The Origins of the Second World War : an International Perspective

Many major world events have occurred since the last key anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, and these events have had a dramatic impact on the international stage: 9/11, the Iraq War, climate change and the world economic crisis. This is an opportune moment to bring together a group of major international experts who will offer a series of new interpretations of the key aspects of the origins of the Second World War. Each chapter is based on original archival research and written by scholars who are all leading experts in their fields. This is a truly international collection of articles, with wide breadth and scope, which includes contributions from historians, and also political scientists, gender theorists, and international relations experts. This is an important contribution to scholarly debate on one of the most important events of the 20th century and a subject of major interest to the general reader, historians, students and researchers, policy makers and conflict prevention experts. 9781441107732 Continuum International Publishing Group Contributors 9 Introduction 14 Frank McDonough 14 Chapter 1 28 The Versailles Settlement: The Start of the Road to the Second World War? 28 Alan Sharp 28 Chapter 2 47 The League of Nations: An Idea before its Time? 47 Ruth Henig 47 Chapter 3 63 An Ideological Genealogy of Imperial Era Japanese Militarism 63 M.G. Sheftall 63 Chapter 4 79 Italian Foreign Policy and the Road to War 1918–39: Ambitions and Delusions of the Least of the Great Powers 79 R.J.B. Bosworth 79 Chapter 5 95 The Failure of Détente? German–French Relations between Stresemann and Hitler, 1929–321 95 Conan Fischer 95 Chapter 6 114 Hitler, German Foreign Policy and the Road to War: A German Perspective 114 Lars Lüdicke Translated by Peter Bierl 114 Chapter 7 123 Germany’s Twisted Road to War, 1919–39 123 Jürgen Förster 123 8 139 The Prussian Tradition, the Myth of the Blitzkrieg and the Illusion of German Military Dominance, 1939–41 139 Robert M. Citino 139 Chapter 9 157 Guilty Men? Three British Foreign Secretaries of the 1930s 157 David Dutton 157 Chapter 10 181 Neville Chamberlain and the Consequences of the Churchillian Hegemony 181 John Charmley 181 Chapter 11 199 When Instinct Clouds Judgement: Neville Chamberlain and the Pursuit of Appeasement with Nazi Germany, 1937–9 199 Frank McDonough 199 Chapter 12 218 Missed Opportunities? Intelligence and the British Road to War 218 Kevin Quinlan and Calder Walton 218 Chapter 13 236 Appeasement: A Critical Evaluation Seventy Years On 236 Jeffrey Record 236 Chapter 14 251 A Very English Channel: Britain and French Appeasement 251 Robert J. Young 251 Chapter 15 275 Politics, Strategy and Economics: A Comparative Analysis of British and French ‘Appeasement’ 275 Talbot Imlay 275 Chapter 16 291 Neutrality ‘de jour’: Switzerland and the Italo-Abyssinian War of 1935–6 291 Neville Wylie and Marco Wyss 291 Chapter 17 307 The European Neutrals and the Second World War 307 Efraim Karsh 307 Chapter 18 324 The International Dimensions of the Spanish Civil War 324 Enrique Moradiellos 324 Chapter 19 340 The Middle East and the Coming of War 340 T.G. Fraser 340 Chapter 20 355 The ‘Jewish Question’ and its Impact on International Affairs, 1914–39 355 Mark Levene 355 Chapter 21 373 The Sudeten Crisis of 1938: Beneš and Munich 373 Milan Hauner 373 Chapter 22 387 Poland and the Origins of the Second World War 387 Piotr S. Wandycz 387 Chapter 23 407 Poland, the ‘Danzig Question’ and the Outbreak of the Second World War 407 Anita J Prażmowska 407 Chapter 24 422 Stalin and the Outbreak of the Second World War 422 Geoffrey Roberts 422 Chapter 25 442 American Isolationism and the Coming of the Second World War 442 Manfred Jonas 442 Chapter 26 459 A Pivotal Power: The United States and the International System of the Inter-War Period 459 Patrick O. Cohrs 459 Chapter 27 479 Japanese Foreign Policy and the Outbreak of the Asia-Pacific War: the Search for a Modus Vivendi in US–Japanese Relations after July 1941 479 Haruo Iguchi 479 Chapter 28 495 Economics and the Origins of the Second World War 495 Richard J. Overy 495 Chapter 29 520 Historians at War 520 Anthony Adamthwaite 520 Index of Persons 538 Contributors......Page 9 Frank McDonough......Page 14 Alan Sharp......Page 28 Ruth Henig......Page 47 M.G. Sheftall......Page 63 R.J.B. Bosworth......Page 79 Conan Fischer......Page 95 Lars Lüdicke Translated by Peter Bierl......Page 114 Jürgen Förster......Page 123 Robert M. Citino......Page 139 David Dutton......Page 157 John Charmley......Page 181 Frank McDonough......Page 199 Kevin Quinlan and Calder Walton......Page 218 Jeffrey Record......Page 236 Robert J. Young......Page 251 Talbot Imlay......Page 275 Neville Wylie and Marco Wyss......Page 291 Efraim Karsh......Page 307 Enrique Moradiellos......Page 324 T.G. Fraser......Page 340 Mark Levene......Page 355 Milan Hauner......Page 373 Piotr S. Wandycz......Page 387 Anita J Prażmowska......Page 407 Geoffrey Roberts......Page 422 Manfred Jonas......Page 442 Patrick O. Cohrs......Page 459 Haruo Iguchi......Page 479 Richard J. Overy......Page 495 Anthony Adamthwaite......Page 520 Index of Persons......Page 538