Between the Wars & WWII

Post War * Nationalism Movements * Pan-Africanism * India * Australia, Canada, and New Zealand * Middle East - Mandate System * Revolutions * Mexico * China * Democratic Nations Weakened * United States, Britain, France - exhausted from WW1, experience a great depression in 1930s * U.S. - becomes isolationist * Rise of Authoritarian Government (dictatorship * Communism - Russia, China * Fascism - Italy, Germany * Military Dictatorship - Japan * France * Experiences economic boom * War reparations from Germany * Money stops coming in when Hitler rises to power * World trade slows * Overproduction of goods * Unemployment goes up→inflation goes up ↔ great depression * France gets Alsace-Lorraine back, turns into huge industrial region (mainly coal) * New political party in France = Populist Party (Communism + socialist parties led by Leon Blum) * Secret Committee of Revolutionary Action - Backed by fascists of Germany * Secret organization of anarchists and revolutionaries in France during the late 19th century * Aimed to overthrow the French government and establish a new social order through violent actions such as bombings and assassinations * Locarno Pact - France signs military agreement with Germany, Poland, Belgium; vowed to protect Czechoslovakia and keep peace * Germany joins League of Nations * France sense of security * France signs Treaty of Neutral Assistance with Soviet Russia * If something happens to you, we will protect you and vice-versa * However, Germany sees this as a stab in the back and Locarno Pact becomes void→French start preparing for German attack and Maginot Line * Maginot Line - fortification that spread along the French/German border but became a military liability when the Germans attacked France in 1940 * Germany simply walked around the Maginot Line * Stitzkrieg - Troops waited 8 months for an attack that never happened * British Empire starts to dissolve * By 1920s - British Empire begun to shrink * White Dominions became independent, ties to England in name only * Irish Republican Army launched Easter Uprising (1916) and declared independence from England * Nationalist movements sprung up across Africa, Middle-East, India * Pan-Africanism + Negritude Movement - Pushed for pride in African Heritage & unity towards independence * Fights against Mandate System saw rise in Pan-Arabism * Anti-western movement for independence * Arab lands promised to Arabs & Jews, taken by British * McMahon Correspondence - British promised Arab state in area of Palestine for revolt against Ottoman EmpireWhite Papers of 1939 - Palestine to be an Arab state, Jewish citizens must be protectedBalfour Declaration - British Promised Palestine to Jewish ZIonists * Mohandas Gandhi began pushing for greater equality for Indians in South Africa and against harsh laws in India * Self-Rule Movement fully began in 1916 * 1920s saw expansion of suffrage in England * Representation of People Act - Gave universal male suffrage at age of 21 (removed property qualifications for voting as wellEqual Franchise Act of 1928 - Gave women’s suffrage to women over 21 * George V died in 1936 and British Monarchy became turbulent, King Edward comes to power and is abdicated after 325 days→George VI takes throne * Labour Party - Great Depression brought rise of Socialist party in ParliamentThe Munich Government - Neville Chamberlain negotiates with Hitler to prevent war from happening
International Agreements for US * Washington Naval Conference - 3 treaties aimed at the pacific (Goal was to reduce Naval Warship) * Kellogg-Briand Pact - 15 counties said war isn’t instrument of national policy (they won’t use war to fix problems) * Never considered if war actually happened * Neutrality Acts (1935-1937) - Banned sale and transportation of war material to belligerents * US saw Germany struggling to make payments * Dawes Plan (1924) - Prevent future incidents to repay their loans * US loaned Germany money to pay Britain & France so they could repay loans * US loaned Germany money to pay for reparations so Britain and France could repay loans * US began restriction immigration * Immigration Act of 1924 - Barred entry to only those who were eligible for citizenship, Asians not eligible due to earlier laws
