WAS THE SECOND WORLD WAR INEVITABLE?       2600W

When discussing the links between the end of World War One and the beginning of World War Two, it is key to call into question its inevitability, or indeed its unlikeliness. This essay will outline and discuss the issues arising in the time separating the two events, and if these affected the occurrence of The Second World War.

To a modern audience, we recognise World War One as a total war, which caused immense devastation not only in terms of the amount of lives lost, but also to the land and the psychosis of those involved and those at home. H.A Clement describes the aftermath of World War One,

Nearly a million men from the British Empire alone had lost their lives; the causalities of France, Russia, Germany, and Austria were considerably more. This loss of a generation, with the aftermath of disease, starvation, and homelessness, was the real cost of war[1]

When looking at these horrifying results of a horrifying war, it is easy to call into question why this would be repeated. Despite these results, in many ways, another war did seem inevitable. The period immediately following the conclusion of World War One was like a pot slowly boiling. The end of World War One heated up the ensuing atmosphere.