Many major world events have occurred since the last keyanniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, and these events have had adramatic impact on the international stage: 9/11, the Iraq War, climate change and the world economic crisis. This is an opportune moment to bring together a group of major international experts who will offer a series of newinterpretations ofthe key aspects of the origins of the Second World War. Each chapter is based onoriginal archival research and written by scholars who are all leading experts in their fields. This is a truly international collection of articles, with wide breadth and scope, which includes contributions fromhistorians, and also political scientists, gender theorists, and international relations experts. This is an important contribution to scholarly debate on one of the most important events of the 20 th century and a subject of major interest to the general reader, historians, students and researchers, policy makers and conflict prevention experts.
1. The origins of the Second World War: the historical debate; 2. Italy and the origins of the Second World War; 3. Neville Chamberlain: guilty or innocent - a critical assessment; 4. A war mentality? Public opinion and foreign policy in the Third Reich; 5. The role of the USA in the international relations of the inter-war period; 6. The failure of detente? German foreign policy from Locarno to German rearmament; 7. The role of the Middle East in the global crisis of the inter-war years; 8. The Czech crisis of 1938; 9. German foreign policy, military strategy and the coming of war; 10. The League of Nations: why did it fail? 11. Japanese foreign policy and the road to the Asia-Pacific war; 12. Politics, strategy and economics: a comparative analysis of British and French 'appeasement'; 13. The role of US isolationism; 14. The role of the neutral European powers; 15. Could the Second World War have been prevented? A counterfactual analysis; 16. The role of the 'Jewish Question' in international affairs in the inter-war years; 17. The international implications of the Spanish Civil War; 18. The role of economic factors in the origins of the Second World War; 19. Poland, the 'Danzig Question' and the outbreak of war; 20. Appeasement reconsidered: reflections on the road to war; 21. The Soviet Union and the road to war; 22. Japanese military strategy and the coming of the Asia-Pacific War; 23. The Versailles settlement: a critical assessment; 24. Gender and the international crisis of the inter-war period; 25. Hitler's foreign policy and the origins of the second world war; 26. The missing dimension? The role of British intelligence; 27. Poland and the road to war; 28. Neutral Europe and the road to war; 29. French foreign policy and the road to war.
