The immediate cause of the Second World War was the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. Britain and France got involved by declaring war on Germany, and soon Europe and the wider world were involved in the War. However, the underlying causes of the war are much more complicated than what it seems to be. There were many factors that had contributed to the initiation of the war; the major ones were the Treaty of Versailles, the emergence of fascism and communism, the hatred of Jews, the Great Depression, the failure of the League of Nations, and the rise of dictators.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed to make the Great War "the war to end all wars." It would cripple Germany by demanding $33 billion reparation, the huge loss of its territories, and the limitation of size of the German army...