SGQ #9

Origins of WWII
Why was the time period 1933 to 1939 such a crucial era in world history?

MWH p.69-84

1. Relations between Japan and China
a. Japanese invasion of Manchuria
i. why?
It was a valuable trade outlet; wanted to take it before the Chinese (getting stronger under Chang Kaishek); had been involved there since 1890s, won a port in the russo-japanese war, and invested millions of pounds into their industry and railroad. Since Japan was suffering economically, they couldn't stand by while they were squeezed out of Manchuria.
ii. who supported them? who was opposed?
The British Foreign Secretary because he noticed all the investments Japan had there.
Chinese were opposed?
iii. what was done?
Japan declared Manchuria an independent state under Pu Yi, the last of the Chinese emperors.

b. Japanese advance from Manchuria
i. explain - In 1933 japan advances from manchuria into north-eastern China; by 1935 a large part of china (up to Beijing) is under japanese political and commercial control (while Chinese are in civil war b/w Mao and GMT)

c. Further invasions
i. explain - Signed anti-comintern pact with Germany (1936) -> Japanese use as excuse an incident b/w chinese and japanese troops -> invade other parts of China (July 1937). [The Prime Minister didn't want big intervention but he gave into the wishes of General Sugiyama the War Minister] --> Autumn 1938 Japanese had captured Chiang Kaishek's capital and done terrible things to the Chinese, but didn't victor because Mao had joined against Japanese, and the Russians were helping both communist groups --> League of Nations condemns japanese aggression but is powerless to act because Japan was not a member --> none of the other countries were available to help, so japan conquered eastern china and Chiang held west and center
ii. what did the League of Nations do?
League of Nations condemns japanese aggression but is powerless to act because Japan was not a member

2. Mussolini's foreign policy
a. 1923-1934 (summarize)
i. attended Locarno Conference (1925) -> disappointed that treaty did not guarantee the Italy-Austria border
ii. he was friendly towards greece, hungary and albania; economic and defense agreements were signed
iii. cultivated good relations w/ britain (he supported her decision about turkey, and in turn she gave italy small part of Somalialand.
iv. after britain, he was the 1st to recognize the USSR; he signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR
v. he helped defend austria from the germans -> improved relations w/ france, but mussolini was getting impatient

b. after 1934 - how had Mussolini's attitude changed? examples:
i. joined the british and french in condemning the german action of re-introducing conscription (events convinced Muss. that britain was selfish, and would turn a blind eye to his invasion of abyssinia
ii. Italian invasion of abyssinia (ethiopia) --> demonstrated ineffectiveness of collective security

1. what did the League of Nations do?

iii. condemned italy as an aggressor
iv. applied economic sanctions, which were useless because france and britain wanted to keep italy as an ally


3. Hitler's foreign policy
a. aims
i. destroying hated Versailles settlement
ii. building up army
iii. recovering lost territory (e.g. Saar an d Polish Corridor)
iv. bring all german-speaking people inside the Reich (annex austria and take territory from Czech and Poland)

b. successes
i. (since Germany's military was still weak in 1933 he had to move slow at first) Withdrew Germany from World Disarmament Conference and from League of Nations
ii. signed a 10-yr. non-aggression pact with the poles (Jan 1934) -> calmed down Britain and Poland but worried France and Russia
iii. suffered setback when Austrian Nazi revolt was put down because Italians had moved to protect Austrian border
iv. the Saar was returned to Germany and propagandized
v. 1935 first break of Versailles when he re-introduced conscription
vi. signed the Anglo-German Naval agreement with britain (germany was basically encouraged to do re-armament, but only to 35% of Britain's navy --> by 1938, german army, navy, airforce was doing very well
vii. he sent troops into the demilitarized section of the rhineland -> no real resistance was offered, and to soothe his enemies he made a peace treaty for 25 years
viii. 1936 he signed Rome-Berlin Axis with Mussolini and Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan --> italian and german troops gain experience from winning Spanish Civil War
ix. March 1938 Anschluss with Austria (Hitler's greatest success because showed relations with italy, and rendered Czech attackable from west, north and south

4. Appeasement
a. what is appeasement? summarize the two phases:
-avoiding war with big powers by giving into other reasonable demands
i. from mid 1920s to 1937 attitude "war must be avoided" so france and britain ignored all the breaches of Versailles by germany and france
ii. may 1937 Chamberlain becomes british prime minister and decides to take initiative and show hitler that reasonable claims could be met by negotiation rather than force

b. how was it justified?
i. it was thought essential to avoid war (fear of defenseless cities being bombed) and britain didn't have money for vast rearmament
ii. they felt bad about harshness of Versailles on germany and italy
iii. Chamberlain thought he could civilize hitler and mussolini by personal contact since the League wasn't powerful enough to do anything
iv. Economic cooperation b/w britain and germany would be good for both (if britain helped ger. economy to get better, their internal violence would die down)
v. they feared Communist russia even more than Hitler, and thought Nazism would be a buffer against western spread of communism
vi. Britain was totally unprepared for full-scale war, so it wanted to avoid military action; Chamberlain sped rearmament in hopes of preventing attacks

c. what was the role of appeasement leading up to WWII?
i. no action was taken to stop obvious german rearmament
ii. Anglo-German Naval agreement was signed without consulting italy or france -> broke Stresa front
iii. only half-hearted british action against italian invasion of ethiopia
iv. French didn't mobilize troops when Germans re-occupied Rhineland
v. neither Britain nor France intervened in Spanish Civil War
vi. they protested against Anschluss of germany and austria but lacked action

5. Munich to the outbreak of war
a. Czechoslovakia - what were the three steps to the conquest of Czechoslovakia?
i. The propaganda campaign in Sudetenland : Hitler encouraged Germans' in Sudetenland hatred of Czech for supposed "discrimination" against Germans (employment rate there WAS low)
ii. The Munich conference, September 29, 1938 : Hitler invites Britain France and Italy to meeting to sign Munch agreement, giving Germany sudetenland (if the Czech resisted Munich decision, they would get no help from Britain or France - breach of Locarno)
iii. The Destruction of Czech, March 1939 : loss of 70% of industry, 1/3 of population and territory... Eventually Germany seized whole of Czech -> even appeasers weren't ok with this

b. Poland - what were the two steps to the conquest of Poland?
i. In April 1939 Hitler demanded the return of Danzig and a road and railway across the corridor, linking east prussia with the rest of Germany --> Foreign Minister Colonel Beck refuses to go to conference and accept
ii. Germany signs non-aggression pact with USSR --> started full-scale invasion of Poland --> Germany ignores threats from Britain about war starting if troops not removed --> Sep. 3 Britain starts war against germany; soon after, France did too