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Aggression Leads to War: The Onset of World War II in Europe. Guided Reading Activity Answer Guide. The Devastation of Europe after World War I and failure of the Versailles Treaty weakened Europe.
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Aggression Leads to War: The Onset of World War II in Europe Guided Reading Activity Answer Guide
The Devastation of Europe after World War I and failure of the Versailles Treaty weakened Europe.
The rise of bolshevism and the communists resulted in a threatening new neighbor: The soviet union.
The Great Depression caused widespread poverty and instability in Europe.
JOSEPH STALIN A brutal sociopath and violent dictator, Joseph Stalin ruled over his own people with an iron fist. He forced peasants to cede all of their property to the government, caused millions to perish in famines due to his misguided agricultural policies, and murdered anyone who opposed him – even members of his own Communist Party.
FASCISM A political system which is based on extreme nationalism, racist and violent behavior towards minority groups or national rivals, extreme militarism, and aggression. Fascism is almost always accompanied by totalitarian dictatorships. The original Fascist Party, founded in Italy in the 1920s, was led by Benito Mussolini.
Mussolini’s Italy In Italy during Benito Mussolini’s rule, political rivals were beaten up, jailed, or even murdered by gangs of “Black Shirts” – thugs who beat up and even killed Mussolini’s political opponents. During his dictatorship, Mussolini taught school children to recite: “ Mussolini is always right!”
NAZISM Nazism was a form of fascism which took hold in Germany during the early 1930s. Led by Adolf Hitler, German’s National Socialist Party planned to re-militarize the nation, conquer foreign lands, and subjugate groups of people they considered inferior – including Slavs, Poles, Gypsies, and especially Jewish people, who they blamed for all the political and economic troubles of Germany.
Racism and anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany • One of basic beliefs of Nazism was the racist myth that German people, or “Aryan” stock, were meant to rule over other groups of people – Slavs, Poles, Russians, Gypsies, or Jewish men and women. • Anti-Semitism was the most virulent form of racism practiced by the Nazis. Jewish men and women were blamed for causing Germany to lose the Great War, and demonized as greedy, predatory, and cruel people. • Soon, Jewish children were banned from attending public schools, and Jewish citizens were forbidden to practice law or medicine in Germany. • Pogroms, or government organized attacks of Jewish communities, were carried out – including Kristallnacht – “The Night of Broken Glass” during which hundreds of synagogues and Jewish owned businesses were vandalized or burned – and Jewish citizens were violated and terrorized – even killed.
AGGRESSION - ANY WARLIKE ACT BY ONE COUNTRY AGAINST ANOTHER WHICH IS UNPROVOKED.
Italy invaded Ethiopia, Libya, and Albania during the 1930s.
ETHIOPIAN EMPEROR HAILE SELESSIE In a June 1936 speech before the League of Nations, Haile Selassie stated: “Should it happen that a strong Government finds it may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom. God and history will remember your judgment.” At the end of his speech, he is reported to have warned: “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.”
German Aggression of the 1930s THE ANSCHLUSS: AUSTRIA SUDETENLAND, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Violations of the Treaty of Versailles under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party • IN DEFIANCE OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES, GERMANY BEGAN TO REBUILD ITS MILITARY – DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES STRICTLY FORBID SUCH ACTIONS. • HITLER THEN SENT HIS SOLDIERS INTO THE RHINELAND REGION OF GERMANY – ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE NATION NEARER TO FRANCE, OCCUPYING THE REGION. • HITLER PROVIDED AIR SUPPORT AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO GENERALISSIMO FRANCISCO FRANCO IN SPAIN DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, 1936 – 1939, RESULTING IN ANOTHER FASCIST REGIME IN EUROPE. (THE FRANCO REGIME WOULD REMAIN IN POWER EVEN AFTER WORLD WAR II, INTO THE 1970S.) • FINALLY, THE NAZIS USED MILITARY AGGRESSION AND EXTORTION IN ORDER TO TAKE OVER BOTH AUSTRIA AND PORTIONS OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA – BEFORE RESORTING TO WAR IN 1939.
THE RESPONSE OF EUROPE & THE U.S.A. Meanwhile, the reaction of the toothless League of Nations – and major powers like France, England, and the United States – was barely even discernable. Hitler was allowed to take over these regions without so much as a reprimand. The League of Nations condemned the aggressor nations (FDR called them “bandit nations”) but did nothing to stop themor to punish the transgressors.
