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Origins of the Second World War

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ISBN-10: 1405824697

ISBN-13: 9781405824699

Edition: 3rd 2007 (Revised)

Authors: R. J. Overy

List price: $39.95
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Description:

The book explores the reasons why the Second World War broke out in September 1939 and not sooner, and why a European war expanded into world war by 1941. The war has usually been seen simply as Hitler’s war and yet the wider conflict that broke out when Germany invaded Poland was not the war that Hitler wanted. He had hoped for a short war against Poland; instead, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Richard Overy argues that any explanation of the outbreak of hostilities must therefore be multi-national and he shows how the war’s origins are to be found in the basic instability of the international system that was brought about by the decline of the old empires of Britain and…    
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Book details

List price: $39.95
Edition: 3rd
Copyright year: 2007
Publisher: Routledge
Publication date: 7/10/2008
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 192
Size: 6.75" wide x 9.00" long x 0.50" tall
Weight: 0.748

Richard Overy is Professor in History at the University of Exeter. Formerly Professor of Modern History at King's College, London, his books include William Morris, Viscount Nuffield The Air War, 1939-1945 Dictators, The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, The Nazi Economic Recovery, 1932-1938, Goering: The Iron Man All Our Working Lives (with Peter Pagnamenta), The Origins Of The Second World War, The Road To War (with Andrew Wheatcroft), War And Economy In The Third Reich, The Inter-War Crisis, 1919-1939, Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945, and The Battle: Summer 1

Preface
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Who's Who
Glossary
Maps
Background
Explaining the Second World War
Analysis
The International Crisis
The collapse of the League
France and Britain
America and the Soviet Union
From the Rhineland to Munich
Economic and Imperial Rivalry
The imperial powers
The 'have-not' powers
The failure of 'economic appeasement'
Armaments and Domestic Politics
Rearmament
Finance, industry and labour
Rearmament and domestic politics
War Over Poland
The aftermath of Munich
The Soviet factor
The outbreak of war
From European to World War
The war in the west
Barbarossa
The coming of world war
Assessment
Hitler's War?
Documents
The Treaty of Versailles and Germany
The Covenant of the League
The search for a settlement
American 'appeasement'
Stalin anticipates war
The 'Hossbach memorandum'
Preparation for war before Munich
The Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement
Economic pressure on Japan
Mussolini's vision of empire
Hitler's dream of world power
Economic appeasement
Britain and Germany in the Balkans
The Four-Year Plan
Economic dangers for Britain
The crisis in France
'Peace for our time'
The change of mood in the west
Hitler plans to crush Poland
Chamberlain guarantees Poland
The Franco-British 'war plan', 1939
British intelligence on Germany
Stalin warns the west after Munich
The Franco-British failure in Moscow
The Soviet reaction to German advances, 1939
The German-Soviet Pact
Hitler gambles on western weakness
The last gasp of appeasement
Bonnet's doubts about war
Poland in the middle
The last days of peace
Chamberlain's 'awful Sunday'
Berlin proposes peace
The Tripartite Pact
Preparation for total mobilization in Germany
The Barbarossa Directive
The German attack on Russia
Russia raises the price for co-operation
Japan decides on war
Creating the new world order
References
Index