CONCLUSION

Vilnis Sipols

Diplomatic Battles Before World War II

CONCLUSION

The invasion of Poland by the forces of Nazi Germany was the opening act of the Second World War which involved all the Great Powers and many other nations. The war began as an imperialist war, and the responsibility for its outbreak lies with imperialism as a social-economic system.

Three imperialist powers were the major fire-brands of the Second World War: militarist Japan which had launched a drive for the domination of the Asian continent back in 1931; Nazi Germany which, as the strongest and, therefore, the most dangerous vulture, led the aggressor bloc’s struggle for a redivision of the world; and fascist Italy which set out in 1935 to expand her colonial empire in Africa and then, to bring the Mediterranean area under her control.

Co-operation of Britain and France with the Soviet Union could have forestalled the war. But the British and French governments did not wish to co-operate with the USSR. They were dreaming of a war between Germany and Japan, on the one hand, and the USSR, on the other, in which their imperialist rivals would have worn themselves out, while the Soviet state would have been weakened or even destroyed.

To channel German aggression against the USSR, the ruling circles of Britain and France sought to put this country into a state of international isolation. That was one of the aims behind the Munich sellout. By trying to isolate the Soviet Union, Britain and France got themselves isolated, however, having undermined their own international positions.

The Soviet Union was the only country to have done whatever it could throughout the prewar years towards a collective effort by a number of nations to keep the peace and curb the increasingly arrogant aggressors. That was the concern behind the Soviet proposal for a definition of aggression, the draft Eastern Pact, the offer to conclude the Pacific Pact, the determination to reinforce the League of Nations, and the effort to bring about a dependable collective peace-keeping front during the Three-Powers Talks in Moscow in 1939. However, the Soviet proposals were not supported by the governments of the Western Powers.

Taking advantage of the disunity of the nations they had aggressive designs on, the fascist powers triggered off the Second World War.

Co-operation between the USSR, Britain, and France in setting up a collective peace-keeping front could have raised dependable barriers in the way of the fascist aggressors. By their ignominious policy of connivance at aggression, and by their class-inspired imperialist policy of abetting German and Japanese aggression against the Soviet Union, the reactionary circles of the Western Powers made it possible for the fascist aggressors to start the Second World War.