Title: Economic Conditions That Helped Cause World War II
Headings: Economic Conditions That Helped Cause World War II
Economic Conditions That Helped Cause World War II
Key Takeaways
Pretense of Peace
Deterioration of International Trade
From Imperialism to World War
The Bottom Line

Content: Unfortunately, the combination of a poorly designed peace treaty and the most severe economic crisis the modern world had ever experienced brought about a deterioration of international relations that would culminate in a war even more calamitous than the one that preceded it. Key Takeaways
While World War II was certainly a geopolitical event, some of its underlying causes have been revealed to be economic. Reparations imposed on Germany following WWI left the company poorer and economic woes caused resentment amongst its population. The Great Depression of the 1930s and a collapse in international trade also worsened the economic situation in Europe, allowing Hitler to rise to power on the promise of revitalization. Pretense of Peace
The unfortunate irony of the Paris Peace Conference that begat the Treaty of Versailles was that, despite its authors’ best intentions to ensure a world of peace, the treaty contained a seed that when sown in the soil of economic crisis would give rise, not to peace, but to war. That seed was Article 231, which with its label “the war guilt clause” placed sole blame for the war on Germany and its need to make reparations payments as punishment. With such extensive reparations payments, Germany was forced to surrender of colonial territories and military disarmament, and Germans were naturally resentful of the treaty. As early as 1923, the newly constituted Weimar Republic began delaying payments on war reparations, which initiated a retaliatory response by France and Belgium. Both countries would send troops to occupy the industrial center of the Ruhr River valley region effectively appropriating the coal and metal production that took place there. As much of German manufacturing was dependent on coal and metal, the loss of these industries created a negative economic shock leading to a severe contraction.