Lecture 5 - WWII

Question 1

What were the big issues for Versailles?

Answer 1

1. Asymmetry - Germany was left out of negotiations, disagreements within the Big Four
2. Self-Determination - Only held up for particular European Countries, smaller countries ignored

Question 2

Why was WWII Costly?

Answer 2

1. Numbers mobilized / impacted (just the sheer size of the war)
2. Modern technology that can go farther, more accurately, and more lethal.
3. Soviet and Japanese military leadership are less worried about their own causality rates (unworried about the impacts of their actions)
4. Starvation and disease because of famine and Prisoners of War

Question 3

What do some historians say about the limitations put on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 3

That if Germany had abided by the military reductions imposed by the Treaty, the savings for Germany would have paid for the reparations

Question 4

What is the difference between what the German nationalists got versus their expectations for the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 4

1. The gap between what they wanted and what the Treaty gives them is huge, a ‘yawning gap’
2. Even a milder peace with modest reparations and colonies loss would have been resented by German nationalists

Question 5

What were the Theaters of WWII?

Answer 5

Pacific, European

Question 6

Why is Hideki Tojo important to understanding WWII?

Answer 6

1. His anger over how the Treaty of Portsmouth was settled at the end of the Russo-Japanese War influenced his views on the United States
2. He was part of a group of expansionist generals leading up to and into the Second World War
3. He’s an example of how the individual level of analysis can help, in part, explain the Second World War

Question 7

Def - Buckpassing

Answer 7

Nobody deals with Germany, so they keep passing the “buck” with appeasement

Question 8

Def - Appeasement

Answer 8

1. The act of calming something down
2. Material, diplomatic, territorial concessions (giving Germany land so they don’t go to war)

Question 9

What were the four factors that let German succeed in the Eastern Theater?

Answer 9

(Randomness + Misc factors)
1. Allies misjudged German route, put too many troops in Belgium
2. German General lost contact with General Staff and kept advancing
3. Germans march for 3 days nonstop
4. French commanders were placed in the rear of the army, they miss opportunities for counter-attacks.