100,000 men, forbidden to have an air force, allowed to have only six
battleships, de-militarise the Rhineland, and give away her territories such as
Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Alsace-Loraine. But arguably, the most consequential clause of
the Treaty was Article 231, blaming Germany for the entirety of the Great War, and they
must accept full responsibility. Germans bitterly criticised the decisions made by the
Weimar Republic, bringing them humiliation and betrayal. The humiliation and feeling of
betrayal later helped the Nazi Party come into power, using the Treaty of Versailles as
leverage to get into power. The Nazi Party blamed the Weimar Republic, calling them
cowards and saying that the government had disgraced their country. Many who were
disliking the effects the Treaty of Versailles had on them had agreed with Hitler which later
led to many citizens joining him and the Nazi Party. Therefore, arguably one of the most
significant causes of World War II was the Treaty of Versailles, resulting in many Germans’
distrusts in the Weimar Republic and feeling betrayed.

The Great Depression had everlasting effects globally, lasting between 1929 and 1941, the
Great Depression had devastating effects on many countries. One of the countries that was
hit the hardest was Germany. The reparations required a substantial amount of money to be
given as reparations for the Great War. Germany could not keep up with the reparation
payments, therefore, France was determined to get Germany to pay off the reparations. In
January 1923, French troops marched into the Ruhr (the industrial part of Germany),
occupying it. With the French in the Ruhr, many German citizens acted in passive resistance,
resulting in many citizens not going to work. The passive resistance had affected Germany
because most of their money would be made in the Ruhr. Extreme hyperinflation began to
occur, and the German economy was falling apart, by November 1923 4.2 trillion gold marks
were equivalent to the purchasing power of 1 gold mark in 1914. When Wall Street crashed
in America in October of 1929, many countries’ economies began to fail, resulting in the
Great Depression. When the Great Depression hit Germany, it had a great toll on their
unemployment rates and inflation rates. Their unemployment rates rose from 1.3 million to
a staggering 6 million from 1929-1932. However, the Great Depression was also a pivotal
point for the Nazis. When Hitler noticed that many German citizens were suffering during
the Depression, Hitler promised many that he would contribute to the economy and make it
better. Citizens were left with no hope, so many had begun to trust Hitler, rising the Nazi
Party’s popularity. Thus, the Great Depression left many countries with a weak economy,
but one of the countries that were hit the hardest by the depression was Germany, allowing
Hitler to take the opportunity to rise into power and later take over the government.

A political group known as the Nazi Party emerged as a significant force in Germany, led by
Adolf Hitler. Their beliefs were rooted in fascism, and they rejected liberal democracy and
the parliamentary system. Hitler's speeches and propaganda helped him gain popularity
among Germans. He appealed to the public, urging them to join the Nazi Party. The party's
ideology included abolishing the Treaty of Versailles, being anti-Semitic, and resenting
Germany's loss in World War I. In 1923, the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, an orchestrated attack
on the German government, which had failed due to not having enough weapons. Hitler
was arrested and imprisoned for nine months for treason. During this time, he published a
book, 'Mein Kampf,' which spread Nazi ideology and gained the party many followers. On
the 30th of January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by then President Paul
Von Hindenburg, and he immediately began expanding the German army in 1934 and
building an air force and more battleships. Despite knowing what he was doing, Britain and
France did not intervene, not wanting to risk another war. Hitler made two important
alliances in 1936, the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact with Mussolini's Italy and the Anti-Comitern
Pact with Japan. These alliances aided him in the war he waged. Ultimately, appointing to
becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler had paved the way for a totalitarian regime
which would later have devastating consequences for the world.

During the Nazi Party's reign, German expansionism was a significant goal of theirs (referred
to as lebensraum), wanting to take over the world. In 1938, Hitler and German troops
marched into Austria, demanding a vote for Anschluss (union with Germany) which was
fixed to show that 99% of Austrians wanted it.. After the takeover of Austria, Hitler planned
to invade the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. When Neville Chamberlain (the Prime minister
of Britain) heard this, he began negotiating with Hitler. In September 1938, Chamberlain and
Hitler signed a policy of appeasement declaring that Hitler was allowed to expand into the
Sudetenland only if he promised he would not expand further. Upon hearing this Winston
Churchill said that "You [Neville Chamberlain] had a choice between dishonour and war, you
chose dishonour and still got war". 6 months after signing the appeasement policy, Hitler
began to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia. The League of Nations, a community of
countries promoting peace, had failed to enforce punishments on countries. Introduced by
Woodrow Wilson, but the USA could not join, not wanting to be involved in another
European war. The League was also known as the ‘toothless tiger’ as they had looked
menacing, but they could not enforce anything on the countries. The only thing that they
could do was try to get countries to take away their trade with that country, which ended up
failing during the Great Depression. After the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Hitler began
wanting to take over the north-western part of Poland which divided Germany into 2.
Britain and France had stated that if Hitler were to invade Poland, they would begin a war.
On the 1st of September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, not taking the threat seriously
thinking that he would be able to get away with it. He was proven wrong when Britain and
France declared war on Germany, two days after Hitler had invaded Poland, leading to the
outbreak of World War 2. The Nazi Party's goal of lebensraum and the League of Nations'
failure were major factors contributing to the war.

World War 2 was a devastating war, resulting in the war with the most injured and killed. It
had devastating impacts mentally, physically, and generationally. Hitler’s rise to power had
such an effect on the second world war as it had begun the war, but arguably, the Treaty of
Versailles and the Great Depression were the most significant causes of the 2 nd world war.
With both of those causes, resulted in Hitlers rise to power and German expansionism which
led to the failure of the policy of appeasement and the league of nations.