WW II – Treaty of Versailles and fascist, militarist, and imperialist policies

WW II – Treaty of Versailles and fascist, militarist, and imperialist policies

In preparation for the initial post, consider two (2) of the following historical events:

Treaty of Versailles

Rise of fascism, militarism, and imperialism

Failure of the League of Nations

Hitler and the Nazi Party

The Lend-Lease Act

Japanese expansion and the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Then, in one (1) to two (2) paragraphs, address one (1) of the following:

Assess if the United States’ foreign policy during the 1930s helped to promote World War II. Could the United States have prevented the outbreak of World War II? If so, how? If not, why not?

Explain if the United States, despite neutrality, aided the Allies against the Axis powers.

Analyze if using atomic (nuclear) weapons to defeat enemies in war is a setback for democracy (President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan).

WW II – Treaty of Versailles and fascist, militarist, and imperialist policies

WWII

There are two historical events which are most directly associated with the beginning of the Second World War. The Treaty of Versailles and fascist, militarist, and imperialist policies. This document was not only signed in 1919 after the WWI in order to determine peace, but also put several bounded measures on Germany from economical, territorial and even military aspects (Birk & Groß, 2015). The terms of the treaty were completely humiliating for the German people mainly because they had to pay reparations, where most of the factories were seized, and the territory was reduced thus paving way for dictator Adolf Hitler. For a number of Germans, the treaty was seen as a profound shame, and it is here that Hitler found fertile ground for his fascism, and the sort of nationalism, militarism, and eugenics he portrayed.

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At the same time, the further growth of fascism, militarism and imperialism began in Germany in 1920-1930s. In Italy, Benito Mussolini seized power and put into practice fascism. In Japan militaristic leaders went for imperialism in east Asia. These movements were essentially characterized by hatred of democracy, liberalism and internationalism and in their place, they espoused authoritarianism and imperialism respectively (Parfitt, 2018). Germany and Japan both aimed at the restoration of their nations and lieutenant challenging post-World War I international relations Governed by the Treaty of Versailles and the League of nations. WW II – Treaty of Versailles and fascist, militarist, and imperialist policies

The contrast between the Treaty of Versailles and the rise of fascism, militarism, and imperialism lies in their nature of the treaty that was a feeble effort at making peace. On the other hand, fascism and militarism as ideologies aimed at challenging the status quo (Roubinek, 2019). However, both were connected, for the lack of a stable peace as offered by the treaty led to rise of these ideologies that culminated into more instability.

American foreign policy was isolated in the 1930s during the Great Depression when the country had its own problems to solve. The Neutrality Acts of this year were intended to avoid the entanglement of the U.S in European struggles. But this neutrality contributed to the emergence of all conditions for the second World War, as the US did not take the first actions regarding fascist powers’ aggressive actions (Woods, 2021). Failure to give even starker sponsorship to the League of Nations or to negotiate in the initial phase of aggression by the Germany, Italy and Japan, America allowed these countries to go bolder, which led to the outbreak of war.

References

Birk, E., & Groß, G. P. (2015). From Versailles via Paris to Moscow: Strategic options and perspectives of the German Empire with a view to National Power Policy (Part 2). 
Security and Defence Quarterly
, 
6
(1), 65-85.

Parfitt, R. (2018). Fascism, Imperialism and International Law: An Arch Met a Motorway and the Rest is History… 
Leiden Journal of International Law
, 
31
(3), 509-538. doi:10.1017/S0922156518000304

Roubinek, E. S. (2019). From a Nazi imperialism to a fascist imperialism: Transnational nationalisms and the creation of a “New Europe”. In 
German-occupied Europe in the Second World War
 (pp. 101-117). Routledge. 1st Edition

Woods, R. B. (2021). 
The Roosevelt Foreign-Policy Establishment and the” Good Neighbor”: The United States and Argentina, 1941–1945
. University Press of Kansas.