Causes of World War Flashcards
1
Q
What happened 2 days before end of WW1
A
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated the throne
2
Q
Impact of Kaiser abdicating throne
A
- end of German Empire
-end of 500 year rule of House of Hohenzollern
3
Q
What happened after Kaiser abdicated the throne
A
- new German Republic formed, which was responsible for leading temporary government until elections could be held
4
Q
Impact of January 1919 elections
A
- Reichstag elected by universal suffrage, formation of coalition government, president had power over foreign policy and armed forces
5
Q
Treaty of Versailles punishments
A
-Germany accept full responsility of war
-pay 6.6 billion Euros in reparations
- army was limited to 100,000 men and conscription was banned
- allowed no submarines
6
Q
Why did the Weimar republic become known as the “November Criminals”
A
- accepted ToV b/c had no choice-> decision gained inc. unpopularity and decreased support
7
Q
political challenges for Weimar Republic
A
-Sparcist Uprising, Kapp Putsch and Munich Putsch
8
Q
financial challenges for Weimar Republic
A
-failure to make reparation payments to French-> French occupied Ruhr region
- government printed more money-> hyperinflation-> prices ran out of control and German currency became worthless
9
Q
recovery of Weimar republic stimulated by
A
-Stresemann ended hyperinflation by stopping printing of money
- Dawes Plan= US provided Germany with 800 million marks to kickstart economy
- Young Plan= reparation payments reduced and increased time to pay back
10
Q
limitations of recovery
A
- German economic recovery dependent on US loans
- some Germans viewed cultural changes threat to traditional values
- extremist parties e.g communists and nazis not removed and growing influence
11
Q
impacts of Great depression on Germany
A
- US Hawley-Smoot tariffs meant less German goods exported to US-> decreased profits
- businesses closed down-> industrial production decreased by 58%
- unemployment increased to 6.1 million and mass poverty
- nazi and extreme political parties increased popularity
12
Q
why did Britain not want another war
A
- soldiers seen true horrors of war and psychological impacts e.g PTSD
- economic devastation after great depression and WWI and not recovered
- developed anti-war sentiment to avoid war
13
Q
appeasement meaning
A
- a diplomatic strategy focused on making concessions to an aggressive foreign power to avoid war
14
Q
why did britain adopt policy of appeasement
A
- GD caused massive unemployment
- if another war occurred, colonies that Britain ruled might look to break away from britain
15
Q
other factors for developing appeasement
A
- sympathy for germany-> many felt ToV had been too Harsh and actions under Hitler were justified
- fear of communism-> believed Hitler would be a good barrier to potential communist expansion
16
Q
woodrow wilson’s 14 points
A
- considerations when undertaking peace negotiations at end of war
- # 14: creation of association of nations to protect mutual agreements and avoid conflict-> development of League of Nations
17
Q
league of nations aims
A
-stop conflicts
- encourage disarmament
-improve life around the world by improving working conditions
18
Q
weaknesses of league of nations
A
- US not a member
- no army to enforce decisions t/f X consequences
- easy to withdraw from if nations not agree
19
Q
US after WWI
A
- desire to stay out of future conflict-> adopt policy of isolationism= commitment to avoiding involvement in other nations to avoid being drawn into war
- advantage b/c geographically far away
20
Q
-First Neutrality Act 1935
A
- prohibited export of arms from US to foreign nations at war
21
Q
Neutrality Act 1937
A
- US citizens forbidden from travelling on belligerent ships
22
Q
Neutrality Act 1939
A
- ban on loans to belligerent nations
23
Q
why was nazi-soviet pact unexpected
A
-hitler stated communism was main enemy
- both sides not like each other
24
Q
what was nazi-soviet pact
A
- a non aggression pact between Germany and Soviet Union created in 1939
25
what did the nazi-soviet pact promise
- peace for 10 years between nations
26
what did soviet union get out of nazi-soviet pact
- 200 million marks from germany
- would get half of poland
27
why did soviet union agree to nazi-soviet pact
- had tried for alliance with UK against germany h/w delayed response from britain
28
what did germany get out of nazi-soviet pact
- raw materials e.g iron ore and timber-> support rearmament programme
- avoid two-front war
- left Poland isolated
29
why did the nazi-soviet pact give Hitler increased confidence to attack Poland
