ABSTRACT
In many ways, regional fighting as a result of the ratified end of World War I never stopped. However, the proximate causes of World War II are usually traced to the German reaction to the treaty of Versailles, economic problems, and subsequent expansionism in Europe and Japanese expansionism in the Pacific. The wars shared some root causes—imperialism, contests over natural resources, ethnic borders and ethnic nationalism, and a strong sense in Germany that the victorious World War I allies had taken advantage of the losers to gain excessive concessions and territory. An important task after World War II would be to create an international structure to ensure that the disastrous two world wars could not be repeated. The Allies had together made a declaration of United Nations in 1942 to agree to oppose the Axis, to cooperate with each other, and to renounce secret agreements and not engage in a separate peace with Germany or Japan.
