if history started in 39 and ends in 45 sure, history happened before 1940's too and the trends and forces approach to history can explain more than the great man theory most times. during the empire system which ended only in 45 the British did their best to keep the continental nations at each others throats on purpose to decrease the likelihood of anyone of them to be able to afford building a competing navy as well. partly as consequence you get ww1 and ww2 is just a repeat because versaille didn't actually fix or address the situations that started ww1.