[Music] hi everybody today we're going to look at the main causes of world war ii there were 10 main causes of world war ii and we're going to look at each one of them in this video we'll explore the treaty of versailles hitler's foreign policy aims hitler's actions the munich conference the weakness of the league of nations the policy of appeasement the nazi soviet pact the polish corridor japanese aggression in the east and american isolation okay let's kick things off with the treaty of versailles after world war one germany was forced to sign the treaty of versailles which severely punished germany germans greatly resented this terms of the treaty included germany had to sign a war guild clause accepting full responsibility for world war one they had to pay 6.6 billion pounds in reparations they could not enter the rhineland they lost the polish corridor the german army was reduced to 100 000 men and union with austria was forbidden [Music] up next we have hitler's foreign policy aims hitler wanted to make germany great again but this aim was bound to disturb peace in europe because it meant taking over non-german territory his foreign policy had three main aims to unite all german-speaking people to form a greater germany to abolish the treaty of versailles and to obtain liebenstrom or living space in eastern europe for his greater germany [Music] hitler's actions were also a cause of world war ii as soon as he came to power he began to destroy the treaty of versailles in 1935 rearmament began in 1936 hitler re-militarized the rhineland in 1938 he united germany and austria which was called the angelus [Music] so up next we have the munich conference next hitler laid claim to the sedatin land so this was the german-speaking part of czech slovakia czech slovakia however refused to hand the sedate and land over britain france and italy all met hitler at the munich conference in 1938 to sort the issue out czech slovakia however was not invited at the end of this conference the czechs were forced to hand over the sedating land when chamberlain came home he claimed to have achieved peace in our time but six months later hitler took over the rest of czech slovakia hitler could no longer claim to be uniting all german-speaking people as he was not welcomed in the rest of czech slovakia as he had been in the sedation land austria and rhineland [Music] the weakness of the league of nations was another cause of world war ii the league of nations was set up after world war one to promote international cooperation and achieve international peace but they failed to stop hitler japan or mussolini from expanding beyond their borders the league of nations had a number of weaknesses first up america did not join second all decisions had to be unanimous and thirdly the league had no army to protect weaker countries [Music] the policy of appeasement is our next cause britain and france gave in to hitler's demands because they followed a policy called appeasement they believed that if they gave into hitler's demands then they would avoid war so the nazi soviet pact is cause number seven the fascists or the nazis and the communists hated each other but in 1939 hitler and stalin surprised the world when they signed the nazi soviet pact they agreed to a 10-year non-aggression pact with which hitler later broke they agreed to divide poland between themselves this pact meant that hitler could invade poland without risking war on his eastern side the nazi soviet pact also gave stalin time to build up his army after it had been severely damaged by his purges and show trials [Music] so cause number eight is the polish corridor the polish corridor separated germany from one of her provinces east prussia hitler demanded the return of the polish corridor but poland refused britain and france supported poland but hitler believed that they were too far away to actually help poland and because britain and france had been following a policy of appeasement hitler didn't think they'd do anything anyway on the 1st of september 1939 hitler invaded poland [Music] two days later on the 3rd of september 1939 britain and france declared war on germany so cause number nine is japanese aggression in the east japan expanded into china in the 1930s the league of nations failed to stop this japan also invaded indochina which is vietnam today and the u.s imposed economic sanctions as a result [Music] japan decided to destroy the u.s pacific fleet at pearl harbor hawaii this attack on pearl harbor in december of 1941 brought the united states into the war our final cause is american isolation america did not join the league of nations after world war one even though america was the most powerful country in the world she hoped to stay isolated and away from any future conflict however america was forced to take action because of japanese expansion in [Music] asia for watching everybody bye