Appeasement: The 10 Steps to World War Two 

Crazy how the Treaty of Versailles wasn’t #10 - WWII could not have happened without how WWI ended

In his 1954 book, "The Gathering Storm" Churchill was much more kind to Chamberlain than many are today. His assertion was that Chamberlain was forced into appeasement because he was unable to effect adequate rearmament in Britain and knew that the RAF was unable to match the Luftwaffe's numbers at that time. The British public was vehemently against rearmament in the mid thirties because of its belief that the Versailles Treaty protections, convinced that the presence of weapons would create conflict and its disgust at the wastage of WWI. The wealthy Conservatives and the Labor/Liberals formed a coalition opposed to rearmament based on the Conservatives' opposition to government spending of any kind that would increase taxes, while Labor wanted any defense funds reserved for social programs. Chamberlain was finally able to coax more defense appropriations from Parliament but by that time Britain was trying to catch up and Chamberlain was forced to buy time. At the same time, France was unwilling to act without Britain because of its unwillingness to bear a war fought on French soil as had been WWI.

I can’t believe being a man in 1939 listening to chamberlain announcing war with germany.. knowing too well how ww1 was. Listening to the speech myself brought me to tears..

I always thought the major cause of WWII was WWI. Love your work 👍

Frankly quite surprised that the Treaty of Versailles wasn't mentioned as a key cause, given how much of a direct reason it was for WW2.

History is repeating itself but now the stakes are even higher.

The choice of the background music is phenomenal

Imho WW1 never really ended, it had a break and resumed in 1939.

With all due respect to the makers of this film but the war was already in full swing in Asia. This film documents the lead up to the war in Europe. The subject is much more complex than shown here.

Well presented

The treaty of Versailles was the MAIN REASON

One more thing to note is that Germany was taking Japan's example when they left the League of Nations., which they did in response to the League's condemnation of the invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

(1) Nazi Germany in March 1939 did not occupy all of (Rest-) Czechoslovakia, only the Czech part; Slovakia declared independence. (2) The narrative focusses on Germany's actions, which are well-known and covered in the standard textbooks. But French and British actions are less well analyzed in the same standard textbooks. In 1936 Popular Fronts (including the Communists) were elected into government in France and Spain, and the option of a French-Spanish-Soviet alliance was discussed. This made the British government nervous; such an alliance would threaten the balance of powers on the European continent. For centuries it had been British policy to maintain the balance of powers on the continent by supporting the perceived weaker side. In 1936 who would be that weaker side ? Italy and Germany. The concessions made in early appeasement to Italy and Germany were a message to the French government. By 1938, the French Popular Front government had collapsed, the feared alliance had not materialized, and so Britain could refocus on "the other threat", posed by Germany. (3) The war theatre in the Far East was not covered. The video states, the war started in Europe and then spread to Africa and the Far East. The inhabitants of Shanghai and Nanjing might disagree.

I would like to say thanks to everyone at history hit , you have created some great content for all of us to enjoy!

Well done

Wasn't the main point the British prosecutor made in the Nuremburg triels was that there was absolutely no way any German could not have known what was happening since it was made, almost to the point, clear in Mein Kampf?

Unbelievable that there is no mention the Balfour Declaration.

No mention of the Treaty of Versailles as being a cause of the war. When France under Napoleon was defeated, they were treated very lightly and lost almost no territory. The posh English guy has a very narrow view.

The main reason for the second world war was the treaty of Versailles 1919

Interesting how giving a military guarantee to a disputed territory whilst both parties were in talks to solve the dispute peacefully wasn't a key cause of WW2.

What music was used in this clip ?

This is so interesting. The channel is like a cool History teacher.

Interesting

Imperial Japan: Am I a joke to you?

You take more commercials then the actual history channel

Great video but surprised the Treaty of Versallies and the manner in which WW1 ended was not a standalone point as a key cause. Given the economic impact, miliraty surprisseion and deep rooted grudges and resentment it caused, these all contributed to conditions that eventually allowed the Nazis to come into power and also enabled Germans to be more supportive of alot of the actions Hitler took in the rest of your list which did indeed lead to WW2. I think The treaty of Versallies from a timeline should be number "0" on the list just before the first point.

so many missing pieces

I really like videos like documentarys

# 11 He was 82 years ahead of his time.

What is the song playing during the Nazi-Soviet Pact? It gave me chills

Pre-war events: •Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) •Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) •Japanese invasion of Chian (1937) •Soviet-Japanese border conflicts

Chamberlain's speech announcing the notice of war was so downbeat you could almost feel the disappointment and shame in his voice

Nice 👍

1. The you know who's 2. The you know who's 3. The you know who's 4. The you know who's 5. The you know who's 6. The you know who's 7. The you know who's 8. The you know who's 9. The you know who's 10. It's the **** stupid. Same as WW1.

