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LESSON 31
SECOND WORLD WAR

Learning Objectives
Students will acquire knowledge about

1. The causes for the Second World War.

2. The rise of dictatorships and other causes for the war.

3. The course of the Second World War.

4. Results of the Second World War.

The First World War came to an end in 1918 and the Paris
Peace conference was held in 1919. Many treaties including the Treaty
of Versailles were signed in the conference. One of the important
features of this conference was that only the victorious nations alone
were invited. The conference turned out to be a meeting of the victors
to share the spoils of the war. The defeated countries were badly
treated. They also discussed about the establishment of permanent
peace in the world. In order to solve mutual problems among the
nations, under the initiative of the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson,
the League of Nations had been established. But the League failed
to maintain the expected international peace. This ultimately led to
the rise of dictatorships in Germany, Italy and Japan. The formation
of Rome, Berlin, Tokyo Axis led to the Second World War.
Causes of the Second World War
Treaty of Versailles
Germany was defeated in the First World War. She was not
invited to the Paris Peace Conference. Germany was forced to sign
a harsh and humiliating treaty. German territories were taken away
from her. She was deprived of her colonies. Her navy was completely

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disbanded. Her army was reduced

considerably. The Weimar Republic was
not in a position to solve the post-war
problems. The German people decided to
take revenge for their humiliation. In fact,
the Second World War was a war of
retaliation. Therefore, the Treaty of TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Versailles had in itself the seeds of the Second World War.

Rise of Dictatorships
The inter-war period witnessed the rise of dictatorships in
Europe. The inter-war period is otherwise called the period of
dictators. Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan witnessed the rise of
dictators. In Germany, the Weimar Republic was weak. Hitler, the
leader of the Nazi Party took full advantage of the weakness of the
Republican Government and brought the government under his control.
He started aggression. He captured Austria and Czechoslovakia. At
last he attacked Poland and World War II started.
The same condition prevailed in Italy also. Italy felt that it was
deceived in the Paris Peace Conference. Mussolini started the Fascist
Party. In 1922 he captured power and became a dictator. He also
followed an aggressive foreign policy. The spirit of dictatorship arose
in Spain and Japan also. In Spain, General Franco defeated the
Republican Government and established his dictatorship. In this effort,
he was assisted by the armies of Hitler and Mussolini. Japan became
a partner of Hitler and Mussolini by signing the Rome- Berlin -Tokyo
Axis. This alliance disturbed world peace and the Second World War
started.
Militarism
The failure of the disarmament efforts after the First World
War was a major reason for the outbreak of a new War. In the Paris

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Peace conference Germany was forced to disarm itself. The German

Government demanded disarmament of the victorious powers, in the
same way as she had been disarmed. As they refused, Germany
under the dictatorship of Hitler increased its military strength. Owing
to the immense increase in armaments and the development of
militarism, the Second World War became inevitable.
Imperialism
The policy of imperialism was one of the causes for the Second
World War. It was this same feeling of imperialism which played a
dominant role during the First World War. Germany and Japan, who
were more imperialistic than the Allied powers, simply ignored the
decisions of the Paris Peace Conference. They made their efforts to
expand their respective territories. Hitler occupied Rhineland, Austria,
Memel, Czechoslovakia and incorporated them into German territory.
Japan attacked Manchuria and captured it from China. Mussolini
occupied Abysinia and launched a series of aggressive activities.
Colonialism
There was also a race for colonies among the European
countries in order to obtain raw materials and markets for their
industrial growth. This trend continued among these powers even
after the First World War. Germany was deprived of all her colonies
at the Paris Peace Conference. Italy was dissatisfied with the
treatment of Allied Powers. Japan, a powerful Asiatic country wanted
to have colonies to enrich its resources. It is in these circumstances
Germany, Italy and Japan decided to follow aggressive foreign policy.
These aggressive actions ultimately led to the Second World War.
Failure of the League of Nations
After the First World War, the League of Nations was
established to solve controversies among the nations and to maintain
permanent peace and order in the world. Even the members of the

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League failed to respect the provisions of the covenant of the League.

