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The Outbreak of WWII in Europe

The Outbreak of WWII in Europe

Causation at a Glance…

EconomicPoliticalSocial
The Worldwide Economic Depression → US stock market crashed → effects persisted well into the late 1930s.
“Have not” states became more aggressive and the “Haves” more cautious → Growth of authoritarian regimes (Gr and Italy)		Rise of Nazism in Gr and Fascism in Italy. 
Gr – wanted to reclaim land lost under TOV- Carve out living space (Lebensraum) for Germans in Eastern Europe-Destroy communism in Gr and other places where it could be found
Italy (Mussolini), took over the countries banks and industries-long-held ambitions to build an Italian empire around the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, discussed a alliance with Gr (1939)		In Germany, people looked to authoritarian leadership as a political alternative. 
Political opposition was violently repressed in Germany. 

Failure of the League of Nations

Efforts at Disarmament in the 1920s

  • Washington Naval Conference (1921)
  • Locarno Treaties (1925)
  • League Commission to prepare for World disarmament Conference (1926)
  • Kellogg -Briand Pact (1928)

The World Disarmament Conference, 1932-34

  • It was difficult to get all countries to agree on what offensive and defensive weapons were
  • The resolutions passed did very little to ensure how the limitations on weapons would be achieved
  • Individual countries used the Conference to raise their own particular issues. 
  • Dealing with Germany
  • Most countries shared the view that the terms set out in the Treaty of Versailles should be fairer to Germany.
  • Terms limiting the size of Gr’s military were perceived to be unfair
    • Every country should disarm to Gr’s level
    • 2nd option: Gr to rearm to a level closer to that of the other powers
  • France had a painful experience with Gr in WWI and pressured the League against option 2.
  • They either demanded that Fr continue to have a much larger armed forces than Gr, or have Br and US guarantee that they would fight alongside Fr if a war ever broke out between Fr and Gr.
  • 1. Br and US did not want to guarantee Fr’s future security
  • 2. Gr accused Fr and other major powers of hypocrisy
  • 3. July 1932, Gr proposed that all countries to disarm to its level

→ Gr walked out of the Conference when they failed to agree on the principle of “equality” and the Conference broke.

The Disarmament Conference reconvenes…

  • February 1933
  • Leader of Gr was now Adolf Hitler
  • Appeared to be interested in disarmament but as Historians know today, Hitler had secretly started a rearmament programme in Gr instead.
  • Hitler continued calling for large-scale disarmament  but he knew full well that the other countries would not disarm to the level that Gr faced under TOV → justification he needed to rearm Gr
  • October 1933, pulled Gr out of the Disarmament Conference and from League of Nations

The Abyssinian Crisis, 1934-1936

  • Italy wanted to build up its empire through conquest.
  • What happened at the Wal-Wal Oasis?
  • What did Haile Selassie do?

The League Loses Credibility

  • The failure to impose sanctions on Italy decisively led to the Italian takeover of Abyssinia
  • Hitler was convinced that the League would not be able to hinder Gr’s plan of expansion
    • Gr troops marched into the Rhineland in March 1936

This was an act against the Treaty of Versailles but the League did nothing to stop it

  • 1936 – Rome-Berlin Axis
  • Collapse of collective security

Nazi Gr’s aggressive foreign policy

Hitler’s foreign policy aims:

  1. Abolish the treaty of Versailles
  2. Destroy communism
  3. Get Lebensraum for Germans who were believed to be the superior Aryan race, who should create an empire to rule over the inferior races
  4. Embrace militarism

Gr’s increasing aggression in 1933-1937

Activity #1: Fill up the cause effect table below on two of the given topics:

  1. Leaving the League of Nations (1933)
  2. Rearmament (1933-1935)
  3. Disarmament (1934)
  4. The Saar Plebiscite (1935)
  5. Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936)
  6. The Spanish Civil War (1936)
  7. The Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)
  8. The Axis Alliance (1937)

Policy of Appeasement in the 1930s → Britain and France giving in to Hitler’s demands

Factors for the policy of Appeasement in the 1930s:

  1. US Isolationism
  2. Sympathy for Gr
  3. ___________________
  4. ____________________

Activity #2: Verbally explain one of the factors to Mrs Chen, 

Source B: This cartoon of February 1938 by the British cartoonist David Low shows Germany crushing Austria.  Next in line is Czechoslovakia.  At the back, Britain says to France, who is next-to-last: ‘Why should we take a stand about someone pushing someone else when it’s all so far away?’ .

Study Source B. What is the message of the source?

















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