- believed due to pact with strong alliance soviet union, the British would back down from guarantee to protect poland
30
secret element to nazi-soviet pact
- poland would be split into half if war broke out
31
why did hitler want poland
- wanted control of Danzig which was under control of League of Nations and Poland after ToV
- create more living space
32
how and why did hitler invade poland
- Hitler's demands of taking control of poland were refused by polish
- staged a set of series of polish attacks so could say act of self-defenses
33
ultimatum british gave germany
Demanded Germany withdraw troops from Poland h/w Germans refused
34
When did wwII start
September 3rd 1939
35
What did Britain and France do in response to the Nazi-soviet pact
Formed a military alliance
36
What was the Sudetenland
Region that contained parts of northern, southern and western Czechoslovakia
37
How many Germans lived in the Sudetenland
3 million
38
Who was henlein and what did he do
- a german nationalist
- Formed a political party called Sudetenland German party of Czechoslovakia
39
What did hitler do when hitler and heinlein met in secret
-ordered henlein to demand autonomy for Sudetenland knowing would be refused-> could use the refusal as a claim that 3 million Germans being mistreated by Czech government
40
What did the chamberlain do in response to hitters speech about Czechoslovakia
-agreed to hitters demands that any area in Czechoslovakia containing over 50% of German sudetans should be given to Germany
- Czech president agrees to Germany demands
41
What did hitler do whilst chamberlain convinced president of Czechoslovakia to agree
- changed demands claiming wants entire Sudetenland and must be given to Germany by 1st October
- increased concern over war breaking out in region
42
What happened at the Munich agreement between 29th and 30th September
-Four countries agreed Germany should be allowed to occupy sudentalnd
- Hitler must agree to making no further demands for land in europe
43
Why did Hitler want to control whole of Czech
- felt Munich agreement only dealt with Germans in sudentaldn h/w still 2 million Germans living in Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia-> fulfil foreign policy aims
44
What did Hitler do to justify his invasion of Czech
Claimed Czech government treating native Germans unfairly and German army needed to restore order
45
How did Hitler gain control over Czechoslovakia without force
- created a situation where forced president hacha to Berlin and demanded regions of Bohemia and Moravia be given to germany
- otherwise German troops invade Czech and bomb Prague
- hacha agreed to demand-> German troops marched into provinces and gained control
46
Consequences of invasion of Czechoslovakia for Germany
-managed to work towards foreign policy aims of unifying all German speakers and increase living space
- gained access to Czech gold reserves which help fund armament programme
- Germany placed in strong geographic position to continue expansion east
47
Consequences of invasion of Czechoslovakia: Britain and France
- became convinced Hitler had lied during Munich agreement-> thought going to attack Poland next t/f made guarantee to protect Poland
- claimed if Germany invaded Poland, would declare war
-both nations ramped up rearmament programme
- Britain reintroduced conscription
48
International response to sino-Japanese war
- League of Nations opened conference h/w decided against imposing sanctions on japan and only criticised Japanese actions
- Australia refused to load pig iron onto ships to japan
- UK + US citizens not placed any sanctions on japan despite witnessing horrors first hand
49
Why did Japanese military adopt three alls policy and inpact
-second Japanese war= stalemate and angry at resistance shown by Chinese
- 8 million Chinese civilian deaths
50
Nanjing massacare
5th December 1937: Japanese almost encircle remaining Chinese troops and Chinese ready to surrender h/w b/c Japanese not accept surrender, prince ashaka issued men to kill all captives-> in 6 weeks deaths of 200-300k civilians and soliders
51
Why did japan launch invasion of china
- wanted to continue to build influence
- skirmish broke out and claimed Chinese troops fired on men-> demanded for apology and china withdraw h/w refused-> war broke out
52
What happened after Marco Polo bridge incident
- japan took control of Beijing and tianjin-> gave japan access to valuable natural resources
-invasion allowed them to assert dominance as pre-eminent Asian power
- Chinese forces withdrew to south to build new defensive line at shanghai
