The Allies are mostly to blame for World War 2

Thanks, Pro. Essentially my opponent's argument is that the allies of WWI, mainly the Triple Entente - United Kingdom, France and Russia - are to blame for WWII indirectly [1]. I'm assuming "the treaty" he refers to is the Treaty of Versailles, which was one of the repercussions of WWI. Essentially the treaty punished Germany by taking away land, significantly decreasing its military, stifling Germany's economy by taking away all its territory, forcing Germany to accept sole blame for WWI, etc [2]. The Germans, naturally, being unfairly solely blamed and so harshly punished began to love Hitler who not only spoke out against the treaty, but actually violated it in multiple ways to demonstrate its irrelevance [3]. Eventually Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 is finally what instigated Churchill to declare war (what became WWII) on Germany [4]. However the breach in my opponent's logic regards his false accusation of who is to blame for the Treaty of Versailles. As you can see, he attributes it to the Allies because they were the ones who imposed it on Germany, which eventually helped Hitler rise to power. My contention is that the Allies are not responsible for the treaty - that many countries are equally if not more responsible - including Austria and Germany itself. Indeed there are many underlying causes for WWI, including but not limited to competition among various nations in regard to imperialistic conquests and military, as well as good old fashioned nationalism/racism and wanting power and prestige. Additionally, many alliances formed had people on edge regarding a possible war; it seemed that everyone taking sides and strategizing suggested war was imminent. However the "straw that broke the camel's back" was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne [5]. His assassination by a Serbian nationalist precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused Germany and Austria-Hungary, and countries allied with Serbia (the Triple Alliance Powers) to declare war on each other, starting World War I [6]. As you can see, the allies did not directly instigate WWI. If anything, Serbia and Austria-Hungary are to blame as being the catalysts for WWI, meaning my opponent's contention has no merit. A few other things to mention were that there were more causes to WWII than Hitler; for instance Japan invading China in 1937 under the leadership of the Kwantung Army [7]. Another factor was the economic situation - most notably the effects of the Great Depression from the 1930s felt all over the world. And finally, even if you could somehow pretend that the Allies were actually to blame for the Treaty of Versailles, you cannot blame the Allies for (a) Hitler's psychotic personality and decision to manipulate and become a tyrannical and mass murdering dictator; or (b) the people's gullibility and eagerness to follow Hitler just because he was persuasive. That said, I thank my opponent for this opportunity to debate and wish him good luck in the upcoming rounds. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org... [2] http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk... [3] http://www.historyplace.com... [4] http://www.2worldwar2.com... [5] http://en.wikipedia.org... [6] Johnson, Lonnie (1989). Introducing Austria: A Short History (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture, and Thought). Ariadne Press. pp. 52–54. [7] http://en.wikipedia.org...