Appeasement Appeasement is the official policy of giving in to, or ceding to the demands of, an aggressive nation in order to avoid war. During the 1930s, European nations and the League of Nations – who had the power to intervene against Adolf Hitler – hoped that the Nazis would be satisfied when they allowed Germany to take over Austria and the Sudetenland. Meanwhile, in the United States, Franklin Roosevelt was hampered by a population and a Congress which was steadfastly devoted to isolationism and neutrality, allowing Nazi Germany to gain strength. Hitler took the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia, too.
The Munich Pact and the Policy of appeasement In the Munich Pact, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain agreed to allow Hitler to take over all of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Hitler had contended that the land was German in population and therefore should be ruled over by Germany. In exchanged, he promised not to invade any other nations – and not to take over the rest of Czechoslovakia. The policy, which Chamberlain believed would guarantee “peace in our time” was quickly ignored by Hitler – he took over Czechoslovakia almost immediately.
ITALY’S EMPIRE, 1939 Italy invaded Ethiopia, Libya, and Albania in the years prior to the start of WW II. When the Second World War began in 1939, Italy was controlled largely by the Nazis in Germany – but they attempted to hold on to the small empire they had established under Mussolini.
GERMAN AGGRESSION, 1939 By the year 1939, Germany had rebuilt its military, occupied the Rhineland, funded a war in Spain, taken over all of Austria by extortion, seize the Sudetenland, captured all of Czechoslovakia, and, in September of 1939, invaded Poland, starting World War II.
US FOREIGN POLICY The United States continued to follow a foreign policy of isolationism during the 1920s and 1930s. Fearful that they may be dragged into another European War, the US passed Neutrality Acts which forbid the sale of weapons or military equipment to rival nations in Europe – and Americans watched silently as Nazi Germany emerged as a dominant world power and a dangerous rogue nation – all in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
THE NON-AGGRESSION PACT OF 1939 Much to the surprise of the rest of the world bitter enemies Germany and the Soviet Union signed a peace treaty in 1939– the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact. With Germany in cahoots now with Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union, it seemed that all of the world’s dictators had joined forces to suppress freedom. Democracies were justifiably frightened.
September 1, 1939 - Germany invades Poland The German invasion of Poland from the West coincided with a Soviet Invasion from the East – and as a result, Polish resistance was rapidly crushed. The nation would be devastated by the war, with both German and Soviet Armies occupying the land and violating the liberties of its people. Poland would not experience true independence again until the late 1980s.
THE RUSSO-GERMAN ALLIANCE, 1939 Since German Nazism and Soviet Communism were two rival philosophies and each nation had a brutal dictator for its leader, most European observers correctly predicted that the relationship would end in betrayal. Germany would eventually violate the Non-Aggression Pact and invade the Soviet Union – Operation Barbarossa began in the Summer of 1940. But in the meantime, The Soviet Union took advantage of the agreement to conquer some territory of their own.
ENGLAND AND FRANCE DECLARE WAR Horrified by the brutal repression of the Polish people, England and France both declared war on Germany. Yet, both nations refused to declare war on the equally aggressive Soviet Union. They correctly predicted that the Soviet Union would be betrayed by Hitler – and knew they would likely need another ally, no matter their ilk.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland were invaded by the U.S.S.R.
GERMANY’S PHONY WAR During the so-called phony war, Germany occupied nations to its north and west without significant opposition. The Nazi’s invaded Denmark, Scandinavian nations, Holland, and Belgium during the winter of 1939 and 1940, as England and France began mobilizing and training their soldiers.
England and France at war • When the war finally came, both Great Britain and France were overwhelmed by the massive German onslaught. • The German blitzkrieg, or “Lightening War,” devastated the advanced forces of the British and French armies so completely that they were forced to retreat. • The English and French were pinned down at Dunkirk, an isolated beach along the English Channel, where they were surrounded and preparing to be routed or surrender. • The people of England organized every fishing vessel, yacht, ferry and cruise liner in the nation, though, to evacuate as many soldiers as possible to fight another day. • Over 300,000 soldiers were evacuated and saved.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill “We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be!”
Operation Barbarossa: The invasion of the Soviet Union – June, 1941
By December of 1941, the United States would join and uneasy trio: the allies against the axis powers
