ORIGINS OF WORLD WAR 2
A Balance of Power
TREATY
OF
VERSAILLES
POLICY
OF
APPEASEMENT
JAPANESE
AGGRESSION
CAUSES
OF
WW2
ITALIAN
AGGRESSION
FAILURE
OF
LEAGUE
OF
NATIONS
GERMAN
AGGRESSION
RISE
OF
HITLER
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Treaty of Versailles – end of
WWI
• The main points of the Treaty [BRAT]
• 1. Germany had to accept the Blame for
•
•
•
starting the war
2.
Germany paid Reparations for the
damage done during the war.
3.
Germany was forbidden to have
submarines or an air force. She could
have a navy of only six battleships, and
an Army of just 100,000 men.
4.
Germany lost Territory (land) in
Europe (see map). Germany’s colonies
were given to Britain and France.
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Land and Resources lost
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Failure of the League of Nations
• Not all countries joined
• The League had no power, but relied on
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•
•
member nations refusal to trade
The League had no army
It only met 4 times a year and was unable to act
quickly
The League of Nations was the brainchild of
Woodrow Wilson. However there had been a
change of Government in America and they had
chosen to follow an isolationist policy
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How did WW1 HELP CAUSE WW2?
• Economy was bad in Europe
• WWI killed a lot of workers and
customers
• After years of humiliation and
starvation, Germans looked for a
strong leader.
• Nazis promised to build up their army and
get revenge for the WWI
• Germany escaped the Depression
by militarizing.
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The Rise of Adolph HitlerOne People, One Nation, One Leader
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Why did German people support
Hitler?
•
Farmers Higher prices for their produce making up for all their losses during the
Depression.
• Unemployed workers Jobs building
public works such as roads and stadiums.
• Middle Class
•
To restore the profits of
small business and the value of savings. To end
the Communist threat.
Hitler used the Jews and other sections of
society as scapegoats, blaming all the problems
on them
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Nuremburg Rally 1938
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Hitler’s Foreign Policy
• Hitler sought to unite the German people
• “protecting the 10 million Germans living outside the
Reich”
• In 1935, Hitler declared that Germany was no
longer bound by the Versailles treaty and began
to rearm, and used the Spanish Civil War of
1936-39 as a training ground for the new troops.
• Germany and Italy supplied Franco and the Soviet
Union supplied the Spanish republic
• In 1936, Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland, taking
•
away the buffer zone between Germany and
France.
In 1938 he annexed Austria bringing about
Anschluss or union.
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Ethnic Unity or European
domination?
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Hitler
announces
the
peaceful
takeover of
Austria
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Italian Aggression
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Fascist Imperialism
• Ø
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Italy had a small number of overseas colonies (3)
and wanted more
Ø
Mussolini declared the Mediterranean Sea as “Mare
Nostrum” Our Sea
Ø
This would obviously threaten Britain and France’s
trade routes
Ø
To show his newly found power, Mussolini decides to
invade Ethiopia in 1935
Ø
Emperor Selassie appeals to the League of Nations
but gets little support – the economic sanctions did not
affect Italy
Ø
It takes the Italian army of mechanized equipment 3
weeks to defeat the Ethiopian army of horseback and turn
of the century rifles and swords
Ø
The British and French decide to appease Mussolini
through the Hoare-Laval Plan
Ø
This meant “Take half, leave half
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Deconstruct this cartoon. What is
its meaning?
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Identify individual aggressors, countries,
trampled on. Note the significance of size in
satirical cartoons
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Where were the Allied Powers?
• The U.S. had rejected the Peace of Paris and
was caught up in the Depression; Russia was
consolidating its revolution; Britain was caught
up in the Depression; France alone was left to
hold Germany down.
• Also, Nazi propaganda in the U.S. and Britain
portrayed Hitler as the best check on
Communist Russia.
• The British and French feared a new war and
went to great lengths to avoid confrontation.
France built immense fortifications, called the
Maginot Line, but lacked the mobile strike force
necessary to counter an aggressive Germany.
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Appeasement
• As a result, Britain came up
with the policy of
appeasement:
Neville Chamberlain, Prime
Minister of England
• Giving in to Germany in the
•
hope that a satisfied Hitler
would not drag Europe
through another world war.
They thought Hitler simply
wanted a peaceful revision of
the Versailles Treaty and that
he could be contained
through concessions.
• Czechoslovakia
• A little over 3 million ethnic
•
Germans lived in the
Sudetenland of
Czechoslovakia.
British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain agreed to meet
with Hitler to discuss the
matter.
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WHY APPEASEMENT (6 reasons)?
• Chamberlain feared another war. People wanted peace so....
• Chamberlain would not have had enough public support to go to
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
war.
Belief in the League of Nations to solve problems so...
they did not threaten Hitler with war.
Britain too weak for war in 1938, needed time to re-arm so...
appeasement bought Britain a year to re-arm.
Treaty of Versailles was considered unfair so...
many British people sympathised with Hitler's demands.
Chamberlain misjudged Hitler so...
he trusted Hitler's promises that Sudetenland was the last thing
he wanted
Fear of Communism so...
people let Hitler grow strong because they thought a strong
Germany could stop Russia.
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Deconstructing cartoons
Meaning, usefulness and
reliability?
What is the
significance of the
appeasement peg?
Identify the politician
on the tightrope?
Who is
represented by
the knife
carrier?
What does the
tightrope
represent?
Why are the words “ British
prestige” written on the
rope?
Which countries are
represented by the
bayonets?
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What is represented by the small
man, the serpents and the
lollipops?
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Speaking too soon!
• "My good friends, for the second time in our
history, a British Prime Minister has returned
from Germany bringing peace with honour.
I believe it is peace for our time...
Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”
Neville Chamberlain speaking
after the Munich Conference
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Chamberlain and Hitler at the
Munich Conference
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CZECHOSLOVAKIA: BEFORE AND
AFTER MUNICH
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Czechoslovakia; Flashpoint!
• At the Munich Conference of 1938, Britain and
France (not Czechoslovakia) agreed to the
German occupation of the Sudetenland.
• Deprived of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia could
not defend against a German attack. Hitler took
Czechoslovakia in March 1939.
• The take-over of Czechoslovakia was different
•
than the other conquests. This was not about
German self-determination it was about
hegemony or control of Europe.
With the end of Czech independence, Hitler’s
intent to dominate Europe was apparent.
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Aggression in Europe
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Choosing Sides in 1939
Name the Allied and Axis Powers
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Poland ; The Final crises
• Hitler next turned his attention to Poland. He
demanded the return of the city of Danzig and
use of the Polish corridor. Poland refused and
France and Great Britain warned that they would
support Poland if attacked.
• On May 22, 1939, Hitler and Mussolini entered
into a pact, promising mutual aid in the event of
war.
• On August 23, 1939, Germany and Russia
signed a nonaggression pact, giving Hitler
the green-light to invade Poland.
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Aggression by Japan
• Japan is expanding in the Pacific in search of raw
•
materials.
Problems:
• U.S. insisted of Japan’s withdrawal from China
• Japan’s alliance with Germany and Italy (Tripartite
Pact)
• Negotiations over commercial treaty
• U.S. had broken Japanese diplomatic codes
• Japan wanted Indochina
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Solution to Depression; Acquire
an Empire
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The Pacific theatre
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Nationalism, Imperialism,
Totalitarianism, Communism
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Allied and Axis military strengths
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
France
Germany
USA
USSR
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Army
Aircraft
Ships
Subs
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• Most devastating war in human history
• 55 million dead
• 1 trillion dollars
• Began in 1939 as strictly a European Conflict
• Widened to include most of the world
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