When do you believe that WWII started

[lucas80]

I will allow answers suggesting it was when Germany invaded Poland, or when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But, I think there was another critically important event that set Europe on an unavoidable path to war.
I'll be back later to give you the date that WWII really started.

 

[Run&Blade]

When hitler marched into the Rhineland. I recall a documentary or two where Germany would have pulled back if somebody called their bluff.

 

[swagsurfer02]

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That was the beginning of the end.

 

[Madman_1]

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That was the beginning of the end.

I thought it was the Germans...

 

[preshlock]

Global conflict began on September 3, 1939 when France and Britain declared war on Germany, bringing the colonies and Common Wealth into the fight. For war being unavoidable I would go with Munich signed on September 30, 1938. The following April France and Britain signed a defensive alliance with Poland.

 

[ANYCHawk]

 

[HallofFame]

July 7, 1937 Marco Polo Japan and China

 

[TJ8869]

I will allow answers suggesting it was when Germany invaded Poland, or when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But, I think there was another critically important event that set Europe on an unavoidable path to war.
I'll be back later to give you the date that WWII really started.

The Spanish Civil War in 1936.

 

[iavagabond]

I will allow answers suggesting it was when Germany invaded Poland, or when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But, I think there was another critically important event that set Europe on an unavoidable path to war.
I'll be back later to give you the date that WWII really started.

November 11, 1918.

 

[thewop]

What date? When Adolf Hitler walked in on Eva Braun backin' that ___ up on Joseph Stalin. That was the end of the date for Eva and Joseph, and the beginning of WWII. It's the story that nobody ever hears.

 

[2bagger22]

When hitler marched into the Rhineland. I recall a documentary or two where Germany would have pulled back if somebody called their bluff.

My answer as well.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That was the beginning of the end.

Wasn't that Germany that bombed Pearl Harbor? Signed, John Belushi.

Ooops...should have kept reading, someone already got that one!

 

[lucas80]

Along with Run and 2Bagger I think it's a compelling argument that the inevitable march to war began with Germany forcefully retaking the Rhineland. It was the first time that Britain or France could have confronted Hitler. Failing to do so emboldened him. Britain was in the throes of a leadership crisis. Edward VIII was rumored to have forcefully pushed for no response from Britain. I am currently reading 17 Carnations by Andrew Morton, which is a fascinating account of Edward and his ties to the Nazi leadership. The title refers to the endless stream of flowers that Joachim Von Ribbentrop sent to Wallis Simpson. It is rumored that Von Ribbentrop was schtupping Simpson, and that Simpson was passing on information to the Nazis. Or, even that Edward was because he sympathized with the Nazis, and believed that the real enemy of peace in Europe was the USSR.

 

[preshlock]

Along with Run and 2Bagger I think it's a compelling argument that the inevitable march to war began with Germany forcefully retaking the Rhineland. It was the first time that Britain or France could have confronted Hitler. Failing to do so emboldened him. Britain was in the throes of a leadership crisis. Edward VIII was rumored to have forcefully pushed for no response from Britain. I am currently reading 17 Carnations by Andrew Morton, which is a fascinating account of Edward and his ties to the Nazi leadership. The title refers to the endless stream of flowers that Joachim Von Ribbentrop sent to Wallis Simpson. It is rumored that Von Ribbentrop was schtupping Simpson, and that Simpson was passing on information to the Nazis. Or, even that Edward was because he sympathized with the Nazis, and believed that the real enemy of peace in Europe was the USSR.

Hitler gave standing orders to his Western Military District Commanders that if the French countered the Rhineland move, the army was to retreat. The only recourse available to the Nazis was to negotiate with Great Britain and the United States to intervene. Germany had only re-introduced conscription in 1935 and at the time the German army had just 36 infantry divisions and 3 panzer divisions. Simply put the German army was not ready for a confrontation with a Franco-Polish alliance.

By Munich in 1938 the German army had been expanded to 76 divisions and was ready for a general war with France and Poland.

 

[h-hawk]

I will go with invading Poland as at that point it was clear that Britain and France could not avoid another war and would have to fight Germany. (Though for the most part they waited for the Germans to come at them.)

Want to recommend again some books that do a great job of putting you in prewar and early war Germany. Berlin Diary by William L Shirer and In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson are great reads.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

I think as far as when the war started you have to go when the actual hot war started which is Germany invading Poland in 1939.

You could argue about when the war became inevitable. It's hard to say because it would require understanding Hitler's thinking.

 

[Lone Clone]

I think as far as when the war started you have to go when the actual hot war started which is Germany invading Poland in 1939.

You could argue about when the war became inevitable. It's hard to say because it would require understanding Hitler's thinking.

