To what extent can the outbreak of the Second World War be explained solely in terms on Nazi Germany’s foreign policy?

Introduction

Nazi Germany’s highly aggressive foreign policy was clearly an important cause of the Second World War but to suggest that it is the only cause is a dramatic oversimplification. Alongside Nazi foreign policy we can identify at least five other closely interlinked causes: the Treaty of Versailles, the failure of the League of Nations, the economic Depression of the 1930s, the policy of Appeasement and Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939.

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Clearly, the expansionist ambition of Nazi foreign policy was a very important cause of the war. As early as 1920 the Nazi Party programme had called for the “annulling of the Treaty of Versailles”….

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Perhaps the most significant long-term cause was the Treaty of Versailles…

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Secondly, the failure of the League of Nations in Manchuria and Abyssinia was also very important…

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Thirdly, the changing economic context was critical in producing a turning point in international relations…

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The foreign policies of Britain and France must also carry some of the responsibility…

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Finally, the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed prior to the outbreak of war was perhaps the most immediate cause of the war and the moment at which war became almost inevitable…

Conclusion

Wars can probably never be explained as being the result of “solely” any single factor…