Transcript Causes of WWIIx

Causes of World
War Two
1
Intro to WWII
• Crash Course
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7
8COTwT7nE&list=PLBDA2E52FB1E
F80C9&index=38
Two Theaters of War
• European Theater– Fighting
in Europe and Africa
• Pacific Theater – Fighting in
the Pacific Islands and Asia
Long-term causes
for war in Europe
6
Impact of Treaty of Versailles
• Diktat – Germany was forced to accept the
Treaty of Versailles without participating in the
negotiations
• War Guilt Clause – Germany was forced to
accept the blame for starting WWI
• Reparations – Germany had to pay for the
damage caused by WWI (132 billion gold marks
or $33 billion USD)
• Disarmament – Germany was only allowed to
have a small army and navy.
• Anschluss – union with Austria forbidden
Impact of Treaty of Versailles
• Territorial Changes – land was taken away
from Germany & given to other countries
• Overseas colonies were lost (Island colonies in
the Pacific were given to Japan)
• East Prussia was separated from the rest of
Germany by Poland and the port of Danzig
• Alsace-Lorraine was given to France
• Saarland was run by League of Nations and coal
from that area was to go to France for 15 years
• Rhineland was demilitarized
League of Nations
• Failure to resolve post-war disputes
• Without countries such as USA, the League
depended on France and Britain to enforce rules
• France and Britain not prepared to stop
aggressive powers
• Aggressive powers left the League when
criticized
• Japan 1933 (after attacks on China)
• Germany 1933
• Italy 1935 (after Abyssinian crisis)
• Did not deter Hitler & Mussolini
Impact of the Depression
• International loans were called in
• America withdrew loans under Dawes Plan
• German unemployment in 1933 was
25%
• Democracies seemed helpless
• No German government was able to
fully address the economic situation
• Contributed to the rise of aggressive
dictators
Short-term causes
of war in Europe
11
National Socialist German
Workers’ Party (Nazi)
• Hitler’s party gained prominence
during the 1930s when it gained seats
in the German parliament, the
Reichstag
• In 1933 Hitler was named Chancellor
by the president
• The Nazi party moved to consolidate
its power by outlawing other political
parties
Hitler’s Actions
• 1933
• Became Chancellor of Germany
• Secretly built up Germany’s army and
weapons
• 1934
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Increased size of army
Began building warships
Created German air force
Compulsory military service introduced
German Economic Recovery
• Hitler’s government outlawed most imports
into Germany
• Germany began to trade for imports
• By 1935 Germany exported more than it
imported
• The economic recovery helped pave the
way for German rearmament
• Germany signed Polish-German NonAggression Pact of 1934
• Neither country would attack each other
German Rearmament
• Hitler introduced conscription
• 700,000 in regular army by 1939
• 3 million soldiers in reserve forces
• German industry could mass produce
weapons (5000 planes a year)
• 1935: Anglo-German Naval
Agreement
• Allowed Germany 1/3 the tonnage of the Royal
Navy
• Equal tonnage of submarines
Rhineland
• March 1936: 32,000 German soldiers
entered the Rhineland
• Germany benefited from the industry
rich Rhineland
• France protested, but was unable to
fight
• Britain thought allowing Germany to
have the Rhineland removed a reason
for Germany to go to war
Immediate Causes
of WWII in Europe
(1938-1939)
17
Union with Austria
• Anschluss – union w/ Austria (banned in
Treaty of Versailles)
• Hitler threatened to invade Austria, so
Austrian chancellor put Nazis in charge
• March 1938 – Hitler annexed Austria to
Germany
• Britain and France verbally protested
• 100,000 troops were added to the German
army
• Germany gained control of Austrian
resources
Czechoslovakia
• A large German population lived in the
Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia
• Sept. 15, 1938 – Hitler demanded Sudetenland
• Germany, Britain, France and Italy met in
Munich
• Sept. 30, 1938 - Munich Agreement – Hitler
could have Sudetenland, but could go no
further
• Britain warned Germany that Poland would be
protected
• Munich Conference – high point of
appeasement
Britain’s Response
• December 1, 1938: Britain sets up a
“National Register”
• In case of mass evacuation and wartime need to
maximize the efficiency of the war economy.
