SGQ13, January 29, 2010

MWH p. 143-147
1. Background
a. Explain the evolution of control of Korea from 1910 to 1948.
Korea had been controlled by Japan from 1910 to 1945, after which the Japanese were defeated and Korea was divided along the 38th Parallel, with the north occupied by the Russians and the south occupied by the Americans. The Russians set up a communist government in their zone.
b. What was the leadership situation in Korea in 1949?
Elections were held in South Korea under which Syngman Rhee was elected as President with the capital being Seoul, and North Korea was set up as a communist government (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) with Kim II Sung as leader. After the Russians and the Americans withdrew from North and South Korea, both leaders felt that they deserved to rule the whole country.
2. Why did the North invade the South?
Possible answers:
a. Kim's idea - Kim heard a statement made by Dean Acheson, the American Secretary of State, that the USA intended to defejnd several areas around the Pacific but Korea was not mentioned, therefore it's believed Kim thought this meant he could get away with invading South Korea.
b. Chinese role - The Chinese government may have encouraged Kim to invade, since they were at the time massing troops in Fukien province facing Taiwan, as if about to attack Chiang Kai-shek there.
c. Russian role - Stalin and the Russians may have wanted to test Truman's determination; they supplied the North Koreans with tanks and gave them the necessarily resources to invade and in addition, if the communist north took over the south, it would strengthen Russia's position in the Pacific and would make up for Stalin's failure in West Berlin as a gesture against the Americans.
d. S. Korea's role - Communists claimed that South Korea started the war when Syngman Rhee's troops crossed the 38th parallel.
3. What did the USA do?
a. Why did Truman decide to intervene?
i. Truman was convinced that Stalin was responsible for the attack, which he took as part of a vast Russian plan to spread communism as widely as possible.
ii. Some Americans saw the invasion as similar to Hitler's policies in the 1930s and it was essential not to try and appease the aggressors in this situation since appeasing Hitler had failed back in the '30s.
iii. Truman saw it as important to support the United Nations Organization, which was going to attempt to preserve peace among the world powers, something that the League of Nations had failed to do.
iv. Truman was a Democrat president and his party was coming under criticism from Republicans for their failure to take action against what they saw as the dangerous spread of communism. Truman was anxious to show that Joseph McCarthy's claim that the State Department was filled with communists working for the USSR was a false claim.
b. What nations joined the US in support of S. Korea? Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Nationalist China, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Greece, Turkey, Panama, Philippines, Thailand, and Britain.
c. Briefly summarize the course of the war in 1950. Communist forces had captured the whole country except the south-east, and once UN reinforcements poured in, the North Korean troops collapsed, after which Truman ordered an invasion of North Korea was the goal to unite the whole country and hold free elections.
d. How and why did China get involved? The Americans placed a fleet between Taiwan and the mainland China to prevent an attack on Chiang, and it seemed that they'd now invade Manchuria. The Chinese did not want this, as they planned on attacking Taiwan as well.
e. How did the war end? UN troops cleared the communists out of South Korea, peace talks opened in Panmunjom and lasted for two years, after which it was agreed that the frontier would be divided along the 38th Parallel as it had been before the war began. That was the end of the war.
4. What were the results of the war?
a. Korea - Country was devastated, four million Korean soldiers and civilians had been killed and five million people left homeless. Both states (North and South Korea) remained highly suspicious of one another and heavily armed.

b. the US - Republicans felt that the US had lost the opportunity to destroy communism in China and this feeling contributed to the later excesses of McCarthyism. However Truman was satisfied because he contained communism and discouraged communism from further world expansion.
c. the UN - Exerted its authority, reversed an act of aggression, but fell under the criticism of the communists for being a tool of the capitalists.
d. China - Military performance of communist China was impressive, prevented the unification of Korea under American influence, and now found itself a world power. China was still not allowed a seat in the UN however.
e. the Cold War - American relations now permanently strained with China and Russia, adding a new dimension to the Cold War. Familiar pattern of both sides trying to build up alliances appeared in both Asia and Europe. China supported Indo-Chinese communists in their struggle for independence from France, offering friendship and aid to under-developed countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; signed peaceful co-existence agreements with India and Burma in 1954.

SGQ12, January 13, 2010

IBHL1 SGQ12

MWH p. 117-140

1. What were the effects of WWII?

a. evidence of enormous destruction?

