Question

what were the causes of world war 2 in europe?

Answer 1

The war in Europe was caused by the German invasion of Poland and the war in Asia was triggered by the Japanese invasion of China. Searching for more fundamental causes is more complicated and becomes intertwined with answers to "What could have prevented World War 2?" and "What chains of events led to WW2?" On September 1, 1939 Hitler sent troops into Poland after repeatedly being told NOT to try and take over neighboring countries by Britain and France. They declared war on Germany September 3, 1939.

Answer 2

- high unemployment among soldiers returning from WW1
- the rise of extreme nationalism in many territories as one result of adverse economic conditions and high unemployment
- the Treaty of Versailles which imposed massive reparation payments on Germany, crushing its economy and fostering further resentment
- the failure of nations to stand up to Hitler's aggression in the 1930's

All of these factors paved the way for WW2, ultimately leading Hitler to invade Poland under the pretense of Poland having starting their aggression first in 1939.

Answer 3

I agree with marco, the proximate causes are invasions: France and Great Britain had treaties with Poland that required them to come to the Pole's aid when the Germans and Soviets invaded in September 1939. (Interestingly, neither France nor Great Britain declared war on the Soviet Union, although the Soviets had participated in the invasion of Poland.) Italy was Germany's ally, so that brought Italy into the war. The German invasion of the USSR in 1942 brought the USSR into the war on the Allied side, and Germany declared war on the United States in 1941 after the US declared war on Japan, Germany's ally, following Pearl Harbor. That brought the US into it.

Further than that...if you want to drill down and debate about what "underlying causes" there might be -- there is no easy or simple answer. Historians debate this question all the time.

Classical historians point to the decisions made at various times by important people, e.g. Chamberlain's interaction with Hitler at Munch, Hitler's decisions, Stalin's decisions, Roosevelt and Churchill's decisions, and so forth.

Marxist and pseudo-Marxist historians tend to point to big hard-to-quantify "movements" involving large numbers of people, e.g. German envy of British and French colonial empires, desire of Germans for access to greater natural resources (like oil in the East and middle east), ideological conflict between for example international Communism and nationalist socialism (also known as fascism), the employment and social advancement prospects of the workers, middle class, wealthy.

Then you have the paranoids, who adduce the plans of international Jewry, the bankers, the bourgeousie, the secret plans of the wealthy or of international corporations, whatever.

Most practical historians use some mix of all of the above: broad trends matter, as do some of the decisions made by important people, and maybe a little private paranoia thrown in, about the bankers or the industrialists or Roosevelts.

Answer 4

thank you everybody

Answer 5

No problem (: