7.6 Causes of World War II Flashcards
Use these 30 flashcards to master Topic 7.6 by tracking the major causes of World War II. You will practice factual recall, comparison, and AP causation writing across treaty disputes, economic instability, expansionism, and diplomatic failure while correcting common misconceptions before exam day.
What you'll master
- How Versailles grievances and revisionism fed long-term instability.
- Why Depression-era shocks strengthened extremist and militarist policies.
- How League failures weakened collective security.
- Comparisons of German, Italian, and Japanese expansionist aims.
- Why appeasement and failed diplomacy accelerated escalation.
- AP thesis, evidence, and causation moves for Topic 7.6.
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Topic Intro
Topic 7.6 explains why global war returned in 1939 after two decades of fragile peace. Long-term tensions from the Treaty of Versailles fed revisionist politics, especially where leaders portrayed settlement terms as illegitimate and temporary. The Great Depression then deepened political polarization and made aggressive economic and territorial policies more attractive in several states. Institutions meant to preserve peace, especially the League of Nations, struggled to enforce collective security during major crises in Asia, Africa, and Europe. At the same time, authoritarian regimes embraced expansionism as strategy and ideology, testing international limits through incremental moves such as remilitarization, annexation, and coercive diplomacy. Democratic powers often responded with appeasement, shaped by war trauma and strategic constraints, but these concessions frequently encouraged further demands. Diplomatic mistrust between ideological rivals further narrowed options for coordinated resistance to aggression. The Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939 removed a key diplomatic barrier to invasion, and Germany's attack on Poland triggered wider war. For AP World analysis, treat the causes of WWII as interactive: unresolved postwar disputes, economic disruption, institutional weakness, and calculated political choices worked together to produce escalation.
Why it matters
This topic clarifies how multiple pressures, not one trigger alone, collapsed interwar peace and produced a second global conflict.
Exam move
In AP essays, rank causes and build a chain: postwar tensions and depression to policy choices and diplomatic breakdown, then to 1939 outbreak.
FAQs
Was Versailles the only major cause of World War II?
No. Versailles mattered, but depression-era shocks, expansionist regimes, and diplomatic failures were also central causes.
Why did the League of Nations fail to prevent escalation?
The League lacked consistent great-power support and coercive enforcement, so aggressors often ignored or outlasted sanctions.
How did the Great Depression contribute to war causes?
Economic crisis intensified political extremism, weakened cooperation, and pushed some states toward militarized expansion.
Did appeasement cause World War II by itself?
Appeasement alone did not cause the war, but repeated concessions reduced deterrence and encouraged revisionist risks.
What AP strategy works best for Topic 7.6 essays?
Use specific events and explain causation step by step, showing how multiple factors interacted before 1939.