About 40 million people were killed (over half being Russian), a further 21 million people had been uprooted from their homes, and large parts of Germany lay in ruins.

b. no all-inclusive peace settlement - what was there?

Italy lost her African colonies and Albania. The USSR took the eastern part of Czechoslovakia, the Petsamo district from Finaldn, and held onto Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.Romania recovered northern Transylvania, Trieste was declared a free territory protected by the United Nations, and Japan agreed to surrender all territory acquired in the previous 90 years.

c. examples social changes?

Millions of people had to move from their homes, the worst cases in areas taken from Germany by Russia and Poland, and the German-speaking areas in Hungary, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. 10 million Germans were forced to make their way to West Germany. In the USSR and Germany, extensive urban redevelopment took place to rebuild cities.

d. nuclear weapons - so what?

The first use of these weapons in Japan demonstrated how horrifying and destructive they were.

e. European domination of the world ended - why?

Germany was devastated and divided, France and Italy were on the verge of bankruptcy, and Britain, although with her colonies in tact, was also hurt economically.

f. emergence of the superpowers - who?

United States and the USSR, as they were now no longer isolated.

g. decolonization - what happened to the territories?

The territories eventually achieved full independence although not without a struggle in some cases. The leaders of many newly emerging nations met in Algiers in 1973 and made it clear that they wanted to remain neutral or non-aligned in the struggles of capitalism and communism.

h. the United Nations - so what?

The UN was a successor to the League of Nations. Its main aim was to try and maintain world peace.

2. What caused the Cold War?

a. what are the differences of principle?

The two principles were communist and liberal-democratic/capitalist. The communist system of society was based on the ideas of Karl Marx, while the capitalist system operates on the basis of private ownership of a country's wealth.

b. what were Stalin's foreign policies?

His aim was to take advantage of the military situation. He wanted to strengthen Russian influence in Europe, so he tried to occupy as much of Germany as he could and to acquire as much land as he could from countries like Finland, Poland, and Romania. The west was worried about communism spreading.

c. what were US and British policies?

President Roosevelt sent war materials to Russia under the Lend-Lease system dring the war, but Harry S. Truman (Roosevelt's successor) was more suspicious of communism and toughened his attitude toward the communists. Americans were also involved in the Vietnam War, which showed the prevalent American attitude toward communism.

3. How did the Cold War develop between 1945 and 1953?

a. what four things were agreed upon at the Yalta Conference?

i. The United Nations, a new organization, should be set up to replace the League of Nations that failed.

ii. Germany was to be divided into zones - Russian, American, and British, while Berlin would also be split into corresponding zones, with similar arrangements made for Austria.

iii. Free elections would be allowed in the states of eastern Europe.

iv. Russia would receive the whole of Sakhalin Island and some territory in Manchuria.

b. why were Germany and Poland the major concerns at the Potsdam Conference?

There was no agreement on when the four zones of Germany would be allowed to join together into one country again, and it was agreed that Germans should have to pay something toward the damage they had caused during the war. The main disagreement was over Poland and whether it not it was okay that Germany east of the Oder-Neisse Line was occupied by Russian troops and run by the pro-communist Polish government. This had not been agreed to at Yalta.

c. how was Communism established in eastern Europe?

The Russians interfered in eastern European countries and set up pro-communist governments, for example in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, and Romania. Their opponents were sometimes imprisoned or murdered.

d. how did Russia exert its influence in eastern Europe?

Every state in the area had a fully communist government by the end of 1947 with the exception of Czechoslovakia. Elections were rigged, non-communist members of coalition were expelled, and all other political parties were dissolved making it easier for Russian influence to infiltrate the area.

e. what were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?

The Truman Doctrine made it clear that the United States was not returning to isolation as just after World War I and was committed to a policy of containing communism, not just in Europe but throughout the world including Korea and Vietnam.

The Marshall Plan offered economic and financial help wherever needed, and its aim was to promote the economic recovery of Europe, ensuring markets for American exports and to make sure that western Europe was prosperous enough that communism could not infiltrate it and gain support.

f. what was Cominform?

Communist Information Bureau - the Soviet response to the Marshall Plan. It was an organization meant to draw together the European communist parties. He wanted to tighten his grip on the satellites; communism wasn't enough, Russian style communism was what there needed to be in all communist states.

g. what happened to Czechoslovakia?

