Causes and Failures of WWII in Europe

1. Chapter 6 War In Europe

2. Focuses Why did WWII break out in Europe in 1939? Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy Failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s Economic Problems of the 1930s Policy of Appeasement (Allied Powers) What were the immediate causes of WWII in Europe? Britain Ended the Policy of Appeasement The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact Hitler’s Invasion of Poland

3. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • Hitler’s foreign policy aims: • To get rid of the Treaty of Versailles • To make Germany strong again • To get more land for Germany • To create ‘Greater Germany’ • To create lebensraum (living space) • To fight Communism

4. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • 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

5. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • 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’

6. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • To get more land for Germany • Germany would need more living space (lebensraum) for its growing population • Living space = lands east of Germany

8. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • To fight Communism • Wanted to conquer Russia • to get living space for the Germans • to destroy Communism

9. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • 2. Hitler’s actions: • Rearmament • Remilitarisation of the Rhineland • Anschluss

10. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • Rearmament • 1932 Disarmament Conference • Hitler demanded the right to build up Germany’s 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

11. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • 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

12. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • 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

13. Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy • Hitler’s foreign policy aims and his actions broke the terms of TOV  but no actions taken against Germany by LON  peace in Europe threatened

14. Not all countries were members No army of its own Inherent Weaknesses • The most prominent: • USA • Russia • Had to rely on the armies of • member countries • - Threat of economic • sanctions not effective Failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s Events in the 1930s Failure of Disarmament Manchuria Crisis, 1931 Abyssinia Crisis, 1935 Germany withdrew from LON in 1933 Japan withdrew from LON in 1933 Italy withdrew from LON in 1937 These factors / events contributed to the failure of the LON to maintain peace in the 1930s.

15. Failure of the League of Nations Background Who were the members of the LON? Britain France Italy Japan China Germany What was the duty of the LON?

16. Failure of the League of Nations Reasons for LON’s 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

17. Failure of the League of Nations 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

19. Failure of the League of Nations The Abyssinia Crisis, 1935

20. Failure of the League of Nations • 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

21. Failure of the League of Nations • The Abyssinia Crisis, 1935 • LON’s 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

23. Failure of the League of Nations • The Abyssinia Crisis, 1935 • Solution: the Hoare-Laval Plan • Britain and France secretly agreed to give Mussolini two-thirds of Abyssinia if he withdrew his troops

24. Failure of the League of Nations • The Abyssinia Crisis, 1935 • 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

25. The source is a German cartoon from a magazine, 1936. The warrior is delivering a message to the League of Nations: “I am sorry to disturb your sleep but I just wanted to tell you that you should no longer bother yourselves about this Abyssinian business. The matter has been settled elsewhere.” • Italy is portrayed as a tall and strong warrior. • How is the LON being portrayed? Why is it so?

26. Failure of the League of Nations 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

27. Failure of the League of Nations Failure of Disarmament • 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

28. Look at the source. Do you think that disarmament was successful? Why or why not? What can you gather from the picture?

29. Economic Problems of the 1930s 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

32. Policy of Appeasement 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

33. Policy of Appeasement Reasons for Adopting Policy of Appeasement Memories of WWI Strong anti-war sentiment due to great loss of lives in WWI Economic impact of WWI and the Great Depression Necessary to cut down government spending on military to rebuild the economy 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

34. Policy of Appeasement Reasons for Adopting Policy of Appeasement 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 6. Buying time to modernise armies