1. WORLD WAR II
CHAPTER 1: RISE OF FASCISM
World War IIwas a global war that started in 1937 in Asia, and 1939 in Europe. All major
powers were involvedin the conflict,and fighting raged across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Because of
the state of a total war, lines between civilian and military targets had blurred, and thus brought
unprecedented casualties to civilian populations by methods such as strategic bombing, mass
murder, and the use of atomic weapons. The war had resulted in an estimated 50 to 80 million
deaths, making World War IIthe most lethal conflictin human history.
World War IIwas caused by many struggles that surfaced in the interwar period, the time
between the end of World War I (1918) and the start of World War II(1939). The Triple Entente
had emerged victoriousin World WarI, and had made effortsto prevent future wars by imposing
harsh reparations against Germany and establishing the League of Nations at the 1919 Paris Peace
Conference. Despite this, strong nationalist sentiment had remained in Germany, and gave rise to
new dictatorships during the interwar period.
Of all the long-term causes to the war, some of the most significant started within just a few
years of after the end of World War I in 1918. The newly established League of Nations was not up
to the task in which its creator, Woodrow Wilson, envisioned. The rise of Italian fascism and the
increased military authority in Japanese politics had created politicalinstability that alluded to
military aggression. Chief of the causes of World War II was the takeover of Germany by the Nazi
Party in 1933. All three totalitarian states achieved absolute power and authority in distinctive
waysin the years leading up to World War II.