International Struggles for US * US saw expansion of US industry & politics in 1920s * Rapid consumer spending + buying on credit * Harlem Renaissance - celebration of African American culture * 18th Amendment - Prohibited production, transportation, of sale of alcohol in US (1919-1933) * 1929 stock market crash signaled start of Great Depression * Massive unemployment in US * President Franklin Roosevelt tried to fix the economic crisis with his New Deal * Provided Public Works to get people employed * Won’t be until US gets involved in WWII and it is fixed
Success & Failures of the League of Nations * Founded in 1920, first worldwide intergovernmental organization with the mission of maintaining world peace * Started with 42 nations, reached 58 nations at its height * USSR joined 1936, kicked out in 1939 for invading Finland * Central and South American nations joined, left by 1930s * Germany, Japan, Italy quit when Sanctions applied
Germany and Hitler’s invasion of Poland sparked start of WW2
Japan Upset After WW1 * Washington Naval Conference (1922) * Limit size of Navy * Eliminates imperialism of CHina * Racial injustice * Immigration * Growing tension between U.S. & Japan * Treaty of Versailles * Wanted German islands in Pacific * Earthquake in 1923 * 100,000 killed + crushed economy * Constitutional Monarchy - emperor as “figurehead” * Parliament - Diet * Hirohito * Zaibatsu - rich military families that wanted to continue imperializing * 1931 - invasion of Manchuria * Goes against Washington Naval Conference which says that there is no more imperialization of China * Assert dominance * Hideki Tojo - military dictator * 2nd Sino-Japanese war * Rape of Nanjing * Japan successfully captures Nanjing * Tojo elected as Prime Minister of Japan * Responsible for bombing of Pearl Harbor
Totalitarianism * Totalitarian State - Any government in which one party dictatorship regulates every aspect of citizens lives * Leader complete control over political, economic, social lives of citizens
Rise of Fascism: Spain * After WW1→Industrial class + military wanted to remove corrupt government - unsuccessful * By 1931 - Second Spanish Republic started by leftist socialists & liberals * Monarch and King Alfonso XIII fled country * Francisco Franco * Conservative general led 1936 revolt which turns into civil war * Nationalists (fascists), Right Wing, Hitler, Mussolini vs. Republicans * Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) * Dress rehearsal for WWII, German air raid of Guernica * German air raid showed Hitler’s power of modern warfare with bombing * 1939 - Franco wins + sets off fascist dictatorship * Spain eventually sits out of WWII
Beginning of WWII * Western Democracy on decline | Fascism/communism on the rise * Appeasement - giving in * West gave into Hitler/Mussolini demands * Liebestraum - territory which Hitler thinks he needs to create a powerful nation * Hitler breaks Treaty of Versailles and militarizes the Rhineland * West does nothing * Enchleusse - joins Austria with Germany * West does nothing * Hitler wants Czechoslovakia→West does nothing * Neville Chamberlain (Britain prime minister) wants Hitler at Munich Conference * Chamberlain gives a sliver of Czechoslovakia to Hitler called to Sudetenland
West Stays Out * Appeasement/Pacifism * France - Popular Front = socialists + communist + anarchist + republicansBritain - No war, Treaty of Versailles unfairUnited States - Neutrality Act * Can’t send arms to any nation * 1939 - Nazi-Soveit Non-Pyganoism Pact * Hitler avoids 2 front war * Stalin has time to mobilize
Start of WWII * September 1, 1939 - Hitler begins invasion of Poland→Start of WWII and Hitler & Stalin divide Poland * Hitler uses blitzkrieg in attacks on other tanks→ quick attacks with use of tanks and luftwaffe (German air force) * GB & France declare war on Germany * Hitler invades France in 1940 after 8 months of France * Maginot Line - defensive network built to protect French eastern border from invasions * Germany follows invasion by creating occupation zones in France * Northern France demobilized, Southern France becomes puppet state controlled by Germans known as Vichy France * France falls→Britain stands alone in Europe, Hitler begins attacking British cities with luftwaffe * Hitler begins Operation Sea Lion (planned takeover of Britain) * Battle of Britain begins in 1940, including the London Blitz (50 nights of constant bombing on London) * Despite