Rewinding a bit and understanding the beginning
-46.d: explain the aggression and conflict
leading to World War II in Europe and Asia;
include: the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the
Spanish Civil War, the Rape of Nanjing in
China, and the German violation of the Treaty
of Versailles
1.
Why did the invasion of Ethiopia begin to prove the League was weak?
2.
What parts of The Treaty of Versailles did the German’s and Italians break during
the Spanish Civil war?
3.
How does the Rape of Nanjing show the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations?
4.
What 3 things did the Nazi party and Hitler seek to do to rebuild Germany?
5.
What is Appeasement?
6.
What finally begins the war and what war tactic did the Germans use?
ITALIAN INVASION OF
ETHIOPIA
Italy tried once
before to control
Ethiopia in the
1890’s
They were
unsuccessful but
a border dispute
in 1935 gave
Mussolini the
excuse to invade
Italy conquers
Ethiopia Showing
the League of
Nations
Weakness
Why would Italy’s Invasion prove
that the League of Nations is too
weak to stop the Axis Aggressors?
Why did the Invasion begin to prove the League was
weak?
Playing it Safe
No Real Power
• The League was
notorious for playing it
safe.
• They often avoided
conflict and avoided
being offensive
• Member countries also
had trouble giving up
their autonomy when
negotiating deals
between nations
• The League had no
real power
politically or
militarily
• The only power they
could enact was
sanctioning
Italy did not take
them seriously
• Numerous attempts to
arbitrate between the two
powers were made. All
failed.
• After multiple Ethiopian
Complaints. The League
Attempted to Sanction Italy
but may of the member
nations failed to
substantially support these
sanctions.
•
•
Italy’s invasion of
Ethiopia displeased
the Brits who had a
stake in East Africa.
They also did not like
the lack of support
from The League’s
members and felt that
they gave in to the
Imperialist
Government of Italy.
French and
British
displeasure
with leagues
inabilities
•
A further divide is
now seen between
the Western
Democracies and
the Fascist states.
•
This leads to
tensions between
European nations
and the possibility of
war becoming more
probable.
Italian
Invasion of
Ehtiopia
Divide
between
Fascist States
and Western
Democracies
EUROPEAN TENSIONS
 a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the
Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and
that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by
a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and
forcible suppression of opposition
Corrupt
Governments
Cultural
Differences
History of violence
Extra Facts
Separatism
Spain is made up of Multiple Different
Regions with different languages,
religions, and customs.
Over the years rivalries formed over
differences between these regions and
those rivalries would often turn violent.
History of Violence
From 1803-1936 Spain had a total of 19
coups.
3 civil wars were fought during
1833 and 1876
As a result of this Spain’s government
constantly changed and with each change
more and more issues were caused.
Corrupt Governments
Spain repeatedly switched between
systems of government.
Spanish separatism is
still seen today with the
Catalan independence
movement
These governments would undue the
accomplishments of the previous and
further prolong the economic and
For example in a period of 3
years between 1873-1876
Spain changed its government
from a Republic to a monarchy
then to a dictatorship and
back to a republic.
The Nationalists/
Francoists
1. Supported by fascists,
the Union Militar
Espanola, Italy, and
Germany
The Republicans Led By
President Manuel Azana
Supported by Anarchists,
Leftists, and the USSR
Side Note: When Germany
agreed to help Franco it was
by lending their air force. This
was a violation of their treaty
agreements in the Treaty of
Versailles
1936-Military uprising in
Morrocco. Rebels take
Andalusia but fail to take
Madrid
1937- British and French
took position of Nonintervention. But Britain
unofficially allows gives
Franco intel
28 March 1939-Franco
enters Madrid and the
country surrenders shortly
after. Franco is made
dicatator and holds position
until his death in 1975
October 1937- Hitler
Provides Air support and
Mussolini provides ground
troops. Which violates the
sanctions in the Treaty of
Versailles
May 1938- Franco fights to
the coast and cuts the
Republican forces in half
This is Picasso’s Famous
Painting La Guerneca
Picasso’s painted it in
black in order to not
distract the viewer from
the message
It was commissioned by
the Republican
Government of Spain as
anti-fascist proapaganda
It depicts the pain and
suffering of civilians
during the bombing
raids by the Germans in
Franco’s name
It was taken by Nazi’s
when they invaded
France from Picasso
who was in Exile. When
asked by the Nazi
soldier if he did the
work Picasso looked at
him and said “No, you
did”
How does this painting illustrate the future pain and suffering the
Fascist Nazi government and its supporters will inflict on Europe
in the years to come
JAPAN’S ATROCITIES AND
AGGRESSIONS
1937- Japanese army continues
to advance through China. As
they reach the Capitol of
Nanking the Chinese
Government retreats to inland
China and left the city
defended by auxiliary troops.
12-13-1937:Once General
Matsui Iwane’s army reaches
Nanking they begin to destroy
the city under his orders. A
safety zone was created by
western Christian missionaries
but was dismantled in January
of 1938.
12-13-1937 through
Approximately February of
1938:
Killing of Chinese citizens
continued. Atrocities such as
rape, murder, and torture
occurred through this time.
