War had always been a crime, no matter how necessary or justified, and someone had to pay for it. World War I had long been over, but its effects still haunted the nations, especially Germany. He had been the one to pay for the effects of war and ultimately took the blame for it, as we all see in the Treaty of Versailles. The very same treaty not only had him do that, but he was now also banned from possessing any armed forces, forming any union with Austria, and many others things. Now, the terrible irony of it all was that the Treaty of Versailles that was meant to end the First World War caused the second one.
You see the treaty stood in the way of Adolf Hitler, who was a member of a political party called Deutsche Arbeiterpatei. This political party was against the democratic, post-war government of the Deutsches Reich (or the Weimar republic as the Historians like to call it),and the Treaty of Versailles. What this party did want was to advocate extreme nationalism, Pan-Germanism, as well as bitter anti-Semitism. It was quite a scary notion, actually. Then again, with the actions of Hitler, these seemed to no longer be a notion.
By 1938, Germany had acquired Austria, who was strangely alright with being taken over. Later on, in September 1938, France and Britain handed over to him a large part of Czechoslovakia, which he had fully acquired by March of 1939. Now, everyone wondered why France and Britain hadn't done anything to stop these violations against the Treaty of Versailles, but the answer was quite simple. The two were afraid. It would lead to a repeat of World War I, and no one wanted that.
Hi, reader. Thanks for taking the time to read this story. It was actually written as a sort of reviewer for my History exams. Lol. Studying for History has never been so fun. XD