failure in GB, Hitler has control of most of continental Europe and next focused on North Africa * Erwin Rommel plans to seize Suez Canal and cut off British control→ defending North Africa vital to allies * Summer 1941, Hitler initiates next phase of conquest into Soviet Union through Operation Barbarossa to taken control of USSR’s natural resources + destroy communism * With this invasion, pact between Hitler & Stalin ends * Stalin is still greatly unprepared for war and lacked military leadership from Great Purge * Instead of going straight to Moscow, Hitler focuses on natural resources in Ukraine→winter begins and Stalin has time to reinforce his troops * Through use of scorched earth policy, Soviets withstand long battles * German lack resources to survive winters * By 1942, Hitler fails to conquer Moscow, Stalingrad, Or leningrad in Soviet Union * Hitler used invasion of Eastern Europe to increase his Final Solution * Hitler took resources from battlefront to aid transportation of imprisonment of Jews, communists, other victims * Soviets begin pressuring GB & US to invade Western Europe and relieve pressure
United States * Neutral (1935) * Land-Lease (1948) * Military and * No aid to Japan * Precursor to Pearl Harbor (Coral Sea Midway in 1492-1943) * U.S. enters War * Nationalism * Total war (mass production, war propaganda, recruitment, gender roles
Tehran Conference (1943- Iran) - Stalin, FDR, Winston * Europe 1st - then Pacific * Stalin wants US & GB to invade on Western Front * Need time to mobilize (trust issues involved) * D-Day - France is liberated * Germans gaining to launch final offensive - Battle of the Bulge through Ardennes Forest & take France again * Allies launch Battle for Berlin & Nazi Germany surrenders on May 7th, 1945 (V-E Day)
Yalta Conference (1945) - Ukraine * Soviet Union says “we need 3 months following Germany’s surrender” * Time to mobilize along with trust issues * Germany split into 4 different zones * US/GB/France/Soviet * Self-determination in Eastern Europe
WWII: Pacific * Most of the war in the Pacific was fought between Japan and the U.S. * U.S. used “Island Hopping” campaign to take over Pacific Island by Island * Japanese spent most of early 1940’s quickly expanded in the Pacific * Japan planned to capture Midway as a base to launch another attack on Pearl Harbor * Battle of Midway in 1942 * August 1942, first major offensive led by U.S. against Japanese in Battle of Guadalcanal * Goal to break supply + communication routes for Japanese * March 1945, US won Battle of Iwo Jima, providing Us airfields to launch aerial attacks on Japanese main islands * April 1945, the Battle of Okinawa successful amphibious assault led by US firebombing and kamikaze attacks by Japan
WWII: Europe * All of Western Europe liberated by March of 1945 all the way to German border * Germans launched final offensive and surprise attack in Battle of the Bulge (January 1945) in Ardennes Forest * The Big Three (FDR, Winston Churchill, Stalin) met for final time at Yalta Conference (February 1945) * Soviets enter war in Pacific 3 months after German surrender * Germany & Berlin divided into 4 zones controlled by Soviet Union, GB, US, France * Self determination for occupied regions especially eastern Europe * Soviet Union achieve final victory over Germans with success of Battle for Berlin (April 1945) * Russia had greater army * By April, many of major leaders of WW1 dead→Mussolini executed, Hitler suicide, FDR stroke * By May 7, Germany surrenders and VE Day is announced
WWII
\ * Allies met for final time at Potsdam Conference in July 1945→Stalin, Truman (FDR death), Atlee (Churchill replaced) * Nuremberg Trials for war crimes by Nazi leaders * US gave Japan ultimatum to surrender or “meet prompt & utter destruction” * Stalin begins breaking from GB & Us to promote spread of communism * US responds with idea of containment to halt spread of communism * Inform Stalin of atom bomb * Japanese refused to surrender, US pushed forward with their plans to invade homelands * First nuclear test completed in Los Alamos in July 1945→Trinity Test of the Manhattan Project * Seen as option to not have to invade * On August 6, 1945 US dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima * August 9, 1945 US dropped “Fat Man” on Nagasaki * By August 15th, the Japanese surrendered→VJ Day & End of WWII