Aggression and Conflicts Leading to World War II

Text pages 763-764; 809-813

SSWH17 The student will be able to identify the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies between World War I and World War II.e. Describe the nature of totalitarianism and the police state that existed in Russia, Germany, and Italy and how they differ from authoritarian governments.f. Explain the aggression and conflict leading to World War II in Europe and Asia; include the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War, the rape of Nanjing in China, and the German annexation of the Sudetenland.

Authoritarian States versus Totalitarian States

• A number of states were authoritarian, but not totalitarian.

• Used police powers but did not strive to create a new mass society—rather they sought to preserve the existing social order

• Particularly in Eastern Europe, such as Austria, Poland, Ukraine, etc… they had tried democracy but failed to maintain and authoritarian governments emerged

Totalitarianism & the Police State

• Commonly applied to Fascist & Communist regimes

• Police operate without constraint of laws & regulations

• Pursuit of state’s goal means overthrowing all old political & social institutions

• Police state- restrictions on mobility, freedom to express political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring

• Common in Russia under Stalin, Germany under Hitler, and Italy under Mussolini

Steps Toward War • March 9, 1935- Hitler

announces creation of a new air force

• March 1935- Military draft reinstated expanding army from 100,000 to 550,000 – a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles

• March 7, 1936– sent troops into the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland

• Beginning of appeasement – policy based on the ideas of satisfying reasonable demands to keep peace

Italian Invasion of Ethiopia

• Mussolini had long dreamed of a new Roman Empire in the Mediterranean

• October 1935 invaded Ethiopia• Angered by French & British

opposition, Mussolini welcomed Hitler’s support

• November 1936 Signed Rome-Berlin Axis –an alliance with Germany

Spanish Civil War • General Francisco Franco led

Spanish military forces to revolt against the democratic government in 1936.

• Brutal & Bloody Civil War • Fascist regimes of Italy & Germany

aided Franco• Hitler used as opportunity to test

his new weapons• In April 1937, German bombers

destroyed Guernica which has been immortalized in the painting by Pablo Picasso

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Spanish Civil War Continued…

• Soviet Union aided the Spanish republican government

• Franco captured Madrid in 1939 and established a dictatorship

• Because he favored traditional groups (businesspeople, landowners, clergy) and did not try to create a new social order, his regime is considered authoritarian rather than totalitarian

Rape of Nanjing • Period of wartime atrocities committed

by Japanese forces in the Chinese capital of Nanjing during a six week period December 1937- January 1938

• Estimated 200,000 people killed • Atrocities included murdering civilians

& soldiers, beating civilians, setting fire to homes, and raping women before they murdered them

• Survivors describe the atrocities as killing for sport – finding new & creative ways to kill people including burial alive & decapitation

Hitler’s Goals… • By 1937, according to Hitler,

Germany was once more a world power.

• In 1938, decided to pursue one of his goals: union with Austria

• Hitler threatened to invade Austria so chancellor put the Austrian Nazi Party in charge of government.

• They invited German troops in to “help” maintain order

• March 13, 1938– Germany annexes Austria

Destruction of Czechoslovakia • September 15, 1938 Hitler demanded

Germany be given the Sudetenland, an area in NW Czechoslovakia that was inhabited primarily by Germans

• Expressed his willingness to risk war to achieve his objectives

• Munich Conference- British, French, German, and Italian reps did not object to Hitler’s plans and made an agreement virtually meeting all of Hitler’s demands

• High point of western appeasement• Prime Minister of Great Britain thought along

with many others that Hitler would keep his promise to make no more demands & truly believed this would keep peace!