Historical sources on the causes of WWII

Preamble 

"BEARING IN MIND that on the request of the Imperial German Government an armistice was granted on 11 November 1918 to Germany by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in order that a Treaty of Peace might be concluded with her, and 

THE ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS being equally desirous that the war in which they were successively involved directly or indirectly and which originated in the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on 28 July 1914 against Serbia, the declaration of war by Germany against Russia on 1 August 1914, and against France on 3 August 1914, and in the invasion of Belgium, should be replaced by a firm and durable peace, 

FOR THIS PURPOSE the HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries…" 

Article 42. 

Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine. 

Article 43. 

In the area defined above, the maintenance and the assembly of armed forces, either permanently or temporarily, and military manoeuvres of any kind, as well as the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilization, are in the same way forbidden. 

Article 44. 

In case Germany violates in any manner whatever the provisions of Articles 42 and 43, she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the Powers signatory of the present Treaty and as calculated to disturb the peace of the world... 

Article 231.  

The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies... 

Contextual information:

The Treaty of Versailles was the main peace treaty concluding World War I between Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers, signed on 28 June 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles after months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference. It imposed territorial losses, military restrictions (including the demilitarisation of the Rhineland), and reparations on Germany, and included the controversial Article 231, which stated that Germany accepted responsibility for the loss and damage caused by the war. 

Bibliographical reference:

Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany (Treaty of Versailles). (1919). Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919 (including Articles 42–44 and 231). London, United Kingdom: His Majesty’s Stationery Office. 

Copyright: Public domain 

"Law concerning the Reunion of Austria with the German Reich, March 13, 1938 

The Reich Government has ordained the following law, which is hereby proclaimed: 

The Federal Constitutional Law of March 13, 1938, ordained by the Austrian Federal Government, concerning the reunion of Austria with the German Reich, hereby becomes a law of the German Reich. It has the following text: 

By virtue of Article 3, Section 2, of the Federal Constitutional Law concerning extraordinary measures in the constitutional field (R.G. Blatt, I, No. 255, 1934), the Federal Government has ordained: 

ARTICLE I. Austria is a province of the German Reich. 

ARTICLE II. On Sunday, April 10, 1938, a free and secret plebiscite shall be held for German men and women of Austria over twenty years of age on the question of reunion with the German Reich… 

[Signed] Vienna, March 13, 1938. 

The laws at present in force in Austria shall remain in force until further notice. The introduction of Reich law into Austria will be effected by the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor or by the Reich Minister to whom he may delegate this power."  

Contextual information:

This law was issued in March 1938, shortly after German troops crossed into Austria and the Nazi leadership forced the Austrian government to accept union with Germany. The measure was later used as evidence at the Nuremberg Trials to demonstrate German aggression, and historians commonly refer to this annexation as the Anschluss, from the German word for "joining" or "connection." 

Bibliographical reference:

Law concerning the reunion of Austria with the German Reich, March 13, 1938. (1938). In Reichsgesetzblatt (Part I, p. 237), translated in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Vol. 4, Document 2307-PS. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.  

Copyright: Public domain

"Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking into consideration the agreement, which has been already reached in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed on the following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they each hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its fulfillment... 

"Agreement between Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, concluded in Munich, on 29 September 1938."  

Contextual information:

The Munich Agreement was signed in Munich on 29 September 1938 by representatives of Germany, Britain, France, and Italy, without the participation of the Czechoslovak government. It required Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland (its heavily fortified, largely German-speaking border region) to Germany, a key moment in the policy later known as ‘appeasement’, by which Britain and France accepted German territorial demands in the hope of avoiding war. 

Bibliographical reference:

Munich Agreement. (1938, September 29). Abkommen zwischen Deutschland, dem Vereinigten Königreich, Frankreich und Italien, getroffen in München, am 29. September 1938 [Agreement between Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, concluded in Munich, on 29 September 1938]. In Akten zur Deutschen Auswärtigen Politik 1918–1945, Series D, Vol. 2: Deutschland und die Tschechoslowakei (1937–1938) (Doc. 675, pp. 812–814). Baden-Baden, Germany: Imprimerie Nationale. 

Copyright: Public domain

"Tonight my single duty is to speak to the whole of America. Until 4:30 this morning I had hoped against hope that some miracle would prevent a devastating war in Europe and bring to an end the invasion of Poland by Germany. For 4 long years a succession of actual wars and constant crises have shaken the entire world and have threatened in each case to bring on the gigantic conflict which is today unhappily a fact. It is right that I should recall to your minds the consistent and at times successful efforts of your Government in these crises to throw the full weight of the United States into the cause of peace. In spite of spreading wars I think that we have every right and every reason to maintain as a national policy the fundamental moralities, the teachings of religion, and the continuation of efforts to restore peace—for some day, though the time may be distant, we can be of even greater help to a crippled humanity." 

Contextual information:

Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered this radio address to the American people on 3 September 1939, the same day Britain and France declared war on Germany following its invasion of Poland. As President of the United States, Roosevelt explained that a "devastating war in Europe" had begun with the German attack on Poland, even while he emphasised that the United States would initially remain neutral. 

Bibliographical reference:

Roosevelt, F. D. (1939, September 3). Radio address to the nation on the outbreak of war in Europe [Fireside chat transcript]. In Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt (official presidential papers). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Copyright: Public domain