How the II world war started?

Answer 1

The build up to WWII was done on several fronts: Hitler had claimed parts of Czechoslovakia and invaded it without outbreak of global war, and Austria was annexed to Germany 1938. The Germans said that they wanted justice for the "harsh peace treaty of WWI" in Versailles by the Entente powers, e.g. restoring former German territories and "Lebensraum" especially where many Germanspeakers lived. That was one of the reasons Hitler was elected in the first place. Italy had conquered African territories and Japan had been warring in China/Manchuria since early 30s. These three made a tripartite "Axis pact" as a continuation of the "pact of steel" (Hitler & Mussolini). Stalin-Soviet claimed parts of Finland in the summer of 1939 mobilising at the border. According to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Poland was to be divided between Hitler and Stalin. Also Mussolini was prepared to launch war.

Adolf Hitler gave the order for German troops to attack Poland in the morning of 1/9 1939, announced as a "retaliation to Polish aggression". Following the pact, thus the Red Army soon invaded Poland, simultaneously with the Wehrmacht, and later Finland. As the UK and France had a defense agreement with Poland, the WWII was a fact when these declared war against Germany 3/9, and the war started to become global. Unfortunatly because they did little in the first few months of the war (assuming you know the German tactic of Blitzkrieg) the Germans named their lack of combat Sitzkrieg or sit-down war as a form of crude humor. Most countries were neutral in the beginning, trying to escape the hell of war, but in 1940 most of Europe was affected and largely under German rule. So in June 1941 it was basically Britain with its commonwealth that stood alone against Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Hirohito, when France was ruled by nazifriendly Pétain. But Britain's involvement in Africa and Asia brought this conflict to the colonial areas where Italy and Japan were expanding, e.g. Egypt and Burma, making it truly global in 1941 and not only on European soil. Hitler and Stalin had been discussing in 1940 how to divide the British territories between them but that ended with operation Barbarossa. Even to the end in 1945 countries went on declaring war, e.g. Soviet against Japan.

Consequently responsibility for WWII is shared between the Axis powers and the WWI entente creating grudge to the Germans allowing Hitler to have support. Actually many people outside Germany supported the antisemitic policies and Hitler's way of creating "order" in the country, so clash was between territorial interests more than ideologies in the beginning. Racism was strong in France, USA, Soviet, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Sweden etc (even Britons can be accused) and Stalin taught Hitler how to run concentration camps. So responsibility is also shared by all people knowing about the national socialist ideology and not speaking out protests publicly.