1 / 15

World War II

World War II. Liberalism in the Interwar Period. Treaty of Versailles (1919) Disillusionment with BOP politics National self-determination: Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic countries Liberal Idealism: Woodrow Wilson: “The Fourteen Points”. The League of Nations (1920).

amery-hendricks
Download Presentation

World War II

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. World War II

  2. Liberalism in the Interwar Period • Treaty of Versailles (1919) • Disillusionment with BOP politics • National self-determination: • Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic countries • Liberal Idealism: • Woodrow Wilson: “The Fourteen Points”

  3. The League of Nations (1920) • Collective security principle • Aggression against one is aggression against all (art. 16) • Outlaw aggression • Pledge to assist victims of aggression • Act collectively against aggressor • Decisions by unanimity • US did not join the League • Treaty of Locarno (1925): allows Germany into the League

  4. The Failure of Collective Security • Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931) • Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) • German annexation of Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) 1938 • Munich Agreement between Hitler and Chamberlein

  5. Hitler’s Rise to Power • National Socialist Party (Nazis) win and becomes chancellor: 1933 • National humiliation • Economy devastated • Hyper inflation • Totalitarian state system • Fascist and nationalist ideology • Expansionist foreign policy

  6. Appeasing Hitler • March into Rhineland (1936) • Annexation of Austria (1938) • The Munich Agreement over Czechoslovakia (1938) • Treaty between Germany and USSR

  7. Blitzkrieg and Over-reach • Germany invades Norway, Holland, Belgium, France, pushes back the British • Germany invades USSR (1942) • Japan and the US get involved (1941) • Germany defeated: 1945

  8. The Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949)

  9. Causes of WWII?

  10. Structural Causes • Post WWI peace unstable: Treaty of Versailles • Failure of institutions and collective security • Failure to balance German power

  11. Domestic Politics • Rise of fascism in Germany, Spain, Italy • Isolationism in the US • Imperialism in Japan • The Great Depression and economic collapse • Internal divisions in liberal democracies

  12. The Role of Individuals • Hitler’s war? • Poor judgment on the part of Neville Chamberlain? • Miscalculation of by Japanese leadership? • Wrong lessons learned from WWI?

  13. Was World War II inevitable? What factors contributed most to this event?

  14. Lessons of WWII • Appeasement leads to larger conflicts • Nationalism taken to extreme dangerous • Disillusionment with collective security and international institutions • The Holocaust: “Never Again!”

  15. War and Its Causes Frequency of war: 5500 years of recorded history: 14,500 wars. 278 from 1480 to 1940. 224 from 1816 to 1980 Several causes of war (Farnsworth, 1992): • Human nature • Balance of power theory: imbalances cause war, equilibrium causes peace • Arms races and security dilemma • Number of states in system - both directions: some argue more equal powers equals less war; others like Waltz that fewer is better • Demands of domestic system - capitalist economies battle over rights to resources; competing economic/political systems; colonial wars; • Nationalism • Bad leadership and policy choices

More Related