Abstract
A. J. P. Taylor in his The Origins of the Second World War remarks that ‘Wars are very much like road accidents. They have a general cause and particular causes at the same time’. From 1936 onwards the atmosphere in Europe was one of an increasing polarisation of attitudes into extremisms, which left little scope for compromise. At the same time, collective security through the League of Nations had broken down, and Britain and France in particular were reluctant to assume a very positive stance until it was too late. The result was that Hitler was able to exploit opportunities as they arose, until he finally miscalculated.
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Further reading
Gelber, H.G., The Coming of the Second World War (Warne, 1967).
Gilbert, M., The Roots of Appeasement (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1966).
Henig, R., The Origins of the Second World War, 1933–39 (Routledge, Lancaster Pamphlets Series, 1985).
Hiden, J.W., Germany and Europe, 1919–1939 (Longman, 1977).
Rayner, E.G., The Great Dictators (Hodder & Stoughton, 1992).
Robbins, K., Appeasement (Basil Blackwell, Historical Association Pamphlets, 1988).
Taylor, A.J.P., The Origins of the Second World War (Hamish Hamilton, 1961).
Thomas, H., The Spanish Civil War (Penguin, 1961).
Wheeler-Bennett, J.W., Munich (Macmillan, 1948).
Wiskemann, E., Europe of the Dictators, 1919–1945 (Fontana, 1966).
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© 1997 Stuart T. Miller
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Miller, S. (1997). The road to war 1936–9. In: Mastering Modern European History. Macmillan Master Series. Red Globe Press, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13789-3_28
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13789-3_28
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