Why Had International Peace Collapsed by 1939

Created by: mrabomar
Created on: 23-05-15 14:59

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Why Had International Peace Collapsed by 1939
- 1931
  - Japan's invasion of Manchuria
    - led to Italy, Germany and Japan control
      - Abyssinia
      - China
      - Austria
      - Czechoslovakia
      - Memel
      - Albania
      - Poland
- long term consequences of peace treaties 1919-1923
  - dissatisfied powers
    - Italy
      - hoped to receive Adriatic port of Fiume and greater share of former german and Turkish colonies
    - Japan
      - racial equality clause was rejected at paris peace conference
        expected a greater share of Germany's trading rights than china
    - Germany
      - hated treaty of versailles
        territory
        
        disarmament
        
        guilt
        
        reparations
      - stabbed in the back
        by November criminals
        Germany had actually not lost
        
        wanted to profit from surrender
        
        untrue myth
        popular with right-wing
        needed to overturn treaty of versailles
  - Germany's potential
    - treaty of versailles
      - dissatisfied
      - allowed to gain power
        resources
  - hitler's foreign policy
    - rearmament
    - remilitarise rhineland
    - anschluss
    - takeover industrial Sudetenland from czechoslovakia
    - occupy prague
    - seizure of memel
    - claim Danzig and Polish corridor
  - impact on French and british opinion
    - British
      - initially satisfied
        then realised it may be unfair
        decided to help Germany recover
    - French
      - not harsh enough
        wanted to disable Germany for their security
        couldn't stand up to hitler
        joined british
  - inconsistencies
    - separating east Prussia from Germany
      - by polish corridor
      - Czechoslovakia control sudetenland
        3.5 million germans
    - league controlling danzig
      - many germans
- consequences of league failures in 1930s
  - Manchuria 1931
    - first sserious challenge from a great power
      - if league was firm, it would warn other powers
        league failed
        japan saw that the league is weak without USA and USSR
        USSR joined league in 1934
        more concerned about agricultural and industrial reform
        
        Italy and Germany encouraged
  - Abyssinia 1935
    - league imposed useless sanctions (coil and oil not taken away)
      - double dealing
        hoare-laval pact
        Italy and Germany encouraged
  - failure of league and rearmament
    - Britain and france didn't spend enough on defence due to world recession; money was scarce
      - both used collective security as an excuse for this
      - public opinion was against major arms spending
    - 1936, it was understood that rearmament was necessary
      - led to appeasement towards dictators
        satisfying dictators' by treaties and pacts
- how far was hitler's foreign policy responsible
  - aims
    - destroy treaty of versailles
      - break disarmament
        conscription
        
        army
        
        navy
        
        air force
      - remilitarizing rhineland
      - gain lost territory
    - greater Germany
      - all germans brought to reich
      - extend frontiers to german populated areas
        Czechoslovakia
        
        Poland
        
        Austria
    - central European empire
      - Germany would become most powerful state in Europe if not the world
    - destroy communism
      - conflict with USSR
    - lebensraum
      - more land
        recreation
        
        cultivation
      - at expense of Poland and USSR
    - wanted france as a client state
      - more dominance
        atlantic
  - direction towards war 1933-1935
    - 1933
      - refused to pay reparations
        secretly rearming
      - left disarmament conference
        secretly rearming
      - left league
    - 1934 jan
      - 10 year non-aggression pact with poland
        safe to move against Austria and czechoslovakia
    - jul 1934
      - anschluss
        murder of chancellor dollfuss
        
        musslonin stopped hitlers invasion
        
        hitler denied dollfuss's murder
    - jan 1935
      - saar plebiscite
        according to treaty of verasailles
        
        90% wanted germany
        
        Germany gained territory legally
    - mar 1935
      - conscription
        550k men
        challenging allies
        formed stresa front
        
        mutual-assistance pacts
        france and USSR
        
        USSR and Czechoslovakia
        
        air force
        challenging allies
        formed stresa front
        
        mutual-assistance pacts
        france and USSR
        
        USSR and Czechoslovakia
    - jun 1935
      - anglo-german naval agreement
        Germany can have 35% of britains navy
        no agreement with france or italy
        
        germany can have 45% of britains submarines
        no agreement with france or italy
        
        mussolini was encouraged to extend italian colonies this way
  - hitler revealing his true intentions1936-1938
    - successfully remilitarized rhineland
      - peaceful intentions proven by 25 year non-aggression pact with west
      - france had economic crisis
        britain and france didnt see it worth it to risk european peace for this
    - Spanish civil war 1936-1939
      - started by general franco
        supported by hitler and mussolini
        fascist
        
        hopes
        spain would be allied to germany, provide naval base, and hostility to france
        franco concentrated on domestic issues; neutral during WW2
        luftwaffe able to test dive bombing
        left britain and france. formed rome-berlin axis; very close to alliance
        alliance with italy
        move attention of western forces from central europe
        
        happened, and hitler could take control of austria and czechoslovakia
        move attention of western forces from central europe
        
        germany's armed forces could be tested in the war
        luftwaffe able to test dive bombing
        left britain and france. formed rome-berlin axis; very close to alliance
        alliance with italy
        
        happened, and hitler could take control of austria and czechoslovakia
        
        reality
        franco concentrated on domestic issues; neutral during WW2
        
        stalin supported republicans
  - anti-comintern pact 1936
    - japan and Germany against USSR
      - Mussolini joined 1937
  - Anschluss 1938
    - almost 7 million german speakers in Austria
      - mussolini was stopping hitler
        relationship with Mussolini improved since 1934
        hitler forced schuschnigg in 1938 to appoint seyss-inquart as interior minister
        Schuschnigg held a plebiscite
        hitler ordered his resignation and appointed seyss-inquart as chancellor
        seyss-inquart then asked Germany for help
        
