AP US
Unit 14 Chapter 37 part 1
With help from Susan Pojer
The Versailles Treaty
A Weak League of Nations
The Ineffectiveness of the League
of Nations
o No control of major conflicts.
o No progress in disarmament.
o No effective military force.
The Rise of Nationalism
• After WWI, an idea known as nationalism
took a hold of many European countries.
• Nationalism is the loyalty to one’s country above
all else and the belief that all the people of your
country (usually defined by language groups)
should be united as one.
International Agreements
Locarno Pact – 1925
• France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy
-
Guarantee existing frontiers
Establish DMZ 30 miles deep on East bank of
Rhine River
Refrain from aggression against each other
Kellogg-Briand Pact – 1928
• Makes war illegal as a tool of diplomacy
-
No enforcement provisions
France – False Sense of Security?
The Maginot
Line
Rise of Totalitarianism
Totalitarian Countries
Italy: Fascism
• After WWI, Italy was suffering from its
own economic troubles.
• Many of the upper classes were worried
by the protests in the streets that leaned
towards communism.
• Because of their demands for a strong
leader, Benito Mussolini was able to
come to power.
– Mussolini was an excellent speaker and
played on the nationalist ideas of the
Italians.
– Known as Il Duce
– Led his army of Black Shirts
Italy: Fascism
• Winning support across Italy, Mussolini
established the Fascist Party.
• Fascism is a type of government that stresses
nationalism and places the interests of the state
over the interest of individuals. To strengthen
the nation, fascists believe that power should
rest in the hands of one strong leader who
controls a strong army.
Italy Attacks Ethiopia, 1935
Emperor Haile
Selassie
The Soviet Union: Communism
• Russia had undergone a
communist revolution in
1917 and became the
communist country known
as the Soviet Union.
– Their leader through this,
Lenin, died in 1924
– Joseph Stalin took over as
the leader of the USSR.
The Soviet Union: Communism
• Stalin created a series of “5 year plans” to set goals
for the Soviet Union to become a true communist
state.
– In these plans all economic activity, including
agriculture and industry, were taken over by the
government.
– In some ways these plans worked as the Soviet
Union became the world’s 2nd largest industrial
power by 1937.
• On the other hand, Stalin was directly responsible
for the deaths of between 8-13 million people who
he felt threatened his power. Millions more died
during famines brought on by the restructuring.
The Soviet Union: Communism
• By killing all who opposed him (or he
thought opposed him) Stalin was able to
create a totalitarian government.
• A totalitarian government is one where the
government rules all, individuals have no
rights, and the government suppresses all
opposition.
Spain: Fascism
• In 1936, a group of Spanish army officers led
by Generalisimo Francisco Franco rebelled
against the Spanish republic.
• This began the Spanish Civil War, which
ended after half a million deaths in 1939;
Franco was victorious.
• The Spanish Civil War aroused sympathies
all over the world. For those who wanted to
stop the spread of fascism, this seemed like
the perfect opportunity.
The Spanish Civil War: 1936 - 1939
Francisco Franco
Spain: Fascism
• Even though many individuals from other
countries went to help those fighting
Franco, fascism still won in Spain.
• Hitler and Mussolini both sent aid to help
Franco. This connection helped bond the
German and Italian dictators for life.
Rome-Berlin Axis, 1939
The “Pact of Steel”
The Spanish Civil War: 1936 - 1939
The American “Lincoln Brigade”
The Spanish Civil War:
A Dress Rehearsal for WWII?
Italian troops in Madrid
“Guernica”
by Pablo Picasso
Japan: Militarism
• Japan was ruled by an imperial government
(led by an emperor), but during this time,
militarists were trying to take control of the
country.
• Militarism is a type of government that uses the
strength of the military to further the goals of the
country. Militarists also believe that discipline
(like that found in the military) is necessary for
the proper functioning of society.
Japan: Militarism
• The militarists were able to take control of
Japan’s government and left the emperor as a
“figure-head”.
• Like Hitler, the Japanese militarists believed
that they needed more room to expand for
their growing population. Therefore, they
launched a surprise attack on China to seize
control of the province of Manchuria in
1931.
– The League of Nations tried to punish Japan for its
actions, but Japan simply left the League.
Japan Invades Manchuria
Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931
The Manchurian Crisis, 1931 and
Japanese Invasion of China ,1937
The “Stab-In-The-Back” Theory
German soldiers are dissatisfied.
Germany: Nazism
• In 1919, Adolf Hitler joined the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party – better
known as the Nazi Party.
– Though the name might imply otherwise, this
party was sternly opposed to Communism and
Socialism.
• Hitler’s leadership and public speaking skills
soon made him the leader of this party. Hitler
called himself Der Führer (The Leader).
• Nazism was the German brand of fascism that
was based on extreme nationalism.
Germany: Nazism
• Hitler and the Nazi Party convinced the
German people that they were the ones to save
Germany from its troubles.
– Much of this was done by playing on feelings of
nationalism that had been injured by the Treaty of
Versailles at the end of WWI.
– By 1932, 6 million Germans were unemployed
because of the economic Depression that Germany
was suffering from after WWI.
– Many out-of-work men joined Hitler’s private
army called “The Storm Troopers” or the “Brown
Shirts”.
The Great Depression in
Germany
Decadence of the Weimar Republic
Germany: Nazism
• By mid-1932, the Nazis became the strongest political
party in Germany.
• In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of
Germany (like the prime minister in England).
• Even though the Nazis and Hitler were put in power
through public elections, once in power, Hitler
dismantled the democratic Weimar Republic and
established a new German Empire called “The Third
Reich.”
– According to Hitler, this new empire would last a thousand
years.
