Again I'm cribbing from something I wrote for Yahoo!Answers. The question was, "10 reasons why world war 2 started?" My answer, composed rather off the cuff, ran as follows: I'm glad you allow for causative pluralism. I'll get you half way there with five causes: 1. The inherent dynamism of fascistic nationalisms, which need to prove their superiority to other nations in order to secure their domestic support; 2. In Japan (which wasn't really fascistic in the same sense as its European allies) a collective inferiority complex, which left them wanting to prove themselves at least as powerful as the western imperialists operating in east Asia; 3. The widespread theories of Admiral Mahan on the centrality of naval power in history, and the superior position in which island-nations are placed for empire building. This, too, inspired Japan and helped guide other nations too in a disastrous direction; 4. The excesses of the Versailles Treaty that the ...