        hitler sent army into Austria in 1938
        plebiscites confirmed anschluss
        more military and resources
    - hitler hated Czechoslovakia
      - treaty of saint germain
      - treaty of versailles
      - aliied to USSR and France
      - democracy
      - Sudeten germans were discriminated
        hitler told them to protest
        didnt want war with USSR, france and britain
  - munich agreement
    - 1938
      - Mussolini
      - chamberlain
        2 summit meetings
        22 september
        rhineland
        chamberlain reported discussions in Bavaria
        
        hitler claims sudeten territories immediately
        czechs to withdraw from sudeten areas by 1st october to avoid conflict
        
        15 September
        bavaria
        german populated area of sudetenland given to germans
        
        to be approved by britain, france, and czechoslovakia
      - hitler
        2 summit meetings
        22 september
        rhineland
        chamberlain reported discussions in Bavaria
        
        hitler claims sudeten territories immediately
        czechs to withdraw from sudeten areas by 1st october to avoid conflict
        
        15 September
        bavaria
        german populated area of sudetenland given to germans
        
        to be approved by britain, france, and czechoslovakia
      - deladier
    - munich conference
      - all 4 leaders as 2 summit meetings
        1938 after summit meetings
        hitler get Sudeten areas over 10 days
        
        plebiscites in codominantly national areas
        
        remainder of Czechoslovakia to remain after polish and Hungarian claims
    - few hours later, chamberlain offered hitler to sign an agreement saying that they will promote european peace together, and will use "method of consultation" for mutual differences
    - good
      - britain wasnt ready to have a war in 1938
        britain had incomplete air defenses; threatened by luftwaffe
        british dominions weren't united for war
        wouldve been seen as opposing self-determination, and to prevent german control over europe
    - bad
      - britain and france abandoned czechoslovakia
        extreme appeasement
        incase of war britain would have support of 36 divisions in 1938 (500k troops)
        britain and france might have assistance or neutrality of USSR during war
- Justification of appeasement
  - correcting injustices of verailles
    - by 1930s many thought Versailles was too harsh
      - saw it as reasonable to cut Germany some slack
        allow it to defend itself and frontiers
        
        injustice on germans was intensified by dominions, who were supporting self-determination
  - increasing militarism of japan and italy
    - britain would not win a war against japan and france with all their power, with france as their only ally
    - britain was seen as weak, but it had time to improve its air defences
  - popular
    - all appeasing governments led democratic countries, so public opinion was greatly considered
      - most people wanted peace and not rearmament
  - threat of communism
    - USSR was a threat; spread of communism
      - germany was strong and anti-communism
    - some politicians feared communism more than nazism
      - germany was strong and anti-communism
  - why did britain and france adopt a policy to deter germany after 1939?
    - abandoned appeasement
    - invasion of czechoslovakia
      - after loss of sudetenland, czechoslovakia began to break up
        however, still rich in industry and agriculture
        required by hitler
        hitler strikes in march 1939
        president Hacha bullied to give germany fortunes of czechoslovakia
        german army occupies Prague in 1939
        no justification for these actions. hitler had no right to take czechoslovakia
    - german/italian relations 1934-1939
      - 1934
        Italy opposes Germany's invasion of austria
      - 1935
        Italy joins stresa front against german rearmament
        
        germany continues trade with italy during abyssinian crisis
      - 1936
        italy joins germany supporting franco in spanish civil war
        
        rome-berlin axis
      - 1937
        mussolini visits hitler in berlin
        
        italy joins japan and germany signing anti-comintern pact
      - 1938
        mussolini agrees to anschluss
        
        mussolini persuades hitler to agree to munich conference
      - 1939
        pact of steel: italy's formal alliance with germany
        
        mussolini informs hitler he's not ready for war, so remains neutral when britain and france declare war on germany
  - examples
    - 1935
      - anglo-german naval agreement
      - hoare-laval pact
    - 1936
      - passiveness towards reoccupation of rhineland
    - 1938
      - passiveness towards anschluss
      - munich agreement
  - Japanese and Italian aggression 1931-1939
    - japan
      - 1931 manchuria
      - 1937 rest of china
    - italy
      - 1935 abyssinia
      - 1939 albania
  - british-french gurantee to poland
    - Poland would be hitler's next target
      - recreation by versailles
      - had some of germany's former territory like west prussia
      - polish corridor separated germany from east prussia
      - danzig was mainly germans
    - britain and france tried to form an eastern alliance with USSR to protect poland
      - stalin feared he would be in war with germany
        eastern alliance project failed
- importance of nazi-soviet pact
  - Molotov-ribbentrop pact
    - 10 year non-aggression pact
      - secret clauses of parting poland
    - stalin needed time to build up mititary
      - anglo-french/german war would last long time
        stalin feared a simultaneous attack from japan
        hitler could invade poland without fear of USSR
- why did france and britain declare war on germany in september 1939?
  - germany ignored the ultimatum and pursued the attack on poland
    - why was this seen as germany attempting to dominate europe?
      - germany's invasion of the remainder of czechoslovakia had no justification
        poland's invasion was a continuation despite legitimate claims on danzig and polish corridor
  - why was hitler not deterred by british-french guarantees to Poland?
    - he didnt expect them to stick to their word
      - they appeased his other violations
      - they didnt have support of USSR

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Why Had International Peace Collapsed by 1939

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