MWH p.69-84
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
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