c&t part three: the origins & outbreak of WWII Flashcards
chapter 8: what year was the Sudeten Crisis?
1938
chapter 8: where was the Sudetenland?
Czechoslovakia
chapter 8: what were some reasons that Hitler wanted to take the Sudetenland?
- Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia, on the G border
- he planned to take Lebensraum
- Czechoslovakia’s main defences in there, so taking it allows Hitler to invade whole country. natural resources & factories in the area he could utilise in his war effort
- Czechoslovakia created at end of WWI, he felt invasion of it would be another step towards destroying ToV
- about 20% of pop. G, in may 1938 claimed they were being persecuted & used this as excuse to attack
chapter 8: what happened when Chamberlain met Hitler on 15th September 1938?
- Chamberlain flew to Berchtesgarden to meet Hitler
- he wanted to appease him to prevent war, so agreed to allow him to take Sudetenland so long as his actions peacful
- Chamberlain then met w Czechs & forced them to agree to Hitler’s terms
- 22 Sept: Chamberlain met Hitler at Bad Godsberg, where Hitler changed demands: Sudetenland would be handed over to him by 1 Oct and Hungary & Poland must also be given Czech land
chapter 8: when did Chamberlain meet with Hitler about the Sudetenland? (not the Munich conference)
15 Sept 1938
chapter 8: what happened at the Munich Conference on 29th September 1938?
- Chamberlain, Hitler, Mussolini & Daladier (F president) met in Munich
- they accepted demands Hitler had made at Bad Godsberg
- Chamberlain & Daladier said they’d prevented war, as Hitler promised not to take any more land. Chamberlain said he’d guaranteed ‘peace in our time’
- Czechs not consulted!!!
- USSR not consulted, this made Stalin think he couldn’t trust B & F
chapter 8: when was the Munich Conference?
29th Sept 1938
chapter 8: when did Hitler invade the Sudetenland?
10th Oct 1938
chapter 8: what happened when Hitler invaded the Sudetenland?
- troops marched in, but unlike events in Rhineland & Austria, Czechs saw this as real military invasion
- this was 1st time Hitler invaded a country that’d never prev been united w G
- Hitler completed invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939. he’d broken promises made at Munich Conference & Chamberlain had to accept policy of appeasement failed
chapter 8: what are some arguments for appeasement?
- war costs lives, so should be avoided
- ToV too harsh on G
- Hitler said he was man of peace
- Hitler’s actions gave ppl what they wanted e.g. Anschluss
- ppl of B didn’t want war
- war too expensive during GD
- Hitler could be ally against Communism
- B rearmament didn’t start until 1936 - B not ready for war
- USA wouldn’t support B & F
chapter 8: when did B start rearming?
1936
chapter 8: what are some arguments against appeasement?
- Hitler made no secret of fact he’d use violence
- opportunities to stop Hitler when he was weak, such as when Rhineland remilitarised, were missed
- Hitler grew confident
- appeasement morally wrong
- Czechoslovakia strong & modern, and so could’ve made stand against Hitler, but was forced to back down
- USSR alienated
chapter 8: summary of appeasement’s failure?
- Hitler’s foreign policy meant he’d invade other countries
- however, B & F reluctant to go to war, so followed policy of appeasement
- this taught Hitler he could do as he wanted & so Europe got closer to war, as he remilitarised Rhineland, forced Anschluss on Austria, invaded Sudetenland, & then took rest of Czechoslovakia
chapter 9: when was the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed?
23 Aug 1939
chapter 9: how would G benefit from the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
- Hitler could invade Poland w/o facing war on 2 fronts. B & F had promised to protect Poland, but USSR wouldn’t interfere
- B & F would now face war w Germany w/o USSR as ally
- USSR had massive army, which would no longer be threat to G
chapter 9: how would the USSR benefit from the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
- Stalin felt B & F snubbed him by leaving him out of Munich Conference & thought they were being weak by appeasing Hitler, realised he couldn’t trust them to help protect USSR if Hitler invaded
- B & F had sent minor diplomats w no real authority to meet w Stalin. Hitler had sent senior Nazi; seemed to respect USSR more
- Hitler agreed Stalin would be given Polish territory - Stalin wouldn’t even have to send troops
- Stalin feared Hitler would invade USSR, but not ready to fight. becoming allies gave time to prepare
- land in Poland would act as buffer zone if Hitler did decide to invade USSR
chapter 9: how did B & F feel about the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
- N-S Pact meant they’d realised policy of appeasement had failed
- they’d already agreed to protect Poland if Hitler invaded, & now they formalised this agreement, war seemed inevitably
chapter 9: what were the events after the N-S Pact that led to WWII being declared?