– Hitler saw this as a reincarnation of the great Roman
Empire
Germany: Nazism
•
Hitler and his Nazi Party had three main goals for
Germany:
1. All German-speaking people should be united in a
great German Empire.
2. For Germany to thrive, Germany needed more
lebensraum or living space. Therefore Germany would
have to expand into other areas.
3. Germans, especially blue-eyed, blond-haired
“Aryans”, would form a “master race” in Germany.
•
•
All other people were deemed inferior – this included Jews,
nonwhites, Gypsies, Catholics, etc.
Hitler believed that “racial purification” should happen in
Germany and the races he did not agree with should be
forced to leave or serve the Aryans.
Germany: Nazism
• Goals 1 and 2 began WWII in Europe
• Goal 3 led to the tragedy of the
Holocaust.
• Germany’s extreme nationalism and
economic depression allowed Hitler to
carry out his goals with little opposition.
Clip 1: Hitler’s Rise to Power
Appeasement in Europe
• As the strength and power of the Nazis grew in
Germany, Hitler began plans to carry out his 3
main goals.
– In November 1937, Hitler met in secret with his top
military advisors.
– He informed them about his plan to expand the
lebensraum, or living space, for the German people.
– One of his advisors protested this idea and said it
would lead to war. Hitler replied, “’The German
Question’ can be solved only by means of force, and
this is never without risk.”
Germany Invades
the Rhineland
March 7, 1936
Appeasement in Europe
• Hitler’s first move was to unite with the small
country of Austria, which had 6 million
German people who favored the unification
with Germany.
• On March 12, 1938, Hitler marched
unopposed into Austria and a day later the
union was complete.
– Much of Austria had wanted to merge with
Germany, but that would not be so for Hitler’s
other targets.
The Austrian Anschluss, 1938
Appeasement in Europe
• Next was Czechoslovakia, which had
approximately 3 million German-speaking
people living in the western border region –
known as the Sudetenland.
• Germany spread rumors that the Czechs
were mistreating the Sudeten Germans, and
Hitler began massing troops on the Czech
border.
• Early in these maneuvers, France and Great
Britain promised to protect Czechoslovakia.
Appeasement in Europe
• When it seemed like they might have to follow
through on this, Hitler invited the prime ministers
of France and England to meet with him in
Munich.
• Hitler informed them that the annexation of the
Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand.
– In an attempt to avoid war, Great Britain, France, and
Germany signed the Munich Agreement on
September 30, 1938 – this gave the Sudetenland to
Germany without a single shot being fired.
Appeasement:
The Munich Agreement, 1938
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Now we have “peace in our time!” Herr Hitler is a
man we can do business with.
The “Problem” of the
Sudetenland
Appeasement in Europe
• Great Britain and France (along with
other European countries) were following
a policy known as appeasement, or giving
up principles to pacify an aggressor.
• They felt that if they turned a blind eye to
Hitler’s annexation of Austria and the
Sudetenland, that they could then insure
peace.
Clip 2 Nazi Annexation of the
Sudetenland
Isolationism in America
• After WWI, America did not want to get
involved in another world conflict. Along
with 62 other countries, the US signed the
Kellogg-Briand Pact, which stated that
war would not be used “as an instrument
of national policy.”
• The problem with this Pact is that it did
not have any way to deal with any
country that broke with the agreement.
Isolationism in America
• During the early 1930’s, mass sentiment in
America turned against war, even America’s
previous actions in WWI.
• Books were published that blamed the WWI on
arms brokers and bankers; the books accused
these people of forcing America into WWI for
profit.
• Antiwar feelings became so strong during this
time that the Girl Scouts of America changed
their uniforms from khaki to green to appear less
militaristic.
America-First Committee
Charles Lindbergh
London Conference of 1933
• Wanted to regulate exchange rates so that
world trade could pick back up again.
• Roosevelt refused because he wanted to
continue practicing his inflationist
policies here at home
The Philippines
• To further embrace isolationism, America
began to distance itself from its imperialist
holdings in the Philippines.
• Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934
– Would provide for Philippine independence
after a 12 year tutelage - 1946
– America got to keep naval base options
Good Morning USSR
• America also recognized the existence of
the Soviet Union (16 years after the fact)
• Was to help boost trade
Good Neighbor
• America stopped sucking so much for
Latin America
–
–
–
–
Renounced armed intervention
Basically revoked Roosevelt Corollary
Stopped meddling - Cuba, Panama, Haiti
Caused much love for Roosevelt in Latin
America
Reciprocal Trade Agreements
• Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade
Agreements Act in 1934
– Allowed an arrangement to reduce our tariff
in exchange for another country reducing
theirs
– Escaped the bog of having the change be
approved by Congress
Isolationism in America
• In an effort to keep America out of future
wars, Congress passed a series of
Neutrality Acts beginning in 1935.
• These acts outlawed arms sales or loans
to nations at war or in a civil war.
• America’s move away from involvement in
world affairs is known as isolationism.
U. S. Neutrality Acts:
1934, 1935, 1937, 1939
Isolationism in America
• The Neutrality Acts caused a problem for America
when Japan launched a new attack on China in July
of 1937.
• In an effort to help China, Roosevelt found a way
around the Neutrality Acts – he pointed out that
Japan had never officially declared war and therefore
the US was allowed to sell arms to China.
– Obviously this did not make the Japanese happy with
America.
• Next, Roosevelt asked that peace-loving nations
“quarantine” or isolate aggressor nations to stop the
spread of war.
– Isolationist American newspapers immediately spoke
out against the President’s interest in world affairs.
Hitler Continues to Expand
• Even though he had promised to stop,
Hitler was not done with his plans to
expand Germany. On March 15, 1939,
Hitler took over the rest of
Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia Becomes Part of the
Third Reich - 1939
Clip 3 – Early Nazi Propaganda