The communists took over it. There was a coalition government of communists and other left wing parties and the communists held 1/3 of the cabinet posts, and in 1948 when elections were due in May, the communists seized power in an armed coup and all non-communist ministers resigned. All the remaining candidates were communists.

h. what happened in Berlin?

Berlin blockade and airlift (June 1948-May 1949). The western zones of Germany were merged into a single economic unit, whose prosperity (thanks to the Marshall Aid) was contrasting to the poverty of the Russian zone. Stalin decided it would be safer for Russia to keep the Russian zone separate. All roads, rail, and canal links between West Berlin and West Germany were closed, and their aim was to force the west to withdraw by reducing it to starvation point. The Western powers flew supplies in.

i. what is NATO?

North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It formed in 1949 due to the Berlin blockade, which showed the West's military unreadiness and it frightened them into making definite preparations.

j. what happened to Germany?

There became West Germany, or the German Federal Republic, formed by the western powers in August of 1949. The Russians set up their zone as the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, in October of 1949.

h. what developed with nuclear weapons?

The arms race, between the USSR and the US.A hydrogen bomb was produced by the United States that would be many more times powerful than the atomic bomb.

4. To what extent was there a thaw after 1953?

a. why was there a thaw?

i. Stalin's death- It brought to the forefront new Russian leaders who wanted to improve relations with the United States, such as Malenkov, Bulganin, and Khrushchev.

ii. McCarthy was discredited. Anti-communist feelings spread by McCarthy were discredited when it was shown that McCarthy was something of a fanatic, and people saw he had gone too far when he began accusing leading generals as having communist sympathies.

b. how do we know there was a thaw?

i. The Korean War was ended upon the signing of the peace agreement at Panmunjom in July 1953

ii. The war in Indo-China ended in 1954

1. The Russians agreed to give up their military bases in Finland

2. They lifted their veto on the admission of 16 member states to the UN

3. The quarrel with Yugoslavia was healed when Khrushchev paid a visit to Tito

4. The Cominform was abandoned, suggesting more freedom for the satellite states

c. what evidence suggests only a partial thaw?

i. The Warsaw Pact was signed in 1955 between Russia and her satellite states after West Germany was admitted to NATO, and the west took this as a gesture against West Germany's membership in NATO.

ii. The Russians continued building their nuclear armaments.

iii. The situation in Berlin caused more tension

iv. Khrushchev installed Soviet missiles in Cuba

v. The Cuban Missile Crisis

5. The nuclear arms race and the Cuban missile crisis

a. how did the arms race accelerate?

The Russians produced their own atomic bomb. The Russians made a hydrogen bomb the year following the Americans did as well.

b. what happened in Cuba? how was it resolved?

Americans invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, with Cuban supporters of Batista, who was formerly in charge. The Americans lost at the Bay of Pigs and then Castro declared Cuba as a communist state.Eventually Khrushchev agreed to take the missiles out of Cuba if America promised not to invade again.

c. what happened to the arms race in the 1970s?

The Americans now had another threat - ballistic missiles which could be launched from submarines in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russians tried to catch up and they hoped they could get somewhere near the equality of the Americans. As America became involved in the Vietnam War more, they stopped making nuclear weapons and the Russians started to catch up, overtaking the US by the early 1970s.

d. how effective were anti-nuclear protests?
In Britain the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was not effective, because they wanted to have weapons in case the USSR attacked.

IRL TOK, January 8, 2010

* Can one talk meaningfully of a historical fact? How far can we speak with certainty about anything in the past?

One can speak meaningfully about a historical fact, but we can rarely speak with 100% certainty about anything in the past, even if we were alive when the event we're speaking of took place.

We are able to speak meaningfully about historical facts because with most historical events come enough of a basis of evidence that a particular event took place. Even if all of the details are not known, it is possible to take the evidence that is out there and then search for further evidence and draw conclusions. However due to the use of propaganda and misinformation that is spread by countries about what is going on within their borders, one can never be 100% sure what really happened. In addition, some circumstances are mysterious in the way that there is no way to know for sure what happened because many factors were involved, and at other times, cultural values and points of view will have influence over what information is being spread.