- w/o threat of war on 2 fronts, Hitler felt confident enough to invade Poland
- 1 Sept 1939, G battleship attacked Danzig and G army & Luftwaffe descended on Poland
- 3 Sept 1939: B sent ultimatum - Hitler must leave Poland by 11:00 or B would declare war. Hitler sent no reply, so B followed by F declared war
- Poland was overrun within 4 weeks, & Hitler thought B & F would back down - he was wrong
chapter 9: when did WWII break out?
3rd Sept 1939
chapter 9: how was Hitler responsible for WWII?
- wrote in book Mein Kampf that he’d use violence to make G strong again
- foreign policy aims included Lebensraum, building greater G, uniting G speaking ppl, & destroying ToV, which meant he had to invade other countries
- broke ToV, which was international law
- invaded Poland, which prompted B & F to declare war
chapter 9: how was Chamberlain responsible for WWII?
- missed opportunities to stop Hitler, bc of appeasement
- failed to act when Hitler remilitarised Rhineland. at this stage Nazis not ready for war - if he’d acted, Hitler would’ve been forced to stop
- gave Sudetenland to Hitler w/o consulting Czechs, then allowed him to invade a country he had no claim to, which enabled him to strengthen his army
- excluded Stalin from Munich Conference, which alienated Stalin & prompted him to sign N-S Pact
chapter 9: how was Stalin responsible for WWII?
- signed N-S Pact despite Hitler wanting to destroy Communism
- size of USSR’s armed forces meant Hitler had huge & powerful ally
- pact meant Hitler wouldn’t have to fight war on 2 fronts, so was able to invade Poland
chapter 9: what other factors had a role in the outbreak of WWII?
- Japan
- Mussolini
- The Big Three
- American Isolationism
- weakness & collapse of LoN
- fear of Communism
- Great Depression
chapter 9: how was Japan responsible for WWII?
- invaded Manchuria 1931, walked out of LoN Feb 1933, & then mainland China 1937 - which some historians say was start of WWII
- signed Anti-Comintern Pact & Pact of Steel w Hitler
chapter 9: how was Mussolini responsible for WWII?
- invaded Abyssinia which destroyed ppl’s confidence in LoN
- 1938: didn’t intervene when Hitler carried out Anschluss, which convinced him he could do as he pleased
- signed Anti-Comintern Pact & Pact of Steel w Hitler
chapter 9: how was The Big Three responsible for WWII?
- ToV resented by G & inspired Hitler’s foreign policy - to re-unite G speaking ppl, build greater G & claim Lebensraum
- by 1930s, many felt that ToV too harsh & turned blind eye when Hitler started to break it
chapter 9: how was American isolationism responsible for WWII?
- made LoN weaker, so certain countries were prepared to act more aggressively & risk outbreak of all-out war, bc didn’t fear military action from USA
- as result of USA’s absence from LoN, economic sanctions useless bc aggressive countries could trade w USA
chapter 9: how was the weakness & collapse of the LoN responsible for WWII?
- Hitler saw he could get away w invading other countries w/o being punished, just like J in Manchuria & Mussolini in Abyssinia
- major countries (like USA) not members of LoN, meaning was not a forceful military or economic threat; LoN had no army
chapter 9: how was the fear of Communism responsible for WWII?
- B & F allowed Hitler to grow strong as thought G could act as buffer zone against Communism
- their actions upset Stalin who agreed to N-S Pact as felt they wouldn’t support him if Hitler attacked
chapter 9: how was the Great Depression responsible for WWII?
- USA demanded loans back from G as result of GD; led to collapse of G industry & more ppl voting for Hitler, who was making many promises to them
- some countries (e.g. J & I) acted more aggressively in order to secure supplies of raw materials & build empires
chapter 9: summary of the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the build-up to the breakout of WWII?
- Hitler signed N-S Pact, in spite of hating Communism, bc meant he could avoid war on 2 fronts when he invaded Poland
- Stalin signed it to gain territory & time to prepare for war w Hitler
- Stalin knew Hitler would attack, but felt he couldn’t rely on USSR’s old allies, B & F
- pact gave Hitler confidence to attack Poland, but when he did B & F stood by promise to protect Poland & declared war
- WWII started on 3rd Sept 1939