53
Strategy Chinese adopted
-knew that japan had much stronger army than them t/f attritional strategy of trading space for time-> be able to outlast enemy
54
What did the Chinese declare the battle for shanghai as
War of self defence
55
What did Chang Kai Shen order from troops during battle of shanghai
City of shanghai must be protected at all costs
56
What happened at battle of shanghai
-Japanese army defeated Chinese forces after 4 moths
-japan losses= 60k
-china losses= 250k
57
Battle of nanjing casualties
-japan= 1953 killed, 4994 wounded
-china= 10,000 casualties
58
Why did the Japanese army have contempt for Chinese population
- felt racially superior to china, viewed surrender as cowardly act
- angry about level of resistance shown by Chinese forces
- angry about lack of supplies and lack of rest and needed outlet for growing anger
59
Hitlers foreign policy aims
1. Destruction of treaty of Versailles
2. Unite all German speakers to create greater Germany
3. Increase living space to east of Germany
4. Destroy communism
60
Destruction of treaty of Versailles description
-Hitler blamed ToV for Germany’s troubles
- believed Germany should ignore and act against
61
Unite all Germans speaking people description
-territorial changes due to ToV and lost 10% of land-> many Germans living outside of Germany
- Germany and Austria forbidden from uniting
62
Increase living space for east of Germany description
-believed aryan Germans = racially superior to Slavs and Germany should expand into Slav lands to accomodate for increasing population
63
Destroy communism description
-Hitler hated Soviet Union and ideology
-determined to destroy communism
64
Hitlers key election promises x2
- expand military
- restore German glory after defeat in WWI and ToV
65
What did Hitler demand at Geneva disarmament conference
- demanded that other states disarm to German levels and if not, Germany had right to buildup army
- western powers unwilling to agree-> Hitler withdrew from conference, League of Nations and began rebuilding
66
What did Hitler do to army during rearmamanet programme
-increased army to 300k troops
-lutwaffle ordered to build 1000 war planes
ALL DONE IN SECRET
67
What did Hitler do in 1935 with the army
-reintroduced conscription and announced Germans had been rearming
- army would increased to more than 500k men
- stated that army rebuild b/c other nations fail to disarm
68
How much did Hitler spend on army and impact of this
- 60 billion reichsmarks-> GDP increased from 1% to 20%
69
Response from western powers: hitler’s rearmament
-Britain and France and LoN issued statements condemning actions h/w not do anything else
- Britain increased budget spending on Royal Navy
- powers worried another major European conflict break out if were to challenge German military h/w none prepared for it
70
What did Hitler do remilitarise Rhineland
- 7th march 1936, sent 32k German troops into demiliatarised zone of Rhineland
- Germany was in control of Rhineland prior to ToV h/w later said no troops station there to protect France from German aggression
71
Response from western powers: remilitarisation of Rhineland
- France disagreed h/w no other response b/c facing political instability
- many britains had sympathy’s for remilitarising b/c saw it as just moving into own backyard
72
Reasons for remilitarisation
- part of plan to abolish ToV
- Rhineland= important industrial region that could aid German rearamanent plans
- Hitler justified it as a defensive action in response to signing of Franco-soviet treaty
73
What was the Anschluss
Unification of Germany and austria
74
What Did Hitler demand from chancellor of Austria during Anschluss
- allow Austria’s foreign and military policy to be co-ordinated by Germany
- release Austrian Nazi who had been imprisoned
- place Austrian Nazi in charge of policing security matters
75
Because some of the demands during the Anschluss were not met, what did Hitler threaten and impact of this
- Hitler warned if chancellor of Austria not resign, would invade Austria
- chancellor then resigned-> Austria under control of Austrian nazis
76
Reasons for Anschluss
- helped Hitler work towards creating greater Germany by uniting all German speakers
- increase size of German military by incorporating Australian military (100,000 men)
-part of plan to abolish ToV
77
Response from Britain and France:Anschluss
- France and Britain not respond due to political instability
- many not see problem of Australia and Germany unifying
- anti-appeasers e.g Winston Churchill became alarmed at hitler’s actions and began to criticise British govt.
