This German Militarism research paper attempts to make the case that the primary cause of World War II was German aggression and militarism. The German Militarism research paper take the position that there was every chance that the war could have been averted if there had been an exertion on the part of the two democracies, France and Britain, in the direction of reigning in and controlling both Hitler’s military build-up and his expansionism. The democracies, wishing to avoid at all costs a general European war like the one that had overwhelmed Europe in the years 1914-1918, took the course of appeasement. They allowed Hitler to rearm in contravention of the Versailles treaty, did not confront him when he occupied the Rhineland, turned a blind eye to the Anschluss, and handed him Czechoslovakia. They drew the line at Poland, but by that time Hitler had become so strong that it would take a six year long blood bath to bring him down. The policy of the chief appeaser, Neville Chamberlain was pusillanimous and the price of that pusillanimity was a titanic loss of life.
B.H. Liddell Hart states, “If you allow anyone to stoke up a boiler until the steam-pressure rises beyond danger-point, the real responsibility for any resultant explosion will lie with you.” French and British statesmen willfully deluded themselves about the nature of the German regime. They turned a blind eye to German violations of the Versailles Treaty, allowing him to construct a U-Boat arm, build a powerful land army, and create the Luftwaffe. The evidence that Hitler had an insatiable appetite for territory was before them and they ignored it. The militaristic nature of the regime was readily apparent. Quite apart from the blatant rearmament, there was the tone and rhetoric of the regime. Hitler’s Germany became an armed camp out of which was issued a torrent of threats; the diplomatic response was to attempt to buy him off by conceding whatever he demanded. The French alone could have easily stopped him when he occupied the Rhineland in 1936; the diplomats chose not to do so. Each time Hitler’s bullying tactics went without resistance, he was emboldened to take the next step. By the time he invaded Poland in September 1939, Hitler was convinced that there was no stomach in the west for doing what it would take to stop him.
