Kevin Beadle

Mr. Haskell

World History

9 May 06

Causes and Effects of WWII

1. Cause: Increasing German aggression in Europe. Germany had attacked and taken control over Czechoslovakia, Austria and Poland by 1939.

Effect: World War II officially started as a result of treaties made by Britain and France to the invaded nations. The war was of no joy this time around due to the knowledge from the last war.

2. Cause: America put a sanction on imports of war materials to Japan. The US banned the sale of war materials to Japan, which angered the Japanese.

Effect: Extreme militarist in Japan rose to power; one named Tojo Hideki he launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The next day war on Japan was declared.

3. Cause: The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack on 1941 December, 7.

Effect: The United States will begin fighting with Japan in six months taking over the majority of Japanese land through their island hoping campaign. This will ultimately lead to the dropping of the atomic bomb.

4. Cause: The US decides to drop the atomic bomb on Japan in an effort to avoid invasion.

Effect: The nuclear Pandora’s Box of the modern world is open. The US remains the first last and only nation to ever use this weapon. Arguably it was a good choice instead of invasion at the time.

5. Cause: The Versailles Treaty of 1919 divided Europe into two camps: those who were satisfied with its terms and those who were not. Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union all felt betrayed or excluded and wished for the treaty to be changed.

Effect: Many historians see the war as an attempt by nations’ to change the peace agreement. Italy felt it should have gained land, Germany felt that its penalties were too harsh. Japan challenged the agreement early and captured Manchuria. The Soviet’s felt that Eastern Europe was carved up unfairly and that they too wanted more land. Nations saw the Treaty of Versailles as unfair and thought war was the only way to change it.