move to global war paper 1

US responce to Japan Mostly Non-Impactful (1931–37)

• Stimson Doctrine (1932)
  → US refused to recognize Manchukuo after the Mukden Incident
  →  No sanctions, no force → Japan ignored it

• Herbert Hoover
  → Prioritized Great Depression → no intervention in Manchuria

• Neutrality Acts
  → Banned arms sales/loans to war states → limited US help to China

 

US responce to Japan Increasingly Impactful (1938–41)

Increasingly Impactful (1938–41)

• US-Japan Trade Treaty ended (1939)
  → Allowed sanctions legally

• Oil embargo (1941)
  → US supplied ~80% of Japan’s oil → cut off completely
  → Japan faced collapse within ~2 years without oil

• Asset freeze (1941)
  → Blocked Japanese access to US money/trade

Nazi soviet pact lead to outbreak of war

Nazi-Soviet Pact removed Hitler’s biggest risk

• Signed 23 August 1939 between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin

• Guaranteed no two-front war for Germany
  👉 Allowed Hitler to attack Poland safely

Eastern Europe divided into spheres of influence

• Poland split between Germany & USSR

• USSR gains Baltics + Finland influence
  👉 Shows war was pre-agreed, not accidental

Direct trigger of invasion

• Germany invades Poland 1 September 1939

• USSR invades from east 17 September 1939
  👉 Pact made joint destruction of Poland possible

Nazi soviet pact didn´t lead to outbreak of war

Long-term aggression by Adolf Hitler

• Aims in Mein Kampf:
  → Lebensraum (eastward expansion)
  → Destruction of communism
  👉 War was already likely regardless of pact

Failure of Appeasement

• Munich Agreement allowed takeover of Sudetenland

• No resistance to earlier aggression
  👉 Encouraged Hitler to continue expansion

Weak collective security

• League of Nations ineffective
  👉 Could not stop aggression (Manchuria, Abyssinia, etc.)

Germany and Italy's foreign policy up to 1940 influenced by territorial ambitions to a LARGE EXTENT

1. Nazi expansion for Lebensraum

• Adolf Hitler aimed to expand east for Lebensraum

• Actions:

  • Anschluss

  • Munich Agreement → Sudetenland

  • Invasion of Poland (1939)
    👉 Clear, consistent territorial expansion policy

2. Italian imperial expansion

• Benito Mussolini wanted a “New Roman Empire”

• Actions:

  • Invasion of Abyssinia (1935–36)

  • Occupation of Albania (1939)
    👉 Direct land acquisition = core aim

3.Opportunistic territorial gains during instability

• Germany exploited weakness of others:

  • Remilitarization of Rhineland (1936)

  • Expansion during appeasement
    👉 Foreign policy consistently linked to gaining land

Germany and Italy's foreign policy up to 1940 influenced by territorial ambitions to a SMALL EXTENT

1. Ideology beyond territory

• Hitler’s goals included:

  • Destroy communism

  • Racial reordering of Europe
    👉 Territory was a means, not the only aim

2. Prestige and domestic propaganda

• Mussolini used foreign policy to boost popularity

• Victories in Abyssinia increased support at home
  👉 Motivated by status and image, not just land

3. Strategic and defensive considerations

• Nazi-Soviet Pact
  → Secured Germany against USSR (not territorial)

• Italy often acted to maintain great power status
  👉 Some decisions about security and alliances, not expansion