Causes of Ww2 In Europe

Question 1

Failure of the policy of appeasement

b) aroused stalins suspicions elab

Answer 1

-Adoption of appeasement by Britain and France caused distrust and suspicion in Stalin, making him think they were trying to push Hitler towards eastern frontier.
eg stalin not invited for the Munich conference

Question 2

explain

Answer 2

exclusion from conference heightened Stalin’s suspicion of the Allies motives and strengthened his view that Allies deliberately allowing Hitler to Attack Soviet Union.
This suspicion made alliance between Allies and Stalin difficult when both sides tried to negotiate ways to United for fes to deal with Hitler.

Question 3

Reasons for signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact

P1 Hitler reason: To avoid fighting war on two fronts elab

Answer 3

Hitler wanted to invade Poland but feared that invasion would bring about opposition from Britain and France from the West and Russians from the east. He knew that his army was not ready to fight the numerically superior Russian forces.
Hence wanted to avoid fighting war on 2 fronts.

Question 4

Explain

Answer 4

Hence Hitler signed Nazi-Soviet pact> Stalin promised neutrality in the event of a German invasion of Poland.> eliminated Hitlers fear of fighting war on 2 fronts.

Question 5

P2) Stalin’s reasons

a) to gain greater breathing space to strengthen Soviet military forces for possible war with Germany elab

Answer 5

According to the pact that lasted 10 years, both Hitler and Stalin agreed that would not attack each other , resolve any conflicts between them in a friendly manner.

Question 6

Explain

Answer 6

Being aware of Hitler strong dislike of communism, Stalin was wary of hitlers intentions and did not truest that Hitler would honour terms of pact.
But felt that Soviet defence forces not strong enough to withstand war with Germany .

Question 7

b) Stalin’s distrust of the allies elab

Answer 7

The failure of the 1935 Franco-Soviet Alliance mad Stalin more determined to use any means necessary to secure USSR’s borders
The signing of the Munich Agreement with involving Stalin made him suspicious of the Allies intentions and he thought tehat the Allies were encouraging Hitler to expand into Eastern Europe

Question 8

Stalin’s distrust of the Allies explain

Answer 8

Despite his misgivings, Stalin had been in talks with Britain and France absolutely a possible alliance against Hitler since March 1939
But the negotiations made little progress, as both sides refused to compromise and reach an agreement

Question 9

Reasons for adopting a policy of appeasement

Fear of another major war elab

Answer 9

Britain and France wanted to avoid war at all costs due to the horrors of WW1
WW 1 resulted in tremendous losses and devastation, and public sentiments in both countries strongly showed their unwillingness to take part in another war
Public disgust towards war and the effects of the Great Depression on both counties also made rearmament very difficult
Chamberlain realised that he would not have public support in a war against Germany as evident from the lack of interest shown by the British when Hitler remilitarised Rhineland

Question 10

Fear of another major war explain

Answer 10

Thus adopting a policy of appeasement seemed to be a practical option for Britain and France instead of standing up to Hitler, risking a war and repeating the horrors of WW1

Question 11

Reasons form adopting policy of appeasement

P2: weaknesses from the LON elab

Answer 11

The LON was set up to resolve international disputes peacefully.
However it’s failure to stop aggression in the Manchurian Crisis and the Abyssinian Crisis revealed its ineffectiveness and made many counties lose confidence in it as a peacekeeping nation.

