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What triggered the start of World War II in 1939?
Updated: 11-Apr-2025

World War II began when Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Britain and France, bound by treaty to defend Poland, declared war on Germany two days later. The war’s roots, however, lay in the harsh Treaty of Versailles, which had humiliated Germany after World War I.

Hitler’s aggressive expansionist policies, including the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, went unopposed, emboldening him. The Nazi-Soviet Pact also gave Germany security from the East, clearing the path for its invasion of Poland.

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