It’s kind of interesting, if Germany would have avoided the world wars, their country would be much larger today. Germany lost a decent amount of land in the treaties.

Liked the guest narrator (Tim Bouverie), so did a bit of research to see if he'd published any other books on WWII. Somewhat surprised that he'd only done the one and his follow up book was about "100 Pieces of Classical Music" of all things.

Great video. It's easy to judge in hindsight, I suppose, but the western powers should have figured it out. I was born in Prague, and today the Czechs still resent the Munich agreement.

@ 4:40 "My son has an interesting take on the happenings in Germany in the mid 30's" . lol

For the most, it is a fine summary of what leads up to WW II. Of course it is simplified, but with one exception it should serve as a fine introduction into the history of this terrible war. The one exception is how the Nazi Soviet pact is depicted here. As a matter of fact, the Soviet Union had attempted to forge an alliance with the UK and France for quite some time previously, and Britain all but rejected these efforts as late as August 1938, sending just a minor rank emissary to Moscow who had no clear mandate to negotiate in the first place. Stalin, fearing that the Western Allies would use Nazi Germany against him, then turned around dramatically, signing the infamous and fatal pact with Nazi Germany. This was of course a gigantic error of judgement on his part, and his cynicism is morally reprehensible. But in the lead up to the pact, neither France nor Britain are without blame. They, too, grossly misjudged the situation. There would have been room for at least a sentence or two about a proposed alliance between the USSR and Britain and France failing. That being said: While the video is overall fine, I think the title is a bit of a misnomer. What is being described here - and accurately for the most - is what lead up to the war, and not the causes. They are somewhat more complex.

These are 10 helpful reasons for WWII.

Is it just me or this is eerily similar to what is taking place at precent. We can only hope that there will be no video like this in 70 years with the topic "The 10 Key Causes of the third world war"

god damn History Hit, youve all got no idea how great this channel is. this has to be one of the best videos ever

Treaty of Versailles should be #1 and Great Depression #2. (Claiming this before watching the video)

One could argue that WWII began with Japan's invasion of Manchuria. Or even Korea. This war didn't just last from 01 Sep 39 to 08 May 45. There was cessation of hostile action after these. Same after the invasion of Poland (albeit shorter).

Freakin' awesome content

Great video, throws up so many what ifs in regard to some of these events and the possible knock on effects, eg what if German remilitarising of Rhineland was opposed

What is the name of that opening song?

Do I detect Mr. Grant's voice as narrator?

Good show but far far far too many advert breaks

It would be more accurate to state that the video was about the 10 key causes of the European theater of WWII. In fact, war in the Asian theater had been underway for several years - the war of conquest by Japan in China.

22:31 I genuinely thought that they were invited? Poland even served punch.. 🤷‍♂️

This is so relevant to today. I consider the 2014 ukraine holding back to the full scale Ukraine war we have today to be the equivalent of Chamberlain holding back. They know something is coming. They dont know when yet. But they prepare anyways. It wasn't the best preparation, but some is better than none. 11:07

HH is a great channel and I enjoy 87.9% of the content. It’s impressive and reliable information. …BUT they need to dial down the melodramatic background music. It’s distracting and, to be blunt, childish.

These are not causes, just stages!

Only #9 and #10 arent directly tied to Worrd War II, really it should begin with the treaty of versailles.

Well made production

I think the treaty of versailles is just as important here. It set arguably unrealistic expectations of germany and pinned ALL the blame on the country. No doubt Germany was in the blame, but it left Germany in a dark place and it’s why someone like Hitler rose to power in the first place