• The likelihood of rationing
• Population statistics
• By January 2, 1939: RAF produces
400 planes a month
Timeline of 1939
• March 15: Hitler invades
Czechoslovakia
• March 31: Britain & France guarantee
Polish independence
• April 28: Hitler renounces AngloGerman Naval Agreement and
German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact
Timeline of 1939
• May 1: Military Training Act
introduces conscription in Britain
• May 22: Pact of Steel (between Italy
and Germany)
• August 23: Nazi-Soviet Pact is signed
• September 1: Germany invades
Poland
• September 3: Britain declares war on
Germany
Appeasement
• Give a little and Hitler takes a lot
What is Appeasement?
• Prevent aggressors from starting
wars
• Agree to those demands which seem
reasonable
• Chamberlain used this policy with
Hitler in 1938 and the early part of
1939
How was Hitler Appeased?
• He violated the Treaty of Versailles
• 1933: Germany began to rearm
• Reparations payments cease
• 1935: Anglo-German Naval
Agreement (Britain agreed that Germany could
have a navy 1/3 the size of Britain’s)
• 1936: Troops marched into the
Rhineland
• 1938: Anschluss with Austria
Why did Chamberlain follow the
policy of Appeasement?
• Appeasement would allow time to rearm
• Hitler would defend against Russian
Communism
• People wanted peace
• Britain could not fight Germany alone
• Versailles had been too harsh
• The League of Nations still existed
• Chamberlain misjudged Hitler
Results of Appeasement
• Britain was discredited
• Millions of people came under Nazi
rule
• Appeasement encouraged Hitler’s
territorial ambitions
• Contributed to the signing of the NaziSoviet Pact
New Alliances
• Rome – Berlin Axis –
alliance between Italy and
Germany
• Anti Comintern Pact –
Germany and Japan against
communism
• Nazi-Soviet Pact – to
avoid a two-front war
• Hitler believed the pact
would force Britain to
back down over Poland
Causes of War in the
Pacific
29
Japan at War
• Japan was upset over Treaty of
Versailles
• Did not get the land and position in
China it wanted
• Also had issues that racial equality was
rejected by the League of Nations
• Japan needed natural resources
• Attacked Manchuria in 1931
• League of Nations protested, but to no
avail
Manchurian Crisis 1931
• Japan was the largest industrial power in
Asia and its wealth depended heavily on its
exports of manufactured goods with the US
• When the American markets collapsed, it
had disastrous consequences for Japan,
including massive unemployment and
starvation.
• The nationalist groups in Japan wanted the
government to take action in order to save
its population.
Manchurian Crisis 1931
• The main goal of these nationalist groups
was to take over Manchuria, a Chinese
province with many natural resources.
• Manchuria had become an independent
region as a result of the civil war in China.
• Japan invaded Manchuria under the pretext
that her population and property had been
attacked by the Chinese, although this was
made up by the radical nationalists
Manchurian Crisis 1931
• China was in civil war and could not
prevent the Japanese from taking over
Manchuria and none of the world’s major
powers had troops in Asia to stop Japan
• The Chinese were quickly defeated and in
1932 Japan established the puppet state of
Manchukuo
• The League of Nations asked Japan to
withdraw its troops from Manchuria and
when Japan refused to do so it dropped out
of the League
Manchurian Crisis 1931
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D9VZ
H5Fi_4&list=PLzGeCBg2XXOC8gvK5B
DZp4XHBFWYNFkiW
Japan at War
• Japan signed Anti-Comintern Pact with
Germany (to help fight against
communism)
• 1940-41 – U.S. froze Japanese assets
and placed embargo on imports of oil
and metal ore to Japan
• U.S. economic pressure was humiliating to
Japan
• Japan decided that a rapid attack on the U.S.
could establish a strong defense perimeter
• Also, Japan hoped India would fall, allowing
Japan to seize Britain’s most prized possession
Japan at War
• Japan needed more resources and
faced a dilemma
• guarantee access to raw materials in
Southeast Asia
• risk losing raw materials from the US
• December 7, 1941 – Japanese
kamikaze pilots attack US naval base
Pearl Harbor
Japan at War
• Spring 1942 – almost all of Southeast
Asia and western Pacific had fallen to
Japanese
• Pearl Harbor – unified American
opinion about joining the war
• December 11, 1941 – Hitler declared
war on US
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC
65MC7N63Y