IRL 6 (http://www.katardat.org/russia/pictures/photos-collectivisation.html) discusses photographs from Communist Russia that show collective farms and the workers, and this serves as some evidence that collective farming took place to some degree, however in many of the photographs one can observe people who are smiling and appear to be happy. Since collective farming is not known to be something that made people in Communist Russia happy and it has also been said that farmers worked harder on their own plots of land than the collective farms, it can be deduced with reason that since Stalin used propaganda to glorify himself and his decisions in other circumstances, the photographs are one form of propaganda. However it is impossible to know for sure what exactly happened, especially when relating to the history of a country that we did not know much about what was happening until the 1990s after the country collapsed and records and information was then released. The USSR in the past chose what information to let out and what not to let out, so before records were discovered, there was little certainty about what had happened in the past, and what this demonstrates is that at any given point, people may think they know the whole picture but there may still be other information that has not been released or discovered.

Another example that illustrates some of my points above is the Kirov murder. IRL 7 (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/stalin/97020) references this. It is known beyond reasonable doubt that Kirov was murdered and by who, so one can speak meaningfully about that and use the evidence to draw conclusions as to WHY he was murdered. There are theories but will we ever know for sure? Much of the information regarding the murder is very obscured and one must use historical context of what was going on in Russia at the time to figure out who else was behind the murder. For instance Kirov was murdered by someone who did not like him, yet how do we know for sure that Stalin was directly involved? We don't, because he never admitted to being involved and all we can do is use the evidence that Kirov was winning support at the expense of Stalin and that Stalin had reason to want him dead. Therefore one can speak of this and draw conclusions but we will never know for sure because there are so many factors to take into consideration here and too little solid evidence to show exactly why it happened how it did.

Often times, someone's view of a historical event will be colored by their cultural background and the values of that society. Here in IRL 4 (http://www.cliffordmay.org/1906/a-creeping-coup-is-russia-heading-back-to-the-ussr) it is said that Russia is heading back toward its Communist ways. Is it really? That article was not written by someone from Russia and the author likely comes from a country that historically was opposed to Communism, and we do not know for sure if they are spreading accurate information or if the quotes given in that article actually came from the said speakers. Although it is often said that Russia is heading back toward Communism, will we really know unless we live there and observe the political climate for ourselves? There has to be a reason why people are saying this, but we do not know for certainty if Russian leaders today have the desire to turn back to Communism from the past. It is not known whether or not Russia really is heading back toward Communism or if the perspective that it is, comes from Communist-fearing countries that will interpret any even somewhat Communist behaviors as such. An example of cultural differences coming into play can be seen here in IRL 8 (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia-stalin2-2009nov02,0,2551543.story). That refers to an article about if Stalin was really as bad as we thought he was. The definition of "bad" differs among people, and some people view him as bad while others probably emphasize the good things that he did, so how will we ever know if he was "bad"? To some people he would have been and to others he wouldn't have, so opinion comes into play as well.

There is room to speak about historical facts meaningfully as there are various sources and remains left from the past, but we will never know what happened for sure due to misinformation being spread and propaganda (such as photos of overly enthusiastic collective farmers that contradict what is believed to be true about the unpopularity of such farms among the workers, cultural differences (i.e. ones that would lead some to believe Stalin was good and others believe he was bad), and obscure facts, for instance with the Kirov murder. In addition, 100% certainty is almost impossible to obtain because even if the large majority of history could be proven, there would likely be one or two minor details that still could not.

IRL 11, January 6, 2010

URL; http://german-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/versailles_and_the_second_world_war

This is an article written by a History student in college named George Julian, about the Treaty of Versailles and how it affected the origins of World War II. According to the article, the Treaty of Versailles cost Germany much of its important land, and limited the German army to 100,000 men, and limited their navy to 1/3 of its original strength, and gave them no air force. There were other issues such as reparations that the Germans had to pay to the countries they fought against, but the most significant issue with the Treaty was the land that Germany lost, and the limitations on their military. Germany lost Saarland, Alsace and Lorraine, among other smaller bits of land to Czechoslovakia and Poland, and German attempts to take back this land, which went against the Treaty, caused conflict with the surrounding countries and created a warlike mood in Europe, despite the original intentions of the Treaty, which were to prevent future wars and eliminate Germany as a threat.