On 03.09.1939, after the ultimatum of Great Britain and France that Germany withdraw its troops from Poland, they declared war on Germany and the conflict grew into a global one. The conflict that started the German-Polish war was the city of Danzig (today's city of Gdansk). The city has been German for centuries and was never Polish, but became so after the end of the First World War. The reason is obvious so that Germany and her allies can be as much as possible punished and cut off territorially by the victors. The German chancellor's proposal to Poland in 1939 was to hold a referendum under the supervision of the Great Powers, that this was the only and last territorial claim it had to Poland, giving up the province of Poznan (which had also been a German province for centuries handed over to Poland after the end of World War I), offered a guarantee of Poland's territorial integrity, a non-aggression pact and a port in Danzig that the Poles would be able to use for trade. According to the Western press at the time, the proposal was very moderate and acceptable. But because of the guarantees already given to Poland by Great Britain (which are the first such given in its history to an Eastern European country), the Poles categorically refuse to the very end any compromise. Thus the Second World War broke out and after the capitulation of Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France, the German Chancellor again offered peace to the Great Britain, not intending in any way to violate the territorial and colonial integrity of the British Empire (which at that time owns 1/4 of the world) Churchill flatly refused, and after Roosevelt's later ultimatum for unconditional surrender, the war continued and destroyed the lives of more than 80 million people. And finally, the balance sheet from this war is as follows: the British Empire imagined to exist, 80 million victims, Europe in ruins, the transformation of the USSR into a world power, the enslavement of a number of peoples in Baltic , Eastern and Central Europe. It was not possible to reach a compromise on the part of Great Britain to hand over a city with 350 thousand German population, which for centuries was part of Germany in order to avoid war and the devastation of Europe, but a compromise was made by the Western countries to hand over 100 million Christians from Eastern and Central Europe to the mass murderer Stalin, who imposes his bloody puppet regimes that kill in a more brutal way the elite and the intelligentsia of the given nations. As a result, 16 of the 20 fastest-decreasing countries in the world are now former communist countries. In the first place in the world is Bulgaria, a country with less than 7 million people, but this did not prevent the communists from killing 220 thousand people (at the time when a puppet Soviet government was appointed) - the civil, political and military elite of the country were slaughtered cruelly . And this so-called "Europe Day" representing the most disgusting peace treaty in the history of mankind with the most severe consequences for the enslaved 100 million Christians and they makes us celebrate it?

Don't shoot Ferdinand!

The Treaty of Versailles wasn't tough enough on Germany in reality. Baldwin led the sell out with the Anglo German naval Treaty and allowing the re militarised Rhineland. Chamberlain wasn't a complete idiot, he pushed ahead on re-arming, civil defence, chain home air defence and the beginning of tube alloys and Bletchley Park

Winners write the history

1913: before all these wars and chaos, the US created the Federal Reserve. Coincidence?

Fascinating all the parallels of what's going on today...

The fundamental reason for any given event is just one.

you could add 11th cause: Chambarlain existed

This documentary conveniently removed Spain from the picture...

Worth remembering that the National Socialist German Workers Party was NOT SOCIALIST. They were just capitalising on a desire by misappropriating the term.

I guess this is just the causes of WWII as far as Europe is concerned, and even that seems incomplete. I mean what about the causes of Italy originally siding with Germany. What about the Soviet Union's geopolitical aims? Good presentation but the title is misleading.

total caualties were "optimistacally" set as over 100 million in all countries involved, military and civilian!

you made fun over his charlie Chaplin mustache BEFORE the war. He didn't have that until the war, because it was so bushy, he couldn't wear a gas mask safely.

The Treaty of Versailles

Very clear. Should be part of a high school curriculum.

In the world wars u could rally everybody included. Now days...not even close. Thats a humble individual thinking thing. Lets make it relevant and lasting.

You seem to have skipped the part on the Nazi-Soviet pact where the Soviets were trying to negotiate with Britain and France but were effectively rebuffed multiple times and when finally engaged, Britain and France sent 'negotiators' who had no power to negotiate.

Is that Piers Morgan narrating ???? 🤣🤣

Just as the memory of WW1 didn't stop WW2, the memory of WW2 will not stop WW3.

Watch 'Europa the last battle'

You might have quoted Foch.

I'm sick of this version of events

I feel that maybe in a hundred years or so from now, people will be watching a video titled, "The 10 Key Causes of the Third World War."

Have to say on the point of people in UK and France finding treaty of versailles too harsh isn't correct the french felt it wasn't harsh enough and warned it wouldn't mean peace just an armistice for 20 years!

This is a rather British perspecitive and a bit unfair to Chamberlain. Yes many leading figures in the UK, did not see Hitler as the main threat soon enough. Japan got away with Manuchuria, Italy with Abbesinia. Japans attack on "the rest of China" was not confronted. Clear foreign military involvment in the Spanish civil war (on both sides) did not make France/UK/US act. Poland did particapate in the annexation of Czechoslovakia after Münich. At least to me it was clear the last year before war broke out both France and the UK was playing for time most of all. Not really thinking a conflict was avoidable.

