When discussing the start of wars, it makes sense to separate the causes for the war into two

categories
1. Underlying causes make the atmosphere

one in which war is highly likely 2. Immediate causes events that directly precede the war which directly contributed to its beginning

Treaty of Versailles 2. The Great Depression 3. The rise of Hitler and the Nazis 4. The failure of the League of Nations 5. Extreme Nationalism 6. The unwillingness of the democratic governments of the world to intervene in places like Germany, Spain, Italy
1.

The Appeasement Crises (1936-39)

Appeasement is a policy whereby when a

country becomes aggressive, the other countries give in to their demands to try to keep the peace As Hitler became more aggressive in reasserting Germanys international power, Britain and France practiced appeasement

Rhineland
In March 1936, Hitler sent his troops back into

the Rhineland. Instead of forcing Hitler to comply with Versailles, the British and French did nothing

Austria
In March 1938, Hitler took advantage of Nazi

agitations in Austria to send German troops into Austria and annex it to Germany

Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia was created from the

dismembered Austro-Hungarian Empire and included 3 million ethnic Germans in the mountainous region right next to Germany, the Sudetenland In searching to extend his racial empire, Hitler wanted the Sudetenland given to Germany

On Oct 1, 1938, Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia to gain the Sudetenland The Czechs were allied with the French and felt that they could defend the mountainous Sudetenland for some time against the Germans The French and British panicked thinking that Czech resistance would lead to general war

A conference was called in Munich, Germany to try to mediate the problem.

Hitler was asked what hed need to avoid

war, he said the Sudetenland. France and England gave it to him the wishes of the Czechs were ignored (their Prime Minister was not allowed into the conference) The Germans invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March of 1939appeasement was proven bankrupt

Winston Churchill, denouncing the Agreement in the House of Commons: "We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat... you will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi rgime. We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude...we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road...we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies: "Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting". And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time."

The Nazi-Soviet Pact

The Soviet Union had played virtually no role

in the various acts of appeasement Hitler had always hated communists and made no secret of this fact and his long term plan was to create lebensraum (living space) for the German people out of the vast lands of the Soviet Union Stalin (rightly) feared Hitlers designs and the two countries seemed completely irreconcilable

On Aug 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union shocked the world by announcing a non-aggression pact between the two countries It was a cynical move by both to buy time

Stalin to continue building up for the inevitable

Secretly divided Poland between the two of them, Germany invaded Poland and kicked off the Second World War

war to come with Germany Hitler to avoid the two-front war that he felt destroyed Germany in WWI