I joined the forum in 2008, and notice that most of the discussion occurred before that. I don't believe that Ive commented on this thread before.
It's a bit of a nonsense to argue "who started WWII" in my opinion. Working on the principal of "it takes two to have a fight", you would have to draw the conclusion that a fight started, between two adult nations. For me its as simple as this….both sides started but who was the side most culpable for the outbreak of war?
Certainly there are extenuating circumstances on the german side, but so too are there extenuating circumstances for the other side as well. Those background issues did not, of themselves lead to war. Any realistic assessment of the lead in to WWII has to conclude that there was no-one standing behind Germany forcing their hand. The germans had a list of grievances, for sure, just as nearly every other nation in the world had grievances. With some notable exceptions like Italy and japan, Most nations were driven by the desire to maintain peace. In recent years there have been some outrageous claims made that in fact Germany was forced to war, but im not seeing that. I think the germans were shocked by their defeat in 1918, and offended by what many saw as a trick peace treaty and an unfair one. The economic collapse, the rise of ultra nationalism and militarism, never far from the surface in Germany (until after 1945) all contributed to Germany's list of complaints, but none of them explain germany's decision to engage in an aggressive war, and in so doing bring misery to themselves and most of the world with it.
The question posed is the wrong one to ask. Germany is not the cause of WWII, at least not the sole cause. But Germany stands alone and guilty as being the nation that decided to embark on an aggressive war, for whatever reason. But still guilty nevertheless.