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The question came up in one of my classes. For the purposes of this thread, WW2 is defined as "a war with Germany on one side and at least France and the UK on the other that takes place after WW1 but no later than 1950." In the class discussion, people seemed to fall into three categories. The first group argued that the Treaty of Versailles forced the various powers of Europe into a completely untenable position and that once it was signed it became inevitable that a second war would take place at some point. It was simply a matter of determining when, where, and under what circumstances that war would take place. The second group argued that the war was completely avoidable up until it actually started in 1939. There is always a chance that a peaceful solution could have been brokered to pull it back from the brink, so no war is ever inevitable until it starts. The third group argued for an intermediate date. Most cited either the Remilitarization of the Rhineland or the Anschluss as an event that convinced Hitler that the Western Allies would never confront him, thus making him overconfident. Hitler's overconfiedence made the war inevitable.

So AHers, set a date. At what point does avoiding WW2 (in some form) become ASB? What is the latest reasonable POD that could avoid a war?
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