78
What did japan realise during the opium wars (china v Britain)
- industrialisation had given European nations big advantage including stronger economies and better military technology
T/F must not fall behind European nations the way china had-> japan should follow western models of development+ maintain jap traditions to create modern industrial nation that could rival European nations
79
What happened during Meiji restoration
-charter oath announced to create modern-nation state
- creation of national army in which all male citizens expected to serve
- japan embraced new technologies and pushed forward with industralisation
80
What happened during first Dino-Japanese war
-conflict over control of Korea which was under control of china
- Korea= important b/c natural resources (coal and iron)
-> japan defeated Chinese and gain territory and payments from china
81
What happened during Russo-Japanese war
- conflict broke out over control for Manchuria and Korea b/w japan and Russia
- japan defeat Russia on land and sea-> first time Asia power defeated euro power-> japan gained control of Korea and remove Russia as threat
82
What did japan do during wwI
- fight on side of allied forces
- secured sea lanes used for transporting men
- aided British offensives against germans
83
What frustrated japan in ToV
- had pushed for inclusion of Racial equality clause to remove influence of racism on international politics h/w rejectied-> given control of shangdong province
84
Impact of Great Depression of japan
-economic depression->many businesses close down and financial crisis->value of Japanese goods dropped by 50%
- unemployment increased to 3 million
- dem. Elected govt fails to respond-> military becomes more involved in day to day running of state
- belief recovery from GD should be done by military expansion
85
Why did japan target Manchuria
- already had forces located in south
- Manchuria rich in natural resources-> help with further expansion by military to recover from GD
- successful invasion provide them with strong position to launch future invasion on rest of china
86
Consequences of invasion of Manchuria
- japan turned Manchuria into puppet state machukuo
- japan left LoN w/o sanctions
- provided them with resources to help support recover of economy and expansion of military
87
Beliefs Hitler had after German defeat
- hated new government for signing of treaty- stabbed Germany in back
- felt Jews in army had encouraged surrender
88
What was the DAP
-politicia group who advocated German nationalism, hostility towards ToV and changing culture of germany
89
How did Hitler improve DAP
-renamed it to become Nazi Party
- responsible for recruitment, propaganda and speeches
90
Nazi party 25 point programme key aspects
- demand equality of rights for German people
- abolish ToV
- land and territory for survival of Germans
- no Jews can be member of race
- demand formation of strong central powers in the reich
91
Munich putsch
-Nazi led revolution to overthrow Weimar republic
92
Reasons Hitler launched Munich putsch
- Nazi membership increased
- Weimar Republic in crisis due to hyperinflation
- had army avaliabile SA
93
What happened because putsch failed
Hitler arrested
94
Short term consequences of Munich putsch
-Nazi party banned
-Hitler put on trial and sent to prison
95
Long term consequences of Munich putsch
- Hitler sentenced reduced-> wrote autobiography in jail
-realised never come to party by revolution but needed to use democratic means-> reorganised party so could compete in elections
96
What did hitler’s policies focus on during rebuild
-anti communism
-anti-treaty of Versailles
-preserve traditional German problems
97
Why did nazi party support inc
- during economic depression, many ppl in poverty-> believed political parties offer solutions t.f Nazi party increased
- as a result, Hitler demanded be made chancellor of Germany h/w rejected then later approved
98
Reichstag fire details
-German reichstag burnt down-> Hitler convinces president needs to put in plan of emergency legislation to prevent communist uprising-> develop. Of reichstag fire devreee= limits person freedoms and suspension to right of assembly/
99
Enabling act details
-Hitler proposed to present new emergency law be put in place to bring STABILITY BACK TO GERMANY FOR 4 YEARS-> give Nazi govt. 4 years of control over laws w/o consent of reichstag-> passed and removed opposition
100
Night of long knives
-Hitler aware position vulnerable if lost support of wealthy Germans-> SA potentional threat to this-> destroyed SA meaning internal opposition removed, able to maintain support of German Army
