What events led to World War II in Europe in the 1930s?

The origins
of(1939€“1945) in Europe can be traced back to the end of World War I (1914€“1918). After the
armistice of 1918, Germany was forced to sign the Versailles Treaty. Germany had to pay
reparations to the Allies. Germany lost a great deal of territory and had to limit the size of
its military. Also, it had to accept blame for beginning WWI. This treaty destabilized postwar
Germany and helped pave the way for the rise of Adolph Hitler.

Hitler became
chancellor in 1933 and gradually became a dictator. He ignored the Versailles Treaty by rearming
Germany; violated the Treaty of Versailles by sending troops into the Rhineland in 1936; helped
Francisco Franco win the Spanish Civil War (1936€“1939); and seized Austria, the Sudetenland,
and the rest of Czechoslovakia.

The British and French failed to stop
Hitler's aggressive moves in the 1930s. Instead, they followed the policy of appeasement: they
gave in to Hitler's demands in an effort to avoid another world war....