This source is useful because it clearly outlines the ways in which the Treaty of Versailles affected the Germans, which in turn affected their actions and ultimately led to conflict, and this is what we studied in more detail in class. The information here adds value to what was learned in class because it also outlines how Germany was forced to take the blame for World War I and it describes how this created animosity between Germany and surrounding countries, which was another reason that the Germans were not inclined to obey the Treaty - they felt it was unfair to them. There is one key limitation here - one is that the author of this article did not emphasize his points in great detail - he gives a basic outline of the information which IS helpful but an example is where he says that Germany attempted to reclaim land lost by the Treaty of Versailles - how did they do this? Greater detail would definitely be beneficial because it would provide more information about the claims already made, and it's more difficult to see exactly what is being discussed when there isn't that extra detail.

SGQ11, January 4, 2010

MWH p.69-84

1. Relations between Japan and China

a. Japanese invasion of Manchuria

i. why? The Japanese viewed Manchuria as a valuable trade outlet, and they had also invested much money in the development of industry and railways there.

ii. who supported them? who was opposed? The British Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, supported the Japanese and stated such at the League of Nations. The Chinese were of course opposed but did nothing to stop the Japanese yet.

iii. what was done? The Japanese turned Manchuria into the independent state of Manchukuo under Pu Yi, the last of the Chinese emperors. No action was taken against them.

b. Japanese advance from Manchuria

i. explain - In 1933 the Japanese began to advance into the rest of north-eastern China. By 1935 much of China as far as Beijing had fallen under Japanese control.

c. Further invasions

i. explain - The Japanese began invading other parts of China by July 1937. The Prime Minister, Prince Konoye, was against massive intervention but the decision was up to the War Minister, General Sugiyama, so by 1938 the Japanese captured Shanghai, Nanking, and Hankow and all the way, committed atrocities against Chinese civilians. A new capital was established at Chungking, and then the Japanese captured Canton in southern China, but Chiang refused to surrender.

ii. what did the League of Nations do? They were powerless to act but they condemned Japanese aggression. They couldn't act since Japan was no longer a member and refused to attend a conference to discuss the situation. Other countries were either busy with their own problems or did not want to get involved; Britain and France were dealing with Hitler, the Russians did not want full-scale war with the Japanese.

2. Mussolini's foreign policy

a. 1923-1934 (summarize)

i. He attended the Locarno Conference but was disappointed when the agreements signed did not guarantee the Italian frontier with Austria.

ii. He was friendly toward Greece, Hungary, and especially Albania, the rival neighbor of Yugoslavia. Economic and defense agreements were signed and Albania came to be controlled by Italy, which had a strong position around the Adriatic Sea.

iii. He cultivated good relations with Britain, and supported her demand that Turkey hand over Mosul province to Iraw, and in return the British gave Italy a small part of Somaliland.

iv. Italy became the first state after Britain to recognize the USSR; a non-aggression pact was signed between Italy and the USSR in September 1933.

v. He tried to bolster up Austria against Nazi German threat by supporting the anti-Nazi government of Chancellor Dollfuss, and signed trade agreements with Austria and Hungary. After Dollfuss was murdered, three Italian divisions were sent to the frontier in case the Germans tried to invade Austria, which they did not. This improved relations between Italy and France, who also disliked the Nazis.

b. after 1934 - how had Mussolini's attitude changed? examples:

i. He began to be suspicious of British cynicism and self-interest. The British and French did not mention the Abyssinian crisis, and Mussolini took this to mean they would turn a blind eye to an Italian attack on Abyssinia, regarding it as a bit of old-fasioned colonial expansion, and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement signed in June convinced him further.

ii. The Italian invasion of Abyssinia in October of 1935 was the great turning point in Mussolini's career.

1. what did the League of Nations do?

iii. Condemned Italy as an aggressor and

iv. Applied economic sanctions, which were useless because they did not include banning sales of oil and coal to Italy

v. Only took a weak stand against Italy

vi. The League's prestige suffered a blow when Britain and France made a deal to hand over more of Abyssinia to Italy

vii. Did not ban oil sales

3. Hitler's foreign policy

a. aims

i. destroying the hated Versailles settlement

ii. Building up the army

iii. Recovering lost territory such as the Saar and the Polish Corridor

iv. Bringing all German-speaking peoples inside the Reich; annexing Austria and taking land from Czechoslovakia and Poland, which had large German minorities.

b. successes

i. Withdrew Germany from the World Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations, insisting that Germany was willing to disarm if other states would do the same and that he only wanted peace. He acted boldly while soothing his opponents with the kind of conciliatory speeches they wanted to hear.