200k -300k
Murdered
League of
Nations did
very Little
Puppet
Government
• Mass Murders, Rapes, Bombings,
looting, and torture were
documented in photos by Japanese
military and others who were there.
• Had already established sanctions
but they were not effective
• A puppet government was
established in Nanjing until the end
of the war
General
Matsui was
eventually
found Guilty
of all the
atrocities
committed in
Nanjing and
was executed
GERMANY AND THE TREATY
So long as this Treaty stands there can be no
resurrection of the German people; no social reform
of any kind is possible! The Treaty was made in
order to bring 20 million Germans to their deaths
and to ruin the German nation. But those who made
the Treaty cannot set it aside. As its foundation our
Movement formulated three demands:
1. Setting aside of the Peace Treaty.
2. Unification of all Germans.
3. Land and soil [Ground und Boden] to feed our
nation.
-Adolf Hitler
What does Hitler think about
the Treaty of Versailles?
According to Hitler, what
is the Nazi Party
demanding?
According to Treaty
Germany must keep
their army to certain
numbers
• Hitler’s Germany instead began to build up their
military, air force, and navy.
According to the
Treaty the Rhineland
was supposed to act
as demilitarized
buffer zone
• Germany disobeyed these orders
by remilitarizing the Rhineland
They justified this by
claiming the ruling
French mistreated
the German people
in the Rhineland
• The Locarno pact which kept
Germany out of the Rhine and
kept allowed them in the
League of Nations was broken.
ANSCHLUSS OF AUSTRIA
The Germans and
Austrians shared
many cultural
similarities in
language, religion
and so on.
Hitler set his eyes on
unifying the two
peoples. He first
attempted a coup in
1934 but failed.
But something of a
blessing came to
Hitler. The
government that
took over Austria
after that coup stunk
and was super
oppressive.
ANSCHLUSS OF AUSTRIA
This is how Hitler rose to power
in Austria
Hitler realized that the
new oppressive
Austrian government
was the perfect
opportunity for him to
take over since the
people were clearly
unhappy
So on February 1938
Hitler decides to invite
the Austrian Chancellor
to a meeting. He forced
the Austrian Chancellor
the hand over Austria to
the Third Reich.
Hitler was successful
and Austria was forced
to give up. The
Chancellor asked the
Austrian army to stand
down and the German
military along with
Hitler walked right in or
did they?
Germany didn’t find it too
easy to take over Austria
Since the President of Austria
(different from the
Chancellor) rejected the
New Nazi Chancellor.
Germany invades and most
of the Austrian people
accepted the new
government. The enthusiasm
from the people gave Hitler
the path to annex the country.
Nazi Minister Goring asked
for the New Nazi Chancellor
to ask for Military aid which
he refused. Goring then used
a spy to send the note to
Hitler and therefore provide
the legal means for Germany
to Invade.
The Treaty of Versailles
prohibited an alliance
between Austria and
Germany. Therefore this was
another violation of the
Treaty.
A Remnant
• A remnant of German people were left out of Germany’s border with the
Czechs.
• Known as the Sudetenland, it carried a large population of people who
identified as German
Hitler’s speeches
• Hitler started to propose plans to his officials on how to take over the
Sudetenland.
• Code named Case Green, the mission to take over the Sudeten lands
considered the political and military ramifications of an invasion.
The Munich Pact/Conference
• The western powers were concerned about Hitler’s desires to invade the
Sudetenland so they called a meeting between France, Britain, Germany,
and Italy. The Czechs were not invited.
• The Pact called for Germany to only take over the Sudetenland as long as
they promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Hitler Annexes the
Sudetenland.
The Sudetenland is rich and resources and in
fact held more than 50% of the natural
resources the Czech’s owned.
This Allowed the German war
machine to then fuel their advance
into Czechoslovakia
On March 15th 1939- Hitler then goes to
the Czech president and threatens to
bomb Prague if he doesn’t give free
passage in to Czechoslovakia to the
German Army.
Hitler began to try to
fracture and separate the
Czech. He supported the
Slovakian independence
movement and pushed
German ideals on the
Czechs
That same Day, Hitler
Invades
Czechoslovakia and
annexes the country
The League was
Created to prevent
war.
But the League
religiously avoided
conflict when
necessary and
appeased to the
Axis powers rather
than make hard
stances.
With what other
countries did the
League fail and how
did it fail in stopping
war aggressors?
Hitler began to speak about Lebensraum (living
space). He wanted the Aryans who he thought
were racially superior to have living space (land
and Soil).
He looked to take back the Lands taken away by
the Treaty of Versailles. Poland was one of those
Lands.
Germany Planned to invade Poland but needed to
get Russia out of the way. So Germany made a
non-aggression pact with Russia in order to avoid
war with them! They would split Poland Between
them.
The Germans wanted this
invasion to also be
accepted by the western
powers
They enact the policy of war
that would be seen in their
Invasion phase of the war.
Blitzkrieg tactics were now
being seen in Poland.
They staged an invasion by dressing up
Nazi’s as polish troops. They claimed the
Polish attacked them and thus gave
them justification for the Invasion.
The British governments
warned Germany to
stop and if it didn’t it
would face war
At 11 P.M. on September 3rd 1939
Britain declares war on Germany. At
5 P.M. France declares war on
Germany