Desiree D. answered • 01/26/21
AP History & AP English Coach — DBQ Master!
As with every conflict, major or "minor", there are always multiple causes. However, historians frequently highlight the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I, as an easily-identifiable starting point. This is because the treaty sought, among other smaller goals, to make it impossible for Germany to ever achieve the type of economic and military might that had enabled it to be so destructive in World War I.
In pursuit of this goal, the treaty stripped Germany of many of its resources and allowed for the Allied victors to divide up portions of conquered German territory amongst themselves. Germany fell into severe economic decline, and many Germans felt humiliated and ashamed by their once-mighty country's stunning fall from glory.
In the period of time leading up to World War II, many historians claim that this sense of desperation and shame permeated the attempts of the German government to rebuild in the aftermath of the war. Moreover, they claim that it paved the way for a demagogue like Adolf Hitler to rise to power on promises of restoring Germany to its former greatness.
Therefore, it is arguable that the end of World War I created a situation in which World War II became not only possible, but perhaps inevitable.