This answer makes sense to me. In retrospect, the war might have become inevitable at Versailles. Or with the election of Hitler. Or with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, if you subscribe to the theory that WW2 was just a continuation of WW1 after a relatively brief recess.

Same thing with most wars. Obviously, the US of A entered the war when Pearl Harbor was bombed.....but our participation was pretty much guaranteed before that happened. Lexington & Concord; Fort Sumter; if it's necessary to pick a single point where a conflict started, I'd go with Hitler's invasion of Poland, too.

 

[mstp1992]

I will allow answers suggesting it was when Germany invaded Poland, or when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But, I think there was another critically important event that set Europe on an unavoidable path to war.
I'll be back later to give you the date that WWII really started.

I'll say September 18, 1931, when Japan invaded Manchuria.

 

[WhiteSoxClone]

As a global conflict, September 1, 1939 is the technically correct answer of when it started. Now, when did it become inevitable? That's a bit different question. Some historians will say that WW2 is just a continuation of WW1. It is like two neighborhood bullies that fight each other until both are completely exhausted with no clear winner, so they take a break for a week and then fight again. If you believe that WW2 was an inevitable extension of WW1, then July 28, 1914 is when it all started.

 

[86Hawkeye]

This answer makes sense to me. In retrospect, the war might have become inevitable at Versailles. Or with the election of Hitler. Or with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, if you subscribe to the theory that WW2 was just a continuation of WW1 after a relatively brief recess.

Same thing with most wars. Obviously, the US of A entered the war when Pearl Harbor was bombed.....but our participation was pretty much guaranteed before that happened. Lexington & Concord; Fort Sumter; if it's necessary to pick a single point where a conflict started, I'd go with Hitler's invasion of Poland, too.

What about when Japan invaded China? That was "hot".

 

[mstp1992]

What about when Japan invaded China? That was "hot".

That would be September of 1931.

I'll say September 18, 1931, when Japan invaded Manchuria.

 

[hawkssox1]

I will go with invading Poland as at that point it was clear that Britain and France could not avoid another war and would have to fight Germany. (Though for the most part they waited for the Germans to come at them.)

Want to recommend again some books that do a great job of putting you in prewar and early war Germany. Berlin Diary by William L Shirer and In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson are great reads.

Those frogs sure do know how to surrender.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

There was no WWII. It was all faked in Hollywood. Right, OiT?

 

[preshlock]

Poland seems to be the most common answer.

Of course Japan invaded Manchuria in September 1931. Although the League of Nations didn't recognize the annexation there was a lull in fighting between the Japanese and Chinese factions. Even after July 1937 when the Imperial army begun a full-scale sustained invasion of China there was little outside Western and Soviet involvement. The Sino-Japanese conflict was regional in nature.

As for Germany in 1935 Hitler openly discarded the Versailles Treaty and began rebuilding the German military. Marching into the Rhineland in March 1936 was viewed by the Germans as a national right. Neither the French nor the British seriously considered military action. Versailles had also prevented a union between Austria and Germany. Going back to the 1840s there were strong arguments for the German countries to be united under Austria, provided the Habsburgs discarded the non-German dynastic holdings. After the Habsburg monarchy collapsed these beliefs were rekindled. The union between Austria and Germany in March 1938 was genuinely desired by both peoples.

I believe the war became inevitable at Munich in September 1938. By that point the German army had grown to reach 76 divisions and were prepared to fight the French and Polish. Czechoslovakia hadn't existed as a sovereign country since 1618 and the French and British did't believe they were worth going to war over. Moreover the Sudeten Germans wanted to be united under the Greater German Reich. The only European state that supported the Czechs were the Soviets - out a deliberate ploy to provoke a conflict between Germany against the French and British. Munich set Germany on an inevitable collision course with the West. If the Czechs had refused to cede the Sudetenland Hitler had every intention of going forward with Operation Green.

In March 1939 Hitler overstepped the Munich agreement and ordered the army to occupy Bohemia. Unlike Austria and the Sudetenland which were incorporated directly into the Greater Reich, Bohemia and Moravia were organized as a Protectorate, marking the first outright conquest of the Third Reich. Rural Slovakia became a German ally. In April 1939 Hitler ordered his General Staff to begin making plans for the invasion of Poland designated as Operation White. Later that month both the French and British signed a defensive alliance with Poland. Certain that his invasion of Poland would spur the French and British to action Hitler began secret negotiations with Soviet Union to secure the Eastern flank.

 

[Titanhawk2]

I will allow answers suggesting it was when Germany invaded Poland, or when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. But, I think there was another critically important event that set Europe on an unavoidable path to war.
I'll be back later to give you the date that WWII really started.

Technically it started when Britain and France declared war, because they did not do that with Austria, Czechoslavakia or the Rhineland