Outbreak of WW2 in Europe Flashcards
Explain the failure of the LON to disarm other countries (4 parts)
- In the 1920s and 1930s, there were efforts to disarm countries to prevent the outbreak of another war. The LON however, were unsuccessful in persuading major powers to disarm
- Major powers like Germany who were aggressive in nature were not stopped from engaging in conflicts.
- The World Disarmament Conference and The Washington Naval Conference were effective/successful to some extent in helping to limit weapons and ensure post-war boundaries.
- However, the World Disarmament Conference in 1932 failed as Britain and France did not cooperate by disarming. Germany as well, went against the conference and started to recon script and rearm in 1933.
Explain the ineffectiveness to maintain world peace and resolve in the LON (3 points)
- LON’s credibility was undermined when they were unable to stop Japan invading Manchuria in 1931. In fact, even after sending a representative to discover the main cause of the conflict, the LON did nothing with the Lytton report and this led to Japan simply walking out
- Another instance was in 1930, Italy invaded Abyssinia in the Abyssinian crisis. The LON, instead of putting a stop to Italian aggression, imposed trade sanctions, but allowed materials like oil, steel, and coal which were all vital resources to engage ins ar. In addition, Britain and France had given a part of Abyssinia to Italy in secret.
- All this emboldened Hitler to carry out his aggressive foreign policy aims (aggressive expansionism)
Explain the Entry of USA in WW2 (5 points)
- USA contributed 11 million fresh troops that fought alongside Britain and France soldiers. This proved to make a huge difference as the German troops had been embroiled in war since 1936 and were, by now, war-weary.
- Resources were provided to the allies through the Land-Lease Act which replaced the cash and Carry act. This made it easier and more convenient for Britain to gain more resources and aid, whose resources were almost exhausted by the end of 1941.
- On top of that, USA had faster aircraft production than German plane production. The American bombers were thus able to bomb German oilfields and factories which hindered their production
- American technology, especially in the area of radar development, also allowed for the German U-Boats to be detected and destroyed accordingly. The US Navy also provided escort roles for all Allied convoys to be protect against attacks by German U-boats. Through this, the USA gained control over the Atlantic route and by 1943, Germany had recalled all its u-boats and the Allies managed to achieve control of the sea
- USA imposed economic sanctions on the Axis Powers such as restricting iron and oil to Japan.
Explain Hitler’s aggression
After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, he already started a series of acts that did not bode well for Europe. He firstly left the WDD in the 1930s, and begun to conduct open rearmament in 1935.
However, instead of stopping Hitler, the various European countries started to rearm as well. In 1936, Hitler an his new found ally, Italy would the participate in the Spanish Civil war where they assisted the Nationalist party in securing a victory against the Republicans. This provided the German troops with military experience.
In the same year, Rhineland was remilitarised, which broke a term in the TOV. Shortly after, Hitler started to move into Austria in 1938, signing an Anschluss with them. Though the Austrians responded positively to the takeover, it was still an invasion. Hitler then moved on to take Sudetenland, through the Munich Pact between Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. Hitler called it scrap paper and proceeded to break the pact and invade the rest of Czechoslovakia. He would eventually sign the Nazi-Soviet pact with Stalin which will lead to Germany’s final invasion of Poland.
Explain why Russia and Germany signed the Nazi-Soviet pact
The Nazi-Soviet Pact was a treaty that stated that the two countries (Russia and Germany) would not go to war and contained a clause that Poland would be split evenly between the 2 countries.
Stalin wanted to sign the pact as :
1. Russia would be able to gain Poland, allowing Russia to gain more land and resources
2. Russia was constantly left out by Britain and France and felt distrustful, as Russia was excluded from key events like the Munich Pact, TOV, and LON.
3. It allowed Russia to buy time to ensure that Stalin’s 3rd Five year plan would come into full swing. This was what Stalin would call the total war policy.
Germany wanted to sign the pact as:
1. Germany would gain an ally in Russia
2. Germany would be able to avoid a 2 front war, as that would lead to a splitting of resources and army that would be disastrous.
3. Germany would also gain Poland, and with this also gain land and resources
Explain Appeasement
Appeasement was Britain’s way of always giving in to Hitler. It started as early as 1935 when Britain and Germany signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement where Germany was able to rearm its navy up to 35% of British Naval strength. This broke the TOV and was the first step in appealing Hitler. This would soon be followed by their inaction with Hitler’s remilitarisation of Rhineland, signing the Anschluss with Austria and allowed the takeover of Sudetenland in the Munich Pact.
Reasons for Appeasement:
1. Britain saw Hitler as a possible ally against communism, as it was seen as a greater evil than nazism. Although they were aware of Germany’s remilitarisation programme, they believed a strong Germany would be an effective deterrent against communism.
2. Britain was also not ready for war. Due to the Great Depression, Britain was still suffering economically and thus focused on fixing itself, causing it to rearm late. Not to mention that many of its soldiers were still war weary and the fear of another major war plagued the country.
3. Britain wanted to buy time to rearm as they only started in 1938 while Germany started in 1933. The ratio of the British army to the German army was 1:30 But by 1939, this had become 1:3.
Explain Germany’s mistakes
- Germany made a tactical error when it changed from bombing coastal installations in Britain to bombing major cities like London during the Battle of Britain. This was seen as a mistake as it gave Britain time to repair coastal installations and also helped to strengthen the British soldiers morale to defeat Germany when key cities like London were bombed.
- Germany made another mistake when it decided to invade Russia in Operation Barbarossa. This was a fatal error for Germany as it made them fight a 2 front war, which was what they wanted to prevent in the first place. Fighting a 2 front war meant that resources and the army would have to be split, leading to many fights lost. Furthermore, the German soldiers were unprepared for the harsh Soviet winter, leading to many freezing to death. The cold weather also rendered many German machines useless, which slowed down their advance. Furthermore, Germany had an inefficient command structure, and many of the Generals were confused as to the areas they were in charge of. One example is the OKH and the OKW.
- Germany’s third error was in its usage of resources as it was very inefficient. To start off, many of German resources were still being used to make anti-Semitic toys and resources were still being directed to the einzatsgruppen. Furthermore, there was a shortage of labour as many of the Jews that have been used as slave labour were treated poorly, which led to them sabotaging weapons for the German army which they were forced to make. Lastly, due to Hitler’s Aryan Family policy, many women were encouraged not to join the workforce, leading to a lower production of resources and less services that were able to be provided due to the lack of women.
Explain the impact of the Allied resistance
- During the battle of Britain, the aircrafts of the Royal Air Force such as the Hurricane and Spitfire put up strong fights against the German Luftwaffe, ultimately leading to Britain’s victory in the BOB.
- In Eastern Europe, there was a group of people known as the Partisans that would use Guerilla tactics to ambush the German soldiers, and also destroy key installations of the German Army which hindered their advancements.
- In the Soviet Union, Stalin had a scorched-earth policy where facilities would be burned down after the Russian soldiers withdrew from the area so as to leave the German army with little resources. Stalin’s 3rd five year plan, also known as the total war policy, managed to come into full swing, which made the Soviet Union a force to be reckoned with as they had more resources and machinery to defend against the Germans. Lastly, the harsh soviet winter caught many German soldiers off-guard, causing them to either freeze to death and some of their machinery to become futile.
