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OUTBREAK OF WWII IN EUROPE

1. Why did WWII break out in Europe in 1939?

Hitlers Expansionist Foreign Policy

Failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s

Economic Problems of the 1930s

Policy of Appeasement (Allied Powers)


2. What were the immediate causes of WWII in Europe?

Britain Ended the Policy of Appeasement

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Hitlers Invasion of Poland


3. Hitlers foreign policy aims:

To get rid of the Treaty of Versailles


1. To make Germany strong again

To get more land for Germany


1. To create Greater Germany
2. To create lebensraum (living space)

To fight Communism
To get rid of the Treaty of Versailles

Terms of the TOV were harsh and humiliating to Germany

Kept Germany politically, militarily and economically weak

Wanted to get rid of the TOV to make Germany strong again and to restore
German pride
To get more land for Germany

Wanted to take back all the land lost in the TOV

Wanted to take away the surrounding territories with German-speaking


populations

Wanted to unite all the German-speaking people under Greater Germany


Germany would need more living space (lebensraum) for its growing
population

Living space = lands east of Germany


To fight Communism

Wanted to conquer Russia


to get living space for the Germans to destroy Communism

Hitlers actions:

Rearmament

Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

Anschluss
Rearmament

1932 Disarmament Conference


Hitler demanded the right to build up Germanys army but was
rejected
Others countries also refused to disarm
Germany withdrew from the Disarmament Conference and the
League of Nations

Increased the size of the army and weaponry

Reintroduced military conscription

But no action was taken against Germany


Remilitarisation of the Rhineland

Placed German troops in the demilitarised zone of Rhineland

But no action was taken against the German troops by France and Britain
Anschluss

Hitler wanted a political union (Anschluss) between Germany and Austria

Threatened to invade Austria if the Austrian Chancellor Kurt von


Schuschnigg did not agree to Anschluss

Schuschnigg planned a secret referendum to get the people to vote for


independence

In response, Hitler sent his troops to the Austrian border and ordered him
to resign
Anschluss was achieved but no action was taken against Germany

Reasons for LONs failure in the 1930s

Inherent weaknesses

Failed to deal with aggressors


The Manchuria Crisis, 1931 (Chapter 7)
The Abyssinia Crisis, 1935

Failed to get countries to disarm


Inherent Weaknesses

Absence of the USA as a member

Members put their own interests first over collective security

No army of its own

Inability to stop acts of aggression by major powers

Failure to treat all its members with equal respect

The Abyssinia Crisis, 1935

Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia)


Revenge for a previous defeat
Natural resources

Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie, appealed to the LON for help

LONs response: imposed economic sanctions on Italy


But did not include coal, oil, iron and steel
Some LON members continued trading with Italy

Alternatively, Britain could prevent Italy from using the Suez Canal to ship
supplies to Abyssinia
But did not do so to avoid a war with Italy

Solution: the Hoare-Laval Plan


Britain and France secretly agreed to give Mussolini two-thirds of
Abyssinia if he withdrew his troops

But the Hoare-Laval Plan was abandoned due to public protest in Britain
and France

Italy occupied Abyssinia in 1936 and left the LON in 1937

Significance: the crisis showed that the LON had failed to use collective
security to protect countries from aggression by major powers
Failure of Disarmament

Disarmament Conference in Geneva, 1932


Germany was unhappy that only it had been disarmed and wanted
other countries to disarm as well
Otherwise, Germany demanded the right to build up its military
Other countries refused to be equal with Germany

Germany withdrew from the Conference and the LON in 1933

Rearmament programme was put in place

The Anglo-German Naval Treaty, 1935


Germany allowed to increase its navy size up to 35% of the British
Navy size
Germany allowed to have submarines
Significance: the TOV could be violated to serve the interests of
LON members
The Great Depression

Massive unemployment
Democratic governments failed to reduce unemployment rise of
authoritarian governments

Protectionism trade war increased unemployment (Textbook pg.156)

Rearmament was used to create jobs threatened peace in the 1930s


What is Appeasement?

Refers to giving in to the demands of an aggressor so as to avoid war

A foreign policy adopted by Britain and France towards Germany


Reasons for Adopting Policy of Appeasement

1.

Memories of WWI

Strong anti-war sentiment due to great loss of lives in WWI


2. Economic impact of WWI and the Great Depression

Necessary to cut down government spending on military to rebuild the


economy
3. Sympathy for Germany

The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh on Germany

Making changes to some of the terms was acceptable to make Germany a


peaceful nation again
4. Fear of Communism

Communism posed a greater threat than Nazism

A strong Germany would prevent the spread of Communism


5. Overseas empire

Not enough troops to keep order in the colonies and fight a war in Europe
at the same time
5. Buying time to modernise armies
How Appeasement Worked
Reasons for Hitler wanting to control Czechoslovakia:

An ally of Britain and France

Despised the Czech people who were Slavs

Rich in resources

Wanted Sudetenland to be part of his Greater Germany


Over three million Germans lived here
Heavy industries and military defences of Czechoslovakia were
located here

Czech President, Edvard Benes believed that Britain and France would stop German
invasion

But British PM, Neville Chamberlain wanted to avoid war and was a firm believer in
appeasement

In Sept 1938, Chamberlain met with Hitler, hoping to defuse the threat of war

The Munich Agreement was signed by Britain, France, Italy and Germany

Czechoslovakia and the USSR were not invited to the Munich Conference
1. Britain ended the policy of appeasement

Hitler did not keep the promises made at the Munich Conference

Invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939


Aim was to conquer lands east of Germany to create lebensraum
Policy of appeasement ended as Hitler could not be trusted
2. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Stalin feared that Germany might invade Russia

Hitler was anti-Communist and wanted to create lebensraum in lands east


of Germany

Felt that LON could not protect Russia from Germany

Stalin felt that Britain and France would not form an alliance with Russia to fight
Germany

Britain and France allowed Germany to rearm so as to destroy Communism

Russia was not invited to the 1938 Munich Conference

Germany and Russia decided to form an alliance

The Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed on 23 August 1939

Both parties agreed not to attack each other

Russia agreed to remain neutral if Germany were to attack Poland

Germany and Russia agreed to divide Poland between themselves

Both parties stood to gain from the alliance

For Germany: avoid fighting the war on two fronts

For Russia: need not have to fear about German invasion, land in Poland,
time to rebuild military

Significance of the Pact:

Enabled Hitler to fight the war in Europe on only one front

Increased his desire to also attack Western Europe, leading to the outbreak
of WWII

The Nazi-Soviet Pact enabled Hitler to attack Poland

Russia would remain neutral

Hitler believed Britain and France would not go to war over Poland

3.

Need to fight the war on only one front


Hitlers invasion of Poland
1 September 1939: Hitler invaded Poland
3 September 1939: Britain and France declared war on Germany
This led to WWII in Europe

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