Origins of World War II - A Realistic View

It is not really correct, therefore, to say that Hitler 'planned' world war or sought world domination, it was solely the consequence of his declared objectives. Such countries as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - here the government allowed itself to be bullied into allowing an army of occupation in early 1939 - Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria and, ultimately, Russia, were all those who simply had no right to exist. As time ticked away, during the years of Germany's rearmament, few world leaders understood what Hitler planned and those that did were usually looked on as warmongers and therefore discounted as soon as they spoke. The world was also unfortunate in having as the leading opponents of Hitler's policies only France and England who might have had the ability to oppose with force, but were hamstrung by their own peoples. America was once again remote and, in any event, once the Depression took hold, could think only of its own domestic problems.

France, having suffered the most in the First World War, in men lost and in material damage to the country, and whose hatred of the Germans extended back to the humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, should have been the ones to take the initiative. They were, however, really physically not capable by the time Hitler started to break the Treaty of Versailles. They were belligerent in talk but took no action. The British, on the other hand, were all for appeasement and, in any event, the education and experience of their leaders stood between them and any understanding of Hitler's insanity. It was not possible for their thought processes to accept that they were dealing with a madman The only one was Winston Churchill, by definition a warmonger and therefore of no consequence.

Before the use of appeasement, total war could have been avoided by occupying Germany under the terms of Versailles, and removing Hitler whose mad obsessions and demagogic powers were in the end, the real reasons for the Second World War.

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