Causes of World War II
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| fascist/ˈfæʃɪst/ | Relating to an authoritarian, ultranationalist ideology that suppresses opposition and concentrates power under a dictatorial leader. |
| totalitarian/təʊˌtælɪˈteərɪən/ | Describes a system seeking comprehensive political control over public and private life and suppressing independent opposition. |
A peace that did not hold
- The causes of World War II included the unsustainable peace settlement after World War I.
- Unsustainable is the CED's own judgement about the settlement, not a description of anyone's intentions.
- So the first war's ending is the second war's first cause — the two conflicts are one chain, not two events.
Select all the causes of World War II the CED names.
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The rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes completes the four; the alliance system is a WWI cause.
Economic crisis as a cause
- The global economic crisis engendered by the Great Depression is the CED's second cause.
- 7.4 showed governments taking a more active role; where that failed, politics moved further.
- So the economic subtopic and this one are directly linked — mass unemployment is a political condition as well as an economic one.
The CED's word especially marks...
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That ranking is directly usable in a relative-significance essay.
Imperial aspirations continued
- Continued imperialist aspirations is the third cause, and the word continued is the point.
- 7.5 showed interwar states gaining territory by conquest and treaty; that did not stop in 1939.
- So the second war is partly the imperial competition of unit 6 running on into a new decade.
Which of the CED's four causes is this?
Sort each factor in the outbreak of the second war.
The CED calls the post-World War I peace settlement ____.
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So the first war's ending is the second war's first cause.
The CED ranks its own causes here, with the word especially. Three causes are listed and the fourth — the rise to power of fascist 法西斯主义 and totalitarian 极权主义 regimes — is marked as the weightiest. That is unusual in the CED, and it is directly usable evidence in a relative-significance essay.
The word "continued" in "continued imperialist aspirations" links this to earlier units.
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7.5 showed interwar states gaining territory; that did not stop in 1939.
And especially the rise of fascist and totalitarian regimes
- The CED's fourth cause carries its own emphasis: and especially the rise to power of fascist and totalitarian regimes that resulted in the aggressive militarism of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.
- Especially is the CED ranking its own causes, which is unusual and worth using.
- So an answer weighing causes has the CED's own weighting available as evidence.
Match each cause to the earlier subtopic it draws on.
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The unit is written as one chain, and the causes reach backwards.
Four causes, one already ranked
- Unsustainable peace settlement, the Depression's global economic crisis, continued imperialist aspirations, and especially fascist and totalitarian regimes.
- 7.9 will ask for the relative significance of causes of global conflict, and this is where the CED shows its hand.
- Quoting the CED's own especially is a legitimate and strong move in that essay.
Take away any of the first three and the fourth still points toward war; take away the fourth and the first three describe a decade of grievance and instability without an aggressor pursuing conquest. That asymmetry is what the CED's especially records.
The causes of World War II included the unsustainable peace settlement after World War I, the global economic crisis engendered by the Great Depression, continued imperialist aspirations, and especially the rise to power of fascist and totalitarian regimes that resulted in the aggressive militarism of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. The CED's especially is its own ranking.
Write from the Depression and fascist parties
- The Great Depression created mass unemployment.
- Fascist parties offered authoritarian answers.
How did the economic crisis affect politics?
Economic collapse widened the audience for extremist politics.
What did the Depression do to fascist parties?
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Unemployment made authoritarian promises more attractive.