chapter 4 - outbreak of WWII in europe Flashcards
cause and effects of great depression
in october 1929, when the US sock markets crashed, international cooperation was replaced with economic nationalism. tariffs were introduced to protect industries and limit imports, decreasing trade volume. US banks called in their loans, collapsing numerous banks and buisnesses. many countries like hermany and britain began rearmament to provide more job oppurtunities. in countries like germany, it allows radical powers to rise, like the nazi party. the great depression destabilised germany, and the nazi party aimed to restore economic stability and carve out more living space, which was lost as part of the TOV. similarly, italy, led by benito mussolini, used great depression to tighten his grip on the countries banks and industries. he felt that italy had much in common with germany, and started discussing alliances in 1939.
failures of LON : failure of disarmament (treaties)
some of the disarmament process the LON took included the washington naval conference in 1921, which negotiated and redistributed the amount and size of warships per country, for countries like japan, britain and france. the locarno treaties in 1925, where germany accepted its western borders along with the demilitarisation of rhineland. the league commision to prepare for the world disarmament conference in 1926 was a failure as britain and france refused to cooperate. lastly, the kellogg-briand pact was also a failure as they tried to negotiate that force should not be used to settle disputes, but there was no clear way to enforce the pact.
failure of LON : failure of disarmament (WDC)
the conference aimed to control the destructive power of offensive weapons, and prohibit the bombing of civiliian population and chemical warfare. however, it was difficult to diffrentiate between offensive and defensive weapons were, and the resolutions also did not fully ensure the limitations on weapons. for example, bombing of civillians were banned, but airships capable of bombing were not banned. furthurmore, countries like italy tried to use the conference to raise their own issues and demand for a navy with the size of france. the biggest issue of the conference was what to do with germany. many felt that the TOV term of limiting the size of their military was unfair, but there were only two options that could be carried out. one was for all countries to disarm to germany’s level, and two was to allow germany to rearm to a closer level to opther powers. neither was a popular choice, but france, which was wary of its past in WWI pressured the league against the second option. they demanded a military bigger than germany’s or a guarantee that US and britain would be on their side if a war broke out. britain and US was not willing to commit to either, and when the disagreements continued, the conference fell apart. in december 1932, germany agreed to rediscuss some of the terms. hitler who had newly stepped up, appeared to be interested in making progress, but he had already started a secret rearmament program. he pressured the other countries by promising that he would not rearm germany if the rest were to disarm. he knew that this would not happen, but it gave him the justification he needed to rearm germany. in october 1933, he pulled germany out of the LON.
failure of LON : abyssinia crisis
italian dictator, benito mussolini thought that britain and france were in declinded and that they had more to gain from an alliance with germany. in 1896, italian troops had invaded abyssinia but was defeated by tribesmen. mussolini wanted revenge for this humiliating defeat, along with the fertile lands and resources abyssinia provided. in december 1934, there was a dispute between italian and abyssinian troops at the wal-wal oasis in abyssinia, and mussolini used this as an excuse to claim the oasis as italian territory, demanding an apology from abyssinia, while preparing italian troops for an invasion. the abyssinia emperor appealed to the LON for help, but was unsuccesful. even though britain and the influence and resources, and both britain’s and france’s had troops in the location, they did not choose to step in. britain and france chose to not step in as they were fearful to upset mussolini, who was a potential germany ally, and agreed to give mussolini 2/3 of abyssinia, under the hoare-laval pact that was secretly discussed by the britain and france’s foriegn ministers. however, when the pact’s details were leaked, the people regarded it as an act of treachery and the plan was dropped. when italy launched an attack on abyssinia, the league set up a committee to impose sactions, but their delay meant that it was too late. this damaged the global confidence and reputation of the league. their failure to impose sactions convinced that they would do nothing to stop germany as well. when german troops inavded rhineland, the league did nothing. when germany and italy signed thet rome-berlin axis, the league was not able to do anything to stop them. they no longer had credibility and the league pratically failed in their peacekeeping measures.
nazi’s aggressive forign policy
1933 : hitler withdrew germany from the LON, claiming taht they were unfairly treated on the issue of rearmament
1933-1935 : the nazi goverment began rearmament despite the ban of it during the TOV. while they kept it a secret at first, hitler no longer bothered to, concerning many powers like britain, france and USSR.
1934 : hitler walked out of WDC, which was a major blown to the chances of a disarmament agreement.
1935 : the saar plebiscite was when hitler claimed the saar region should be under germany, and the league forced hitler to agree to a plebscite. 90% of the voters votred for joining germany, increasing hitler’s power and confidence
1936 : germany and japan signed the anti-comitern pact to oppose the communist plans of USSR. italy also signed in 1937, forming the axis alliance.
policy of appeasement (anschluss w austria)
hitler wanted to unite the germans of austria with germany as his next step. many austrians were also keen to be part of hitler’s new and successful germany. while the TOV forbade this, hitler did not seem to care. he encouraged the nazi aprty in austria to instigate a union, and convinced the austrian chancellor that order can only be restored in german troops moved in austria. the austrian chancellor tried to appeal to britain and france for help, to no avail. hitler marched troops into austria and held a plebscite on anschluss in austria. through voter intimadation and fraud, 99.75% of voters approved of the anschluss. now that germant absorbed austria’s resources, their size was strengthened, increasing hitler’s power. britain and france misjudged hitler’s actions, and underestimated what he would do.
policy of appeasement (sudetenland)
czechoslovakia’s leader, edvard benes, was horrified by the anschluss as he felt taht his country might be hitler’s next target. he asked for britain’s and france’s protection against hitler, to which he recieved. hitler stated that he only wanted parts of sudetenland, and on 19th september, britain and france convinced czechoslovakia to surreder the parts that hitler wanted. however, on the 22 septemeber, hitler increased his demands to the whole of sudetenland instead. the leaders of britain, france, and italy met with hitler and decided to give hitler what he wanted without consulting czechoslovakia in exchange for a peace agreement from hitler. hitler moved his forces into sudetenland, but eventually took over the whole of czechoslovakia. this angered camberlain, and britain and france to threathen to declare war on germany if he was to invade his next step, poland.
nazi-soviet non-agression pact
hitler wanted to reclaim the polish corridor and was confident that polish forces could be defeated. he thought that it was unlikely that britain and france would risk war over poland, but he was more worried about USSR, as it would mean that germany risks facing a two-front war with USSR on the east and britain and france on the western front. stalin saw britain and france not resisting hitler, increasing his concerns about the munich agreement. while stalin, chamberlain and france’s prime minister were negotiating an alliance against hitler, at the same time, stalin was also meeting with germany’s prime minister. on 23 august 1939, USSR and germany signed the nazi-soviet non-agression pact, shocking the world. both countrues agreed not to attack each other and agreed that they would divide poland between them. stalin realised that britaina nd france was too weak to oppose hitler, and was stalling for time to get his forces ready. on the otehr hand, hitler got the guarantee he needed to invade poland
invasion of poland
germany had already demanded the polish corridor but was rejected by the polish leaders, afraid of a german invasion. on 1 september 1939, certain that there would not be opposition by the USSR because of the pact, he invaded poland. however, hitler miscalculated that britain and france would not risk war, and just two days later, britain and france declared war on germany. world war II had just begun.
