Analytical+Summary+20+Revised+-+Modern+World+History

Analytical Summary 20

The Axis and the Start of World War II

(The Tripartite Agreement)

Introduction

Hopefully, you are able to better understand the ideological similarities between the fascist leaders of Japan, Germany, and Italy.  This is necessary, but not sufficient, in better understanding their alliance in World War II.  We will also discuss their shared geopolitical interests.  Only then, will we appreciate why they formed the Axis.

We will also discuss other alliances that shaped World War II.  While World War II alliances were not as convoluted as World War I alliances, they were nonetheless complex. 

Finally, we close out the day by discussing the official start of World War II.

The Anti-Comintern Pact and the Tripartite Pact

On November 25, 1936 Japanese ambassador Kintomo Mushanokoji and German Minister of Foreign Affairs Joachim Von Ribbentrop signed the Anti-Comintern Pact.  This agreement bound Showa Japan and Nazi Germany to “stop the spread of communism throughout the world.”

At first, a union between Japan and Germany appears unnatural.  After all, Germany believed in the racial purity of their “Aryan” race and wanted to conquer other’s territory.  Japan was included in this “other” territory and Japanese people did not qualify as part of the Aryan race.  Likewise, Japan harbored racist views in spite of advocating for the racial equality clause at the Treaty of Versailles.  For instance, the Japanese government responded to the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed over 100,000 people in metro Tokyo, by scapegoating Koreans.  The Japanese government exploited stereotypes of Korean as dishonest and untrustworthy; it spread rumors that Koreans were looting and poisoning drinking wells in the earthquake’s aftermath.  This led to riots against the Korean community, which ultimately killed up to 10,000 Korean expats in Japan.  Furthermore, Showa Japan exhibited xenophobia and racism in its conquest of China.  It enforced racial segregation in occupied Manchuria by segregating 1,000,000 Japanese expats from Koreans, Manchus, and Chinese.

However, the spread of Russian Communism, and the threat it posed to Japan and Germany, caused both countries to cooperate.  Like fascist Italy, Japan, and Germany, and like Imperialist England and France, Russia also had ambitions to extend its sphere of influence beyond its borders.  In 1919, Vladimir Lenin, the head of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union (and de facto leader of the country) assembled in Moscow leftist, socialist, and communists leaders around the world.  The leaders formed a cooperative known as the Comintern or the Communist International, where they agreed to spread Communism throughout the world.  Unlike the ultranationalist and fascist political platforms of Nazi Germany and Showa Japan, the Comintern espoused: 1) abolishing the private ownership of the means of production, through 2) anticolonial and antiracist movements.

Not surprisingly, Showa Japan and Nazi Germany were threatened by the Comintern.  Indeed, both fascist governments implemented domestic policies that sought to repel the spread of communism. 

“The Communist Party, though it continued to operate underground, had been outlawed [in Japan] since 1922. High-profile trials of leftists in the summer of 1932, staged by the Home Ministry, convicted hundreds affiliated with the party. Members of the Japanese Left, such as Sanzō Nosaka, estimated that some 60,000 Communists and supporters of the Communists had been rounded up in the early 1930s. The systematic persecution and dismantling of the radical Left during the early years of the Great Depression essentially left Japan bereft of a real opposition to the course of imperialism and military conquest now charted.” – National World War II Museum

Likewise, Nazi Germany not only outlawed the German Communist Party, but also outlawed the moderate socialist Social Democratic Party and sent party members to the Dachau concentration camp.

Fascist paranoia about the spread of communism reached its fever pitch in 1934-1936, when the Comintern shifted to the Popular Front strategy.  Instead of advocating for social revolution to overthrow governments, the Comintern worked with socialists and liberals to gain seats in legislative bodies throughout Europe.  Popular Front governments gained power in Spain and in France in 1936, increasing the urgency for Germany to create a united fascist front.

In 1936, Hitler confided in Joseph Goebbels that he expected a conflict in Asia, and that Japan would “thrash” the Soviet Union (Japan’s prior victory in the Russo-Japanese War fueled Hitler’s confidence).  This cemented the bond between Japan and Germany, leading to the 1936 Anti-Comintern Pact.

In 1937, Mussolini and Fascist Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1937 – uniting all three fascist governments for the first time.

In 1940, Italy, Germany, and Japan solidified their alliance with the Tripartite Pact.  While the Comintern Pact espoused vague goals in preventing the spread of communism, the Tripartite Pact prescribed a formal agreement amongst the signatories.  Additionally, the Tripartite Act bound the countries to mutually defend each other against the United States.  Article 6 of the act required that Italy, Japan, and Germany “assist one another with all political, economic and military means if one of the Contracting Powers is attacked by a Power at present not involved in the European War or in the Japanese-Chinese conflict.”

Contemporary and historical analyses dictate that Hitler coordinated the Tripartite Pact in order to placate fascist Japan and Italy.  The latter two countries would have been suspicious of Nazi motives after Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact one year earlier (See The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Invasion of Poland

Hitler surprised his fellow domestic and international fascists when he signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union.  On August 23, 1939, Joachim Von Ribbentrop and Joseph Stalin (alongside Soviet Foreign Minister VM Molotov) agreed that they would 1) remain at peace with one another, and 2) declared that neither government would give aid to the rival of the other.  Joseph Stalin had attempted to form an alliance with Britain and France (reviving the one from World War I).  However, his entreaties to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French President Albert Lebrun were repeatedly ignored.  At the time, Chamberlain and Lebrun had signed a pact with Hitler (the Munich Agreement), and were fearful of the spread of Communism’s popular front. 

