How Did the Second World War Start?

A presentation by Miss Hayton

It’s all about being friends with each other!

• Some countries were friends with certain countries and not others!

• France and Britain were friendly with each other.

• Germany and Italy were friendly with each other.

How did the war start?

• To find out how the Second World War started we have to look back at the First World War.

• This map of Europe shows some of the countries involved.

How, and why did World War I start?• World War I began in 1914 and

lasted until 1918. It was supposed to be ‘The war to end all wars’.

• Countries had formed friendships or alliances with each other.

• Different countries began to build up their armies and build bigger, more powerful ships.

What was the main cause?

• Germany, Austria and Italy were allies.

• France, Britain and Russia were allies.

• A Serbian man called Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo.

What happened next?

• Gavrilo Princip was from Serbia, so Austria wanted them to apologise and pay compensation. Serbia refused, so Austria declared war.

• Russia was Serbia’s ally, so they declared war on Austria.

• Germany declared war on Russia and Serbia.

• France declared war on Austria and Germany. Italy declared war on France and Russia.

• Germany invaded Belgium, so Britain declared war.

How long did the war last?

• The war that was supposed to end by Christmas 1914 only ended on November 11th 1918.

• During the war millions of people were killed or injured.

How did World War I end?

• By September 1918 the German High Command realised that the war was lost.

• The Armistice was signed at 11 a.m. on November 11th 1918.

• In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed.

What did the treaty do?

• Many people were determined to stop war happening again.

• A League of Nations was established to enable countries to keep peace.

• Germany was made to take the blame.

What happened after the war?• Germany was

made to pay out huge sums of money in compensation.

• They were also made to give up some land.

• Germany was also forced to reduce the size of her armies and to sink her ships.

• As a result the country became bankrupt.

What happened next?

• The country had no money, people had no jobs and were starving.

• Some people resented the status and money that others, such as Jews had. Jews were persecuted and made to give up their jobs and money

• Adolf Hitler rose to power with promises to help the German people.

• He set up youth groups and spoke at rallies.

The situation got worse!

• All over Europe, people began to suffer as jobs disappeared.

• Germany began to re-build her ships and build up her armies.

What did we do?

• The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain believed that he could negotiate with Adolf Hitler.

• He met Herr Hitler at Munich in 1938 and declared the meeting was successful, ‘Peace in our time’ he said.

Was it ‘Peace in our time’?

• Unfortunately not!• Germany, with the

support of her allies, continued to invade other countries.

• In September 1939 Britain issued an ultimatum, after Germany invaded Poland. It was ignored, so war was declared.

What happened first?

• War was declared on September 3rd 1939.