History: What really led to The Second World War?

After only a decade post-1918, despite ‘the war to end all wars’, Britain and Germany went to war again in 1939 – a war which was more total in that civilian involvement and casualties were far greater than any preceding one. Unmatched in its ferocity, the conflict claimed about 30 million deaths - half of them civilian - and even those who were not born then often feel it as part of their experience or, at very least, holds enduring interest…

Why then did Britain really declare war against Nazi Germany after unremittingly pursuing a policy of appeasement? Was it in defence of Poland or was there another underlying agenda? Why did France not stop Hitler when it could ‘easily’ have done so in 1936? What was the so-called ‘Maginot Mindedness’ of France and what role did the ‘Great Wall of France’ - much admired by Italy – play? Mussolini – Italy’s first fascist dictator – has often been relatively down-played or belittled; the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon, remarked on Mussolini’s visit to London in 1922 that: ‘He is really quite absurd.’ So why was Britain so concerned about Italy’s ambitions and what were they? What was Italy’s diplomatic role in the prelude to war?

Beginning with the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First or ‘Great’ War of 1914-1918, the residual resentments and fears of Germany, Italy and France will be evaluated to see how they influenced Britain’s path to war…