The Origins of the Second World War – Review
A.J.P. Taylor’s account of The Origins of the Second World War is an older work (first published in 1961) and yet is still an intriguing read.
It is also a controversial interpretation of the events. The main issue is that Taylor doesn’t accept the simple explanation that the war started because Hitler was a monster who wanted to take over the world (or at least Europe).
This has led to accusations that Taylor is some sort of apologist for Hitler, trying to redeem his reputation to some extent. Taylor actually addresses these accusations in the second edition, which is one that I read.
Taylor doesn’t deny that Hitler did monstrous things and he strongly condemns what he did to the Jews and other evil deeds. He just doesn’t think that is enough to explain the origins of the war.
Taylor’s thesis is that Hitler originally had much more modest goals. He was not actively seeking a major military conflict and definitely didn’t want anything as early as what happened.
Taylor looks at the activity of all the nations involved, Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. He argues that all of them made mistakes and he is particularly critical of his native Great Britain.
To be clear, Taylor is not saying that Germany was innocent. He is just saying that it is not as black and white as Germany being evil and everyone else completely innocent.
I don’t have the background to fully evaluate all of Taylor’s arguments. Nor do I have access to the primary sources.
However, I think his Origins of the Second World War is one voice among others when thinking about what happen. While concluding that the main cause was Hitler the monster is morally satisfying, it is not as historically satisfying.
