Question 1 : Explain how the ideologies of Fascism and Nazism led to the Second World War.
Answer : Fascism : Italy did not gain much from the Treaty of Versailles and wanted to revive the glory of the old Roman Empire. Italy demonstrated her imperialistic ambitions by attacking Abyssinia and also joined the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1937. The League of Nations also couldn’t take any action against Italy.
Nazism : Hitler wanted to re-establish the prestige of Germany to avenge the humiliation it faced after the Treaty of Versailles. He flouted many clauses of the treaty and declared re-armament. Germany showed its imperialistic ambitions by annexing Austria.
Thus, Fascism and Nazism drove the countries of the world towards another World War.
Question 2 : How did the Japanese invasion on China create conditions for the outbreak of the war?
Answer : Japan’s ambition to control far East was another cause of the war. It intervened in Manchuria in 1931 and in spite of the League’s opposition, occupied it. That marked the beginning of undeclared war on China by Japan.
Japan joined Berlin-Rime axis to form the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis to further its policy of expansion. In 1933, it left the League and started occupying the British and American properties in China. Britian and France felt that this appeasement policy could be used to weaken China and thus, started following the same. Thus, a war was inevitable under such circumstances.
Question 3 : State how each of the following factors were the causes of the Second World War.
i) The failure of the League of Nations.
ii) The Aggressive Nationalism of Germany.
Answer: i) The League was created after the First World War to prevent future wars. However, the League only succeeded in cases, where the parties were small nations. In 1923, there was a threat of war between Italy and Greece. Italy refused to submit to the League’s intervention. Thereafter, the League was either defied or ignored.
Moreover, the member nations were more concerned about their own interests. Besides, the League also failed to maintain international peace and the countries lost faith in its usefulness. Thereafter, they themselves entered into mutual alliances.
ii) Germany, under the Nazi Government of Hitler wanted to revive its past glory and also to avenge the humiliating Treaty of Versailles. Hitler declared re-armament in 1936 and started regaining it lost territories on all frontiers.
He annexed, Austria, occupied Rhineland and dismembered Czechoslovakia. He also set his eyes on Danzing and Poland. This aggressive policy of Germany was the main cause of the Second World War. When Germany attacked Poland ; Britain and France declared a war on Germany to stop it.