ii. Signed a ten-year non-aggression pact with the Polish, who showed some alarm in case the Germans tried to take back the Polish Corridor. Britain took this as further evidence of Hitler's peaceful intentions, ruined France's Little Entente, and guaranteed Polish neutrality whenever Germany decided to move against Austria and Czechoslovakia. It improved relations between France and Germany too.

iii. Hitler convinced the Austrian Nazis to murder the Chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, who had been supported by Mussolini.

iv. The Saar was returned to Germany (January 1935) after a plebiscite resulting in a 90% vote in favour. Hitler then announced that all causes of grievance between France and Germany were removed.

v. Hitler announced the reintroduction of conscription in March 1935, using Britain's air force increases and France's extension of conscription as an excuse. Hitler also told his generals and the rest of the world that he would build up his peacetime army to 36 divisions.

vi. Hitler limited the German navy to 35 percent the strength of the British navy, which detached Britain. They signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in June 1935. Britain condoned German rearmament without consulting her allies, which the army stood at 51 divisions plus reserves with 21 large naval vessels, many more under construction, and 47 U-boats. A large airforce of over 5000 aircraft had also been built up.

vii. Hitler sent troops into the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland in March 1936, a breach of both Versailles and Locarno. To sooth his opponents Hitler offered a peace treaty to last 25 years.

viii. Hitler consolidated Germany's position by reaching an understanding with Mussolini (Rome-Berlin Axis) and by signing the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan. Germans and Italians helped Franco to victory in the Spanish Civil War, which gained them military practice.

ix. The Anschluss with Austria (March 1938) was Hitler's greatest success to date. The Austrian Nazis staged huge demonstrations in Vienna, Graz, and Linz, which Chancellor Schuschnigg's government could not control. German troops moved in and Austria became part of the Third Reich.

4. Appeasement

a. what is appeasement? summarize the two phases:

i. From the mid 1920s to 1937, to avoid war at all costs, Britain and France accepted the acts of aggression and breaches of Versailles (examples are Manchuria, Abyssinia, etc)

ii. Neville Chamberlain, the new British Prime Minister, found out what Hitler wanted and showed him that reasonable claims could be met by negotiation and not force.

b. how was it justified?

i. It was thought essential to avoid war, which was likely to be more devastating than ever before. Memories of WWI still horrified many people and no one wanted to go back to war. Britain couldn't afford vast rearmament and many other countries had similar issues.

ii. Many felt that Germany and Italy had genuine grievances; Italy was cheated at Versailles and Germany was treated too harshly.

iii. Chamberlain believed that personal contact between leaders was the only way to settle disputes, since the League of Nations seemed helpless.

iv. Economic cooperation between Britain and Germany would benefit both.

v. Fear of Communist Russia was great especially among British Conservatives, many of whom believed Communism was a greater threat than Hitler.

vi. There was an underlying belief that Britain ought to not take any military action because they were totally unprepared for a full-scale war.

c. what was the role of appeasement leading up to WWII?

i. No action was taken to check the obvious German rearmament.

ii. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement condoning German rearmament was giend without consultation of France and Italy.

iii. There was only half-hearted action against the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.

iv. The French did not mobilize their troops, and they received no backing from the British, who were impressed by Hitler's offer for a 25-year peace.

v. Neither Britain nor France intervened in the Spanish Civil War, although Germany and Italy helped Franco.

vi. Many in Britain saw the Anschluss between Germany and Austria as a natural union of one German group with another. Chamberlain's appeasement led to Hitler's greatest triumph in Munich.

5. Munich to the outbreak of war

a. Czechoslovakia - what were the three steps to the conquest of Czechoslovakia?

i. Propaganda campaign in the Sudetenland - Hitler's excuse was that 3.5 million Sudeten Germans were being discriminated against by the Czech government.

ii. The Munich Conference, 29 September 1938 - Hitler invited Chamberlain and Daladier to a four-power conference which met in Munich, and a plan produced byMussolini was accepted, the Sudetenland was to be handed over to Germany, and Germany along with the other three powers could take the rest of Czechoslovakia.

iii. The destruction of Czechoslovakia, March 1939. Czechoslovakia was crippled by a 70% loss of heavy industry, a third of her population, a third of her territory and all of her fortifications, most of which to Germany.

b. Poland - what were the two steps to the conquest of Poland?

i. Hitler demands the return of Danzig

ii. The Germans invade Poland