Question 12

Weaknesses of the LON explain

Answer 12

As a result, instead of relying on the LON to act, the British adopted a policy of appeasement to placate Hitler and prevent the outbreak of another major war

Question 13

To buy time to rearm elab

Answer 13

WW1 has weakened Britain economically and militarily. It was believed that if Britain were to stop Hitlers expansionist plans, it had to be prepared to get into a war with Germany
However, the British armed forces were not ready for war as they were badly equipped and had fallen behind the Germans
A war with Germany in the mid 1930s would be disastrous for Britain

Question 14

To buy time to rearm explain

Answer 14

Adopting a policy of appeasement would allow Britain to avoid direct confrontation with Germany while buying time to build up its military capacity
This would increase Britain’s chances of withstanding German offences and winning the war in the event of war with Germany

Question 15

Sympathy for Germany over the harsh TOV elab

Answer 15

In the 1930s, many British felt that the TOV had been to harsh on Germany
For example, some felt that the TOV had resulted in scattering the German speaking ppl to different parts of Europe and hence hitlers actions of taking over lands like the Sudetenland was justified in reuniting the ppl

Question 16

Sympathy for Germany over the harsh TOV explain

Answer 16

Therefore British leaders like chamberlain felt that British demands were reasonable. Thus he gave in to hitlers demands and did not stop his expansionist actions
For example Britain did nothing to stop hitlers rearmament efforts

Question 17

Fear of communism elab

Answer 17

Hitler had banned the communist part in Germany and arrested its communist leader. This anti-communist stand appealed to western powers, which wanted Germany to be their ally against communist Russia
Both Britain and France saw communism as a bigger threat than Hitler’s fascism

Question 18

Fear of communism explain

Answer 18

Although they were aware of Germany’s remilitarisation programme from 1935 onwards, they believed that a stronger Germany would act as an effective buffer against the USSR and prevent the spread of communism to the west
By appeasing Hitler, thy hoped to win Germany over as a potential ally against communism

Question 19

Reasons against the adoption of policy of appeasement

P1: policy of appeasement emboldened Hitler elab

Answer 19

In 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany when Germany refused to withdraw troops from Poland. This clearly showed that Hitler would not stop his aggression despite the policy of appeasement

Question 20

Policy of appeasement emboldened Hitler explain

Answer 20

Instead of preventing war, the policy of appeasement did the opposite by encouraging Hitler to be bolder and demanding for more, as the Allies appeased and repeatedly gave in to his demands over the years.
Their refusal to stop Hitler and the lack of deterrence was seen as a sign of weakness by Hitler, who therefore demanded for more territories , which eventually led to the outbreak of war.

Question 21

Alienated Stalin and aroused his suspicions elab

Answer 21

The adoption of appeasement by Britain and France caused distrust and suspicion in Stalin, making him think that they were pushing Hitler towards the eastern frontier.
For example, Stalin was not invited to the Munich Conference.

Question 22

Alienated Stalin and aroused his suspicions explain

Answer 22

This exclusion from the conference heightened Stalin’s suspicion about the allies motives and strengthened his view that the allies weee deliberately slowing Hitler to attack the USSR

This suspicion mad an alliance between the Allies and Stalin difficult when both sides tried to negotiate ways to unite forces to deal with Hitler in 1939

Question 23

Clauses of WWll in Europe

Failure to check Italy’s aggression in Abyssinia elab

Answer 23

In 1935, Mussolini’s Italy invaded Abyssinia, a clear breach of the Leagues covenant
Abyssinia appealed to the LON for help. The league failed to take decisive and effective decision to stop this act of aggression, allowing Italy to conquer Abyssinia in 1936
It was half-hearted in imposing sanctions on Italy, fearing that it may affect the economic interests of member countries
Other strong deterrents such as closing the Suez Canal to prevents Italy’s shipment of war supplies were also not taken for fear of affecting British economic interests.
The British and the French foreign ministers proposed a secret plan to give two thirds of Abyssinia to Mussolini in return for him to stop the invasion

Question 24

Failure to check Italy’s aggression in Abyssinia explain

Answer 24

The LON’s failure to check Italy’s aggression and the attempt by Britain and France to seal a secret deal with Italy greatly undermined its credibility and ability in maintaining world peace
It’s failure also showed its weakness and showed Hitler and Mussolini that the League world not stand up to aggression , thus emboldened Hitler and Mussolini to peruse their aggressive expansionist policies