WWII changed the political alignment and structure of the globe, which continue to this day including the establishment of the UN and the beginning of the Cold War.
The end of the war also sparked the decolonisation of Africa and Asia and efforts were made to prevent any future conflicts on that scale, especially within Europe.
The lead up to war
The start of WWII can be directly linked to the events that took place at the end of WWI. The Armistice and aftermath of the First World War altered world politics, seeing the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, which until then was the largest empire in the world; the split of Austria-Hungary and the revolution in Russia. New nations were created out of the collapse of various empires and France, Belgium, Italy, Romania and Greece all gained new territory.
To prevent any future wars of the same scale, the League of Nations was created during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 inspired by Woodrow Wilson’s campaigning. The organisation worked to prevent conflict through disarmament and settling disputes through negotiations. Though the end of WWI brought in a wave of pacifism, it wasn’t long before nationalism started rising through Europe. This was especially prevalent in Germany because of financial, territorial and colonial losses brought in by the Treaty of Versailles and ongoing conspiracies that they hadn’t lost but rather had been sabotaged.
The German Revolution of 1918-19 saw the dissolution of the German Empire and a new republic was created, which saw a recession and rising social unrest. A fascist movement had also emerged in Italy, led by Benito Mussolini, who wanted a new Roman Empire. Adolf Hitler, after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, would become Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Once he had power, he abolished democracy and began a huge rearmament campaign.
In 1935, the Italians invaded Ethiopia, which led to the UK and France supporting sanctions on Italy for the invasion, though these were not fully enforced. Italy, in turn, didn’t object to Germany wanting to reclaim Austria. The following year, civil war broke out in Spain with Hitler and Mussolini lending their military support to Fransisco Franco, who was attempting to take control of the country. The Soviet Union supported the existing government and both they and Germany used it as a proxy war. The nationalists won the civil war and Franco, now a dictator, remained neutral during WWII but generally favoured the Axis, including sending volunteers to fight with on the Eastern front.
In 1937, Japan began an invasion of China and then in the late 1930s, Japan and the Soviet Union had a series of border clashes.
In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive, especially in the latter end of the 1930s. In 1938, Germany annexed Austria but provoked little response from the rest of Europe, which encouraged Hitler to move forces into other areas that he believed to be German territories. The UK and France initially followed a policy of appeasement put forward by British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Concerned that Germany was moving into Poland, which was seen by much of western Europe as a buffer zone against communisim in the east, France and Britain pledged to act should Germany proceed.
On 1st September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, with Britain and France then declaring war on Germany two days later. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada joined them but they did not provide direct military support to Poland.
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