Was world war 2 a continuation of world war 1?
No. The unsatisfactory ending of WW1, the Paris Peace Conference, the unworkable Treaty of Versailles and the failure of theLeague of Nations (unsupported by the US) were certainly contributory factors to the rise of facism in Germany and the establishment of the Reich – but far from guaranteed another global conflict. In particluar the formation of Poland in the settlement was contenious and would eventually prove to be the flashpoint that escalated hostilities in Europe when Germany (and Russia) took it over. The Pacific War was more of about Japan being opportunistic once the European powers were at war and could not defend their colonies in Asia. Itn short it was more about the Axis Powers (Germany Italy and Japan) hankering after empires of their own (Germany having lost its colonies in WW1) than anything else.
Good question, I really had to think on this one. It is really difficult to say. I would not say “continuation”. Japan took it’s membership in the alliance of WW1 to begin it aim for a greater Japanese Empire. This is the closest link to making WW2 a continuation of WW1. In WW1 the Japanese military became so powerful that they quickly seized control of the government, in part due to the failure of the European powers to properly recognize Japans contribution to the war weakened the Japanese government. (WW1) The way WW1 ended in an armistice with Treaty of Versailles being nearly a year later makes it difficult to separate the 2 wars. For what motivated Germany to arms in mass was the Treaty of Versailles. In my opinion from when Gavrilo Princip fired his first shot, to the fall of the Soviet Union all relates to one another. I do no tthink one would get a clear picture of the cold war without WW2, nor WW2 without WW1.
ww1 and ww2 were the same war.This has happened many times in history like in the 30 years war,in the 7 years war and in the 100 years war,were we see the war stopping for many years for the participants to gather forces and then to begin fighting again. The correct name for the united world wars is the ”Second Thirty Years War”,the term also includes the russian civil war,the polish-soviet war,the spanish civil war and the greco-turkish war. The reason the correct name of the war isn’t used is because people got used of the terms ww1 and 2 and it would be weird and unsuccessful if we changed it now.
Bonnie, more of a “loose link” rather than a direct continuation. One reason was the reparations assessed against Germany for the damage of WW I. The war was essentially fought within a 100 mile square radius and mostly in France. The damage within that arena was devasting. I am attaching a brief description below and a link to a book that is easy to understand and read. John Maynard Keynes leads you through reasons as to why he resigned his position with the British Government during the Treaty phase. Sir Winston Churchill would consult with Keynes prior to his death and employ a more reasonable approach for the German nation following Hitler’s loss of the war. Best of luck, Gerry D.
