Transcript Part Two notes - wolfesocial20-1

Part Two Notes
Making sure that you have everything
for this
A. To what extent were the victorious powers
justified in pursuing their national interests at the
Paris Peace Conference?
Nationalism at the
Paris Peace
Conference
We have talked about this already, but for those
that did not pay attention, here is the quick update.
First of all, at the Paris Peace Conference, the Big
Four (Great Britain, France, USA, and Italy) only
had there vested interests.
GB - Make Germany Pay
France - Protection from Germany
Italy - Land that was promised
USA - Peace that is fair
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles basically crippled
Germany by taking away money, military, land, and
their ability to make anything, oh yeah, and they
were guilty of letting the war happen.
GB and France got what they wanted, Italy got
land, and the Americans really didn’t care.
League of Nations
The League of Nations was the brain child of the
Americans, and GB and France were the basic
founders.
It was set up to allow countries to talk rather than
use weapons. In theory it works, but in reality it
didn’t.
The guiding ideals was to keep the peace, and that
is what the powers wanted.
B. Why did ultranationalism arise in Italy,
Germany and Japan during the inter-war era?
Rise of
Ultranationalism
In Germany, it was quite simple. The Treaty of
Versailles crippled the country and they were
looking for answers.
They found answers in Fascism and the Nazi
Party.
They were proud to be German, and more
importantly less proud of other races in Germany.
This lead to Social Darwinism, or the ideas that
certain races were better than others.
Rise of
Ultranationalism
Italy was much like Germany. There were not
really the winners in World War I and as a new
nation in Europe, wanted power.
Mussolini was the man who brought Fascism to
Italy, as a response to the socialist/communist
ideas that many countries were having.
Tried to being pride to Italy through power.
Rise of
Ultranationalism
In Japan, it was a little different.
It saw itself as the Asian Great Power, and wanted
to influence the rest of Asia.
Due to its isolation for about 400 years, they
developed a strong military belief and values of
honor and discipline.
League of Nations
The League was set up to stop conflicts after World
War I by using words rather than guns.
It was a chance for the great powers of the world to
continue to control the lower powers.
It did not work as it did not have the resources to
really stop any of the aggression shown by
Germany, Italy and Japan.
C. To what extent did the pursuit of national
interests override internationalism during the
inter-war period?
Italian Aggression
The Italians tried to expand to be more like the
great powers of the world.
They went into Libya, Ethiopia and Albania and
tried to take them over.
One thing about the Italians, they make a great
pizza, not that great at the war. They were bailed
out by the Germans.
Nevertheless, the L of N did nothing to stop the
aggression
German Aggression
You could say the the Germans just did what they
should of after WWI and began to be a regular
country.
However, they became a regular country at the
expense of the rest of Europe.
They decided to break many of the Treaty items in
an effort to engage the Great Power, but the L of N
did nothing to stop Germany.
Japanese Aggression
The Japanese thought that they were the Great
Power of Asia, and because of that, the decided to
get an empire of its own.
They went to China and took over Manchuria, and
the L of N did nothing to stop.
The Problem
Countries of the world were very wary of getting
into a global conflict so soon after the end of WWI.
Also that nations were looking out for themselves,
as many of these aggressions took place during
the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
Countries were more worried about themselves
than what was going on in the world.
D. To what extent was the pursuit of National
Interests responsible for the for the outbreak of
WWII?
The German Tour of
Europe
The Germans went around Europe like a hot knife
through butter.
First it was the unifying of Germany and Austria
(forbidden in the Treaty of Versailles). This was
called Anschluss.
Also there was the re-arming of the Rhineland,
which scared the French, as it is right on their
boarder.
The German Tour of
Europe
The Germans then turned to the new country of
Czechoslovakia. Germany said it needed
Lebenstraum (living space) and decided that the
Sudentenland in Czech was good as it was full of
Germans.
The Crisis was averted when GB got a signed
piece of paper from Hitler saying he was finished
and this was his last conquest.
He lied, and occupied Czech.
The German Tour of
Europe
His last place to pick a fight was Poland. It was
helped by the fact that the Nazi party and the
Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact.
This non-aggression pact basically was an
agreement not to fight each other while they were
both invading Poland.
So they did and Poland was overrun in about 4
days.
The German Tour of
Europe
I mention the Pact of Steel here just to say that
Hitler also aligned with Mussolini in Italy.
Truth be told, Mussolini was afraid of Hitler, and
was willing to sign just about anything.
It was their mutual ideas on Fascism that brought
them together, but Hitler basically ran the show.
E. To What extent were nations justified in
pursuing their national interests in World War II?
Germany in the War
The Germans spread very quickly in Europe and in
the Eastern part, they were very active.
The occupation of Eastern Europe gave them more
Jews to kill, as well as a jumping off base for their
attack into the Soviet Union in 1941.
Japan in the War
Like the Germans in Europe, the Japanese made
quick work of their enemies in Asia. The French
and British were no match against the Japanese
Army.
The Japanese held most of Asia, and they were
getting ready to go into Australia that is until the
decided to attack the Americans.
Resistance in WWII
Resistance was great in all the countries that were
taken by the Germans.
The more famous resistance fighters were in
France and Greece.
They fought underground trying to help the Allies
all that they could while still living under the control
of the Germans.
Collaborators in WWII
There was a choice that people had to make during
WWII.
The choice between staying alive and enjoying life
or dying.
Those that collaborated with the Nazi’s did so to
save their lives and have all the perks of being in
power.
It was the thought that the Nazi’s would be around
for a long time.
End of the War in
Europe
When Hitler decided to have a two front war, it was
the beginning of the end. Add to the fact that the
USA was involved, it became game over.
Started with D-Day in June of 1944 and within a
year, Europe was free of Nazi control
End of the War in Asia
Asia was different, as the Japanese were retreating
to their island.
It would have been a tough battle for Japan, and
really it was only the Americans that were fighting,
so to make it easy for them, they dropped two
bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
F. To what extent did participation in WWII serve
Canadian national interests?
Canada and
Conscription
Another War, another talk about conscription.
The French were none too keen on taking part
again, and it brought up the debate once again.
There was a vote, and the conscription side won.
It deepened the mistrust of the French in English
Canada and vice versa.
Canada and WWII
Although part of the British Empire, Canada
declared war on Germany as its own nation.
We took part in major campaigns throughout the
war, and we are loved by the Dutch.
Internment of the
Japanese
Let’s put it this way, we did exactly the same thing
the Germans were doing with the Jewish
population in Europe, but we didn’t kill any
Japanese.
Canada believed that Japanese Canadians were a
threat and thusly shipped them to the interior of BC
in camps.
These were not nice places and we treated out
Japanese prisoners much harsher than the
Americans