Read the summary and the most important questions on History for the IB Diploma: Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars | 9780521189316 | Michael Wells; Mike Wells

• 3.1 The Origins and the Causes of the Second World War

• Was the Second World War just one war?

  No. The Second World War was made up of a number of linked conflicts. 

• What was the First Conflict within the Second World War?

  1937-1945: The War between China and Japan

• What was the start of the European War in the Second World War?

  1939: 
  

  • 1st September: German attack on Poland
    
  • 3rd September:Anglo-French declaration of War on Germany

• When did Italy join the war and on what side?

  Italy joined Germany in the war in 1940. 

• Where did Germany invade in 1941?

  Germany invaded Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania, and finally Russia. 

• What happened in Southeast Asia in 1941 in the Second World War?

  1941: Japan invaded the possessions of the USA, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal in Southeast Asia

• What did Russia do in 1945?

  1945: Russia declared war on Japan.

• 3.1.1 What were the main long term causes?

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• What quote introduces the idea that it was same issues that causes WW1 that provoked WW2?

  "The Second World War was, in large part, a repeat performance of the First" - A.J.P Taylor

• 3.1.1.1 The First World War

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• What examples are there of Political Instability caused by the First World War?

  1. Collapse of Austro-Hungarian Empire; leaving unstable smaller states
  2. Russian Empire had given way to new states; had also given way to new political and economic system (communism) which declared itself hostile to all others
  3. Britain and France who had lacked the will and means to direct European Affairs in 1914 were even more so after WW1
  4. USA withdrew into isolationism 

• Why was the 1917 revolution so crucial in the breakdown of the wartime allied alliance and confused Germany policy?

  Russia: 
  1917 revolution had profound effects; 
  

  • firstly removing Russia temporarily from diplomatic scene 
  • Success and imitation in  Hungary (March 1919) and Bavaria (April 1919) increased fear amongst the democratic powers; and meant policy towards Germany became ambiguous

  
  Why was worse, Germany or a Communist Russia? Might not a relatively strong conservative Germany be used as a bulwark against communism?