Causes of World War II
A major cause of the second world war was the dissatisfaction of the political boundaries imposed at the end of the first world war by both the Germans and Italians. Germany, who was on the losing side of the previous world war, lost significant portions of territory, including the Polish Corridor, border lands along the Polish border, and critical industrial sectors along the western French border. It was also forced to pay suffocating reparations to pay for the damage from WWI. It was natural for it to seek to regain its military might. Once this was achieved, it was prepared to avenge its loss in WWI. and reassert itself as the dominant power in Central Europe and perhaps most or all of Europe. Though Italy was on the victorious Allied side during WWI, they paid a steep price in its contribution to victory. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives fighting the Austrians. Despite this, the Allies went back on their promises of land along the eastern banks of the Adriatic Sea, which was instead awarded to Yugoslavia. Italians were seriously upset at the minimal gains they were ceded in light of the heavy cost they paid to fight the Austrians along their own border.The social and economic turbulence that gripped Europe during the Global Depression gave rise to dictatorship-led governments, in order to establish order (although at the expense of individual liberties). When democracy and capitalism failed to pull nations out of the depression, fascist governments gained favor throughout much of Europe. including Germany and Italy. Hitler and Mussolini instituted tight social and economic controls, typical of fascist governments. Fervent nationalism and militarism are also typical of fascism, which drove both nations to build-up their militarily and seek to expand at the expense of neighboring nations. The Allied powers who enforced the status quo established after WWI, were unwilling to intervene when Germany began to once again assert itself as a militarized power. Although in violation of the peace treaty ending WWI, the Allies stood by as Germany rebuilt its military, annexed Austria, and invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. They also refused to act when Italy invaded Albania in 1939. As a result, Germany was confident in its ability to continue its invasions into Poland in 1939, which did finally elicit a declaration of war from the Allies. On the other side of the world in Japan the industrial expansion had turned the country into a major manufacturing and industrial power that required raw materials; however, these had to be obtained from overseas, as there was a critical lack of natural resources on the home islands.In the early 20th century, Japan needed to import raw materials such as iron, rubber, and oil to maintain strong economic growth. Most of these resources came from the United States. The Japanese felt that acquiring resource-rich territories would establish economic self-sufficiency and independence, and they also hoped to jump-start the nation's economy in the midst of the depression. As a result Japan set its sights on Asia with its many resources.
Death Toll
Death toll in World War II
World War II fatality statistics vary, with estimates of total dead of 60 million. The sources cited in this article document an estimated death toll in World War II of 62 to 78 million, making it the deadliest war in world history in absolute terms of total dead but not in terms of deaths relative to the world population. When scholarly sources differ on the number of deaths in a country, a range of war losses is given, in order to inform readers that the death toll is disputed. Civilians killed totaled from 40 to 52 million, including 13 to 20 million from war-related disease and famine. Total military dead: from 22 to 25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war.