State any four causes that led to the Second World War.

(1) The harsh TREATY OF VERSAILLES, which Germans called a dictated peace — the War Guilt Clause, crushing reparations, loss of territory and forced disarmament created a bitterness Hitler used to come to power, promising to undo it. (2) The RISE OF DICTATORSHIPS in Italy, Germany and Japan, whose aggressive expansionism destroyed the peace — Japan in Manchuria (1931), Italy in Ethiopia (1935), Germany in the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. (3) The FAILURE OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, which had no army of its own, lacked the great powers, and could not punish aggression — so dictators learned that aggression carried no penalty. (4) The POLICY OF APPEASEMENT of Britain and France, which allowed Hitler to rearm and to take Austria and Czechoslovakia unopposed; the IMMEDIATE cause was his invasion of POLAND on 1 September 1939, after which Britain and France declared war two days later.

Four marks, four causes. The four above form a chain worth stating in one line: Versailles created the grievance, dictators exploited it, the League failed to check them, and appeasement encouraged them further. Each cause gains from a concrete example — Manchuria, Ethiopia, the Rhineland. Label the invasion of Poland clearly as the IMMEDIATE cause so it is not confused with the underlying ones.