World War II: Causes
Driving Question: What were the causes of the Second World War?
Why did another world war break out just two decades after the first? Unpack the complex causes behind the most destructive war in history. This is a story of failed diplomacy and strategic alliances in the face of global conflict.
Learning Objectives:
- Use evidence to understand how and why diplomacy failed to prevent a second world war.
- Use the historical thinking practice of causation to analyze global factors that led to the Second World War.
Vocab Terms:
- annex
- blitzkreig
- death camps
- embargo
- expansionism
- insurgent
- noncombatants
Did you know: American spies tried inventing a fart weapon. In 1944, Ernest Crocker was working at the Office of Strategic Services (the predecessor to the CIA). He created a spray called “Who, Me?” which had a powerful “fecal odor.” The idea was that French resistance fighters could discreetly apply the spray to Nazi officers, humiliating them and undermining German morale. Unfortunately, America’s spies forgot that “whoever smelt it, dealt it.” The spray was difficult to control. More often than not, it ended up contaminating the user. Despite the weapon’s failure, Crocker’s experiments led him to other breakthroughs in sensory and food technology after the war.
It wasn’t just Nazis. The interwar period elevated many different ideologies. Understanding how we define some of these terms will prepare you for this lesson.
What did he know?: Appeasement
The scenario: Students role-play Neville Chamberlain as he made five crucial decisions about how to respond to Hitler in the lead-up to World War II:
- Anschluss (annexation of Austria), March 1938
- Munich Agreement, September 1938
- Occupation of Czechoslovakia, March 1939
- Anglo-Polish Guarantee, March 1939
- Invasion of Poland, September 1939
Prompt AI to provide students with a list of what Chamberlain knew at each step (military strength, public opinion, alliances, and Hitler’s demands). Using answers to these questions—and carefully fact-checking—students then generate arguments for and against appeasement, defending their decisions in a class discussion.
Why this is genius: By stepping into the shoes of a historical actor, students practice historical empathy. AI supports their research, but students must determine what evidence mattered most at the time.
As fascist leaders rose to power, democratic nations faced difficult choices. Discover how efforts to keep peace through compromise ultimately shaped the path to another war.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What did appeasement mean in this period?
- Why did Chamberlain support appeasement?
- How did appeasement affect Hitler’s views of Britain and France?
- How has appeasement been remembered since World War II?
After you read
Respond to these questions: Do you think France and Britain could have prevented a war with fascist Germany? Why or why not?
OER Project offers several maps to help you teach the global scale of the Second World War. In addition to using our alliances and casualties map, try having students compare these two maps of the Pacific theater: Imperial Powers in 1939 and The War in the Pacific. Ask students how the two maps are related: How did imperial ambitions help spark conflict? What do these two maps tell us about the goals of the Japanese Empire?
The causes of the Second World War are many and complex. Be sure to read the Lesson Guide for sample answers that will help you guide students through this causation activity and its causal map.
World War II is often viewed as a war between good and evil—Allies and Axis—but war is more complicated and nuanced that that. Read about the causes and devastating costs of war and zoom in on one individual to assess how the choices he made reflect the nuances of war. Then, use your causation skills to create a causal map for World War II.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why is there debate about when World War II began?
- Who dominated the early years of the war in Europe?
- What led the Soviet Union to enter the war?
- Why did the United States join the war?
- What turned the tide of the war in 1942?
After you read
Respond to this question: How does weaving personal stories—such as Getz’s grandfather’s experience—into the broader narrative of World War II affect your understanding of the war?
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and in which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- Why did Subhas Chandra Bose become a member of the movement for Indian independence in the 1930s?
- Why did Bose flee to Nazi Germany?
- What did Bose do in Japanese-occupied Asia?
- Why is Bose’s legacy complicated?
- How does the artist use art and design to demonstrate the dual legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose?
After you read
Respond to this question: How do you think history should judge Bose? Was his anticolonial work more significant than his support of Axis powers?
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What is a “total war economy”?
- Why did Japan pursue conquest and colonization in Asia?
- How did the Soviet Union’s government help direct resources toward the war?
- How did the war impact the US economy?
- Why did Britain, unlike Japan, not need to conquer new territories to support its war effort?
After you read
Respond to this question: What nineteenth-century developments gave the Allied powers an edge in production and distribution during the war?