In the aftermath of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Hitler invaded Poland from the West on September 1, 1939 while Stalin invaded Poland from the East on September 17, 1939.  Hitler’s invasion of Poland officially started World War II.  

Hitler Invades Poland, The World Descends into Chaos, and WWII Officially Begins

Introduction

World War II lasted between 1939 – 1945.  Though the United States played an instrumental role in defeating the Axis, it did not enter the war until December 7, 1941.  Today, we will discuss the 28 months preceding American entry into World War II.

Hitler and Stalin Invade Poland

Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.  He ordered the invasion under the pretext of liberation – Poland (as well as Czechoslovakia) had a significant German ethnic population.  Hitler falsely accused the Polish government of mistreating its Germany population.

At first, Poland appeared to be evenly matched against its aggressors – Poland’s army numbered 1.3 million infantry while Germany numbered 1.5 million infantry.  Additionally, Poland was highly motivated as its citizens were defending against its destruction.  However, Germany would defeat Poland in 35 days.  The battle ended when Polish forces surrendered at the Battle of Kock on December 6, 1939.  How did this happen?

1) The German military was technologically superior to the Polish military.  While Poland had 750 armored vehicles, Germany had 3600 armored vehicles.  Additionally, the German air force, the Luftwaffe, had twice as many planes as Poland’s air force.  Finally, Germany’s infantry was equipped with better guns, better helmets, and better body armor.

2) The German military employed an extremely effective tactic in the Blitzkrieg.  Blitzkrieg, which translates to “lightening war” relied on quick, mobile battle movements to defeat an enemy.  The Blitzkrieg replaced World War I’s war of attrition, where evenly-matched contestants would incur heavy casualties volleying heavy firepower.  Blitzkrieg emerged as much out of necessity as it did ingenuity – The Treaty of Versailles’ reparations depleted Germany’s military, so it needed to rely on novel tactics rather than raw firepower. A successful Blitzkrieg attack depended on effective real-time communication.  While the Polish military struggled to integrate radio into warfare, the Germany military integrated effective radio communication into all of its platoons.  Upon establishment of effective radio communication, the Blitzkrieg would depend on a quick, concentrated attack on the enemy’s most strategically valuable position.  Germany’s attack on Poland included the Luftwaffe as well as tanks and automobiles.  Finally, when the enemy was sufficiently shocked, the Germans would encircle the enemy and attack until surrender. 

3) The Germans had help from the Soviet Union.  You may recall from our previous lesson that the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east a mere 16 days after the German assault.  The Soviet Union’s 800,000 troops quickly subdued the Polish military, which had to fight a two-front war against both the Germans and Soviets. 

On October 6, 1939, Poland was split.  Approximately 10.5 million people were under the control of Nazi Germany, where they were subject to forced resettlement and economic exploitation.  Although the ethnic German minority welcomed the occupiers, ethnic Poles and 2 million Jews were rightfully fearful of their fate.  The Soviet-occupied territories, which were more racially diverse than German-occupied territories and numbered approximately 11 million, were automatically annexed into the Soviet Union.  The occupied ethnic Poles, ethnic Russians, and the 1.5 million Jews generally welcomed annexation into the more egalitarian Soviet Union.  However, the Soviet Union arrested or executed approximately 220,000 intellectuals, university professors, and government employees whom they deemed a threat.

Finally, the invasion of Poland caused France and Britain to emerge from their complacency against Hitler.  They declared war against Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939.  France attempted to invade the German-occupied Saarland from the west during the Saar Offensive between September 7-16.  Germany responded quickly and forced France to retreat.

Germany Invades Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung

After Germany conquered Poland, an uneasy 8-month peace emerged.  Between September 1939 through May 1940, Germany, France, and Britain avoided major confrontation in what would later be known as the “Phoney War.”  During this time, Britain and France launched a naval blockade in the Atlantic Ocean, which prevented German vessels from travelling to other countries.  Although the allies sought to damage Germany’s economy, this had little effect on autarkic Nazi Germany.  Additionally, Britain deployed over 390,000 of its Expeditionary Forces to France and Belgium, however, they did not see any action during the Phoney War.  Germany, for its part, used U-Boats to bomb allied military and civilian vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.

This peace would come to a violent end on April 9^th 1940 when Germany invaded Denmark to start Operation Weserübung – the official name of Germany’s military campaign in Denmark and in Norway.  Germany quickly defeated Denmark.  In the morning of April 9^th, German diplomats offered this ultimatum: if the Danes surrendered, the Germans would be benevolent conquerors – they would not meddle in the domestic affairs of Denmark.  If they refused to surrender, then the Germans would annihilate the country and flatten Copenhagen.  The Danes surrendered in six hours, the quickest invasion in World War II. 

Next, Germany moved onto Norway.  During the Phoney War, Germany successfully intercepted British and French intelligence detailing a planned Anglo-Franco invasion of Norway, which remained neutral during World War I.  Although an invasion never advanced beyond the planning phase, Germany used it as a pretext to invade Norway.  Germany claimed that it was invading Norway to protect it from falling to British and French forces.  Additionally, Germany spread racial propaganda that Norwegians were racially pure “Aryans” who would embrace their Nazi invaders.  Though Norway staged resistance, it would fall in two months as Norway surrendered on June 10, 1940.  During those 8 weeks, Norway suffered comparatively few casualties as 1700 of its troops died.  King Haakon VII, Norway’s Head of State, fled the country and a puppet Nazi government replaced him.