Those who violated the provisions simply walked out of the League,
without any punishment. The League could not contain the Japanese
annexation of Manchuria and Italian invasion of Abyssinia. Hitler’s
activities posed a challenge to the League. Thus, the failure of the
League of Nations to control aggressive countries was a major cause
for World War II.
Dissatisfaction of National Minorities
The Allied powers though posed themselves as the champions
of the principle of self-determination, in actual practice that principle
was not followed by them. In some parts of Central Europe, the
problem of national minorities existed. It is these minority groups
which became the hot beds of discontent and dissatisfaction. German
annexation of Austria and Sudetenland and attack on Poland was
based on this policy of reunion of National minorities.
Mutual differences of the Allies
There was no collective cooperation among the Allies. England
followed a policy appeasement towards Germany. France’s fear of
Germany was opposed by England. The U.S.A., the architect of the
League of Nations, did not join the League. These differences among
the allies failed to check the increasing strength of the dictators.
Course of the War
According to the decisions taken in the Paris Peace
Conference, Poland had been made an independent kingdom. East
Prussia was separated from Germany. Now, Hitler wanted to unite
East Prussia with Germany. Hitler invaded Poland on September 1,
1939. Great Britain declared war against Germany on September 3.
Second World War started.

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In April 1940, Germany captured Denmark and Norway. In

May 1940, Holland and Belgium were conquered. Germany attacked
France and captured it in June 1940.
Italy fought against the British forces in North Africa. Mussolini
attacked Greece and captured it with German support. Yugoslavia
and Crete were occupied by the Germans.
After the fall of France, Britain was left alone. Hence, Hitler
wanted to attack England by air. There was continuous air force
attack on Britain. But the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister
Churchill saved England. Germany could not conquer Britain.
Germany made a mistake of invading the Soviet Union, despite
a non-aggression pact. One of the important battles was the Battle
of Stalingrad. For five months the battle went on. It involved 2 million

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men, 2000 tanks and 2000 aero-planes.

The invading German army was driven
back. In February1943, about 90,000
German soldiers surrendered. This was
a turning point of the war.
In December 1941, Japan
PEARL HARBOUR attacked the Pearl Harbour. This
tragedy dragged the U.S.A. into the
war. General MacArther was made the supreme commander of the
Pacific region. Lord Mountbatten, the Commander of South East
Asia drove the Japanese from Burma.
In Africa, Abyssinia was conquered by the U.S.A. from Italy.
The Italian Somaliland was also conquered. The British General
Montgomery captured Libya from Germans. He also conquered
Tripoli and entered Tunisia. In 1942 Algeria fell. In 1943 Sicily was
captured by the British and U.S. troops. North Africa was cleared
of Italian and German troops. The mainland of Italy was attacked.
There was a revolt in Italy and Mussolini was arrested, but he
managed to escape with German help. In September 1943, Italy
surrendered unconditionally. Mussolini was captured and killed by
his own people in April 1945.
In 1944 the Allied forces entered into France and expelled the
German army from France. After that the Allied forces attacked
Germany from the Southwest. Russia invaded Germany from the
East. On 2 May 1945 Russian army entered Berlin. Hitler committed
suicide. Germany surrendered.
Even after the surrender of Germany, Japan continued the war.
USA dropped two atom bombs on Hiroshima (6 th August) and on
Nagasaki (9 th August). Following this Japan surrendered on 14 th
August 1945.

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The Second World War was over. At the end of the war, some
13 million Europeans were killed and 17 million civilians had died as
a result of the fighting. All major cities were in ruins. Agriculture
was ruined. People of the entire world had to face untold miseries,
directly or indirectly.
Results of the Second World War
§ In this war, about 15 Million soldiers and 10 million civilians
lost their lives.
§ An important result of the Second World War was that it
brought to an end the colonial Empire of the European
countries in Asia and Africa.
§ Multi-polar world became bi-polar world.
§ The USA and USSR emerged as Super Powers.
§ Cold War started as an ideological war between USA
and USSR

Learning Outcome

After learning this lesson the students will be able to explain

1. The causes of the Second World War.

2. The rise of dictatorships and the formation of the Rome-

Berlin-Tokyo Axis led to the outbreak of the war.

3. The main events of the war and the ultimate victory of the
allied power.

4. Results of the Second World War.

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MODEL QUESTIONS
I. Choose the correct answer.
1. Japan attacked the Pearl Harbour in the year
(a) 1940 (b) 1941
(c) 1942 (d) 1945
II. Fill in the blanks.
1. The U.S.A. dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima on ……..
2. The Supreme Commander of the Pacific region was …..
III. Match the following:
1. Mussolini a. Japanese invasion
2. Manchuria b. Nazism
3. General MacArther c. Fascism
4. Hitler d. Supreme Commander
of the Pacific Region
IV. Find out the Statement. One statement alone is correct.
a. Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1940.
b. In December 1941, Japan attacked the Pearl Harbour.
c. In September 1945 Italy surrendered.
d. On 2 May 1944 Russian army entered Berlin.
V. State whether the following statements are True or False.
1. Germany was invited to attend the Paris Peace Conference.
2. General Franco was the dictator of Spain.
3. The U.S.A. was an active member of the League of Nations.
4. The Battle of Stalingrad was fought between Germany and
the Soviet Union.

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