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WW2 CAUSES - Coggle Diagram

- - - - The fear of communism played a significant role in influencing many aspects of Germany's leadership. Hitler had originally used the fear of socialism and communism in garnering support, majorly from the middle class, by stating the Nazi's disapproval of communism, which boosted support for Hitler and aided in his control of Germany. The allies' fear of Stalin and his communist party had also led to many democratic leaders allowing Hitler to have a little more leeway in his actions, due to his anti communist propaganda and ideals.
        
        Japan - The rise of communist parties in Japan enabled the extreme ultranationalists to pose as defenders of a traditional Japanese way of life, aiding their rise to power and subsequent militarisation of Japan.
        
        Europe - Within Germany, Hitler was able to play on the fear of radical communism to advance his interests, blaming the Reichstag Fire on a Dutch communist and also attacking them more generally -> won him support because influential figures with vested interests, such a rich businessmen, wanted to see communism contained, and so supported Hitler.
        Initially Britain may have seen Nazi Germany as the lesser of two evils when compared to the USSR, which they feared may export communism to the wider world.
        In the months before the outbreak of war, Allied negotiations with the USSR about a potential alliance broke down; partially this may be attributed to a difference in ideology, however these particular negotiations fell apart due to Soviet demands for a free hand to act in eastern Europe, basically allowing them to meddle there. The Allies were not ready to protect the eastern nations from Nazi domination merely to have the Soviets conquer them instead, so the talks ended. The Germans were able to take advantage of this, concluding the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939
    - - Resource supply reason for world war 2. The germans desire to retake the sudetenland took away 66% of its coal, 70% of its' iron, steel and electricity production. The Saar plebiscite also gave Germany a very industrially and oil rich area of land. It could however be argued that the gaining of these resources and areas was to prepare for the world war, rather than resources being a goal for the war
      - Japan - Great Depression spurred the growth of extremist factions, like ultranationalists, eventually leading to the collapse of the civilian government in 1936.
        Only the army was seen as capable of restoring Japan, they took control. Military spending was hugely increased as part of a 12-year economic plan-> successfully stimulated the economy but required more natural resources that could only be gained through conquest.
        Japan moved towards war in Asia - Manchuria due to its extensive industry and natural resources. The need for resources eventually span out of Japan’s control; war in China and Manchuria required even more resources, particularly oil, eventually leading Japan to occupy oil-rich Indonesia alongside other Allied colonies in the Pacific. Faced with such a resource-hungry war machine, Japan found itself dragged into war after war, until its aggression made conflict with America inevitable.
      - Germany - Much like in Japan, economic chaos precipitated political extremism in Germany. Before the Depression, the Nazis only won 2.6% of the vote in 1928, before rising to 18.3% in 1930, then to 37.3% in 1932.
        Before the Depression, the Nazis were a fringe party, but afterwards they were the largest, allowing them to take control of Germany and implement their expansionist policies.
        Key goal was autarky, or complete national economic independence, which could not be achieved without securing more natural resources -> meant taking areas rich in resources or industry, like the Sudetenland; on a wider scale, oil autarky could only really be achieved through the conquest of Soviet oil fields in the east.