Marshal Foch’s oft-cited quote about the treaty being only “a 20 year armistice” is flagrantly misleading when presented out of context, as it often is. Foch was not criticizing the treaty as being too hard on Germany but was actually making the opposite point - that it was not punitive enough. He was lamenting that the treaty did not ensure that Germany’s armed forces and strategic position were permanently weakened, principally through perpetual French occupation of the Rhineland. Perhaps the Allies’ gravest failure in the Versailles treaty was allowing Germany to voluntarily comply with the provisions, since Germany had no incentive to fulfill the obligations to which it had agreed. A closely related failure is that of Allied will to enforce the treaty. With isolationist America essentially “opting out” of the task, and the demoralized, increasingly pacifist British population suddenly getting a collective guilty conscience when it fell for German propaganda, it was left to France to try to enforce the treaty. Except for some half-hearted attempts - notably the 1923 occupation of the Ruhr industrial region in a vain attempt to get Germany to stop defaulting on reparations - France proved incapable of going it alone. In Germany’s clash of wills with its former World War I opponents, Germany won. In effect, except for a few billion “in kind” payments, Germany paid no war reparations out of its own pocket. What “everyone knows” about Germany being crippled by war reparations therefore is a myth. French economist Etienne Mantoux surely was right when he wrote, “Germany was not unable to pay reparations, it was unwilling to pay them.”

Have to ask because it's unclear; after Germany invaded Poland, Britian and France threatened to declare war on Germany if Germany did not withdraw from Poland. It is then stated that Hitler, "Called their bluff." Being that Britian and France *did* declare war on Germany when the demand for withdrawal was not met, how is this "calling their bluff," being that it was obviously not a bluff?

Left out the part where Stalin let them use Soviet territory to train nazi soldiers while Germany was re-militarising.

Saarland situation sounds very familiar with what putin did in the donbas

The music is SO annoying

The ONLY cause: the unjust Treaty of Versailles.

Why they didn't sell off Poland following their policy?

Europa the last battle and TGSNT.

What this video is about? 10 key causes or 10 steps? Why all the misleading?

F*ck! it must have been sooo awful and dreadful to live in poland during that period. our country was involved in WWII too and hundreds and thousands of people died back then and although i read and heard lots of stories about what happened during the second world war, no one could really fathom how tough, harsh and awful it was during that time. guess we're lucky to be able to live peacefully today. History is here to remind us not to repeat the mistakes of the past, but, we as humans would keep on repeating those mistakes thus the thing of the past would continue to hunt us.

The treaty was considered too harsh by both France and Britain. France and the US warned Britain that it was too harsh, when it happened. Are we talking British buyer's remorse?

FUN FACT: WWII did NOT start on September 1, 1939 when Germany decided to invade Poland. The Second World War WAS initiated on September 3, 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany.

As others said.. Interesting that the biggest cause - WWI treaty - is completely missed...

I love WWII Will we see another world war in our life time?

Very limited understanding here of European history, Bohemia was not part of the second Reich. Bismark's Germany but Austria Alsace Lorraine and Bohemia were all part of the First Reich "the Holy Roman Empire" and it also ignores the fact that Chamberlain was Prime minister because he was the chancellor who nursed Britain through the depression and a major problem he faced in rearmament in Briton was cost, the limited rearmament he introduced would bankrupt the country within 18 months and as that ex chancellor he knew it and he did not see incurring public debt as an acceptable thing. He really was a "the country should live within its means" politician. if you are going to comment on German history you have to understand the Thirty years war and how it shaped the German States and People and in many cases its relationship with other countries.

Lessons to be learned. For a big major war one needs: 1 determined belligrent; one or more parties who can fight back but keep shying away from that. Conclusion? There is such a thing as a preventive war or military conflict. Now look at the Ukrain. Are we doing it right this time? Looks like it.

"Judea Declares War on Germany" read the headline in a prominent British newspaper March 28, 1933.

With the Armistice in September 1918, the Allies that had defeated Imperial Germany desired to go back to a peacetime existence and Britain demobilized. Thus Europe presented no existential threat to peace. If Germany began to re-arm then Britain would take time to mobilize its armed forces. Germany under the National Socialists would rapidly mobilize men and rebuild its armaments. Appeasment would buy time for Britain and France if war came but maybe complying with German demands would remove any grounds for Germany to start another armed conflict in Europe.