Upload
s1981dr
View
3.761
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
WAR IN EUROPE
Could war in Europe have been avoided?
• Why was peace threatened in the 1930’s
• What were the immediate causes of WWII in Europe?
Paris Peace Conference
• Victorious countries had own agenda
(could not agree on the kind of peace to be established)
• Germany left out of the talks
• Germans forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
• War Guilt Clause
• Reparations(Compensation for war damage)
• Loss of territories(parts of Germany + overseas colonies)
• Size of armed forces limited(No conscription, small army, small navy, no air force, demilitarisation of Rhineland)
GREAT DEPRESSION
(1930s)
Many Germans lost their
jobs
Life was difficult
Germans lost faith in the
Weimar government
Hitler becomes
Chancellor
NAZIS become largest party
NAZI propaganda and Hitler’s
Oratorical skills
Rich Germans feared the rise of
Communism
Support for Communists
Support for NAZIS
Reichstag Fire
Hitler becomes Fuhrer (Could rule without the
consent of the Reichstag)
Weakness of the Weimar
governmentPower Struggle
Why was peace threatened in the 1930’s?
Hitler’s foreign policy:
- To make Germany strong by breaking the treaty of Versailles
- To get more land for Germany
- To fight communism
Some terms…
• Großdeutschland
• Lebensraum
• Anschluss
Hitler’s Actions
• Rearmament
- Hitler pulls out of disarmament conference in 1933
- Germany pulls out of League of Nations
- Increased size of army to 550 000 men
- Introduced conscription in 1935
Reaction?
• No one was prepared to enforce the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• Hitler was able to keep his army
Why do you think this was so?
Hitler’s Actions
• Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
- Hitler orders troops to move into the Rhineland in 1936
- This was against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Reaction?
• France was horrified but did not take any action (not without British support)
• British were not willing to take any action (claimed that Germany was ‘only marching into its own backyard’)
Anschluss
Anschluss
• Treaty of Versailles did not allow for union between Germany and Austria
• German troops march into Austria in March 1938
• A vote was held and 99.75% of Austrians voted for Anschluss
Thinking point…
• What do you think was the impact of Hitler's actions?
• How did they impact the League of Nations?
Failure of the League of Nations (1930s)
Failure of the League of Nations (1930s)
• The league failed to promote peace and prevent a future war
• Key members of the league were reluctant to take firm action against belligerent nations (Germany, Japan, Italy)
Italian Aggression
• Benito Mussolini was the dictator of Italy.
• Dreamed of building an Italian empire
• 1935, Italy invades Abyssinia
Reaction?
• League of Nations took no significant actions.
• Both Britain and France tried to negotiate with Mussolini rather than take firm, decisive action.
League of Nations
• Too weak
• Members put their own interests first.
• Disarmament was a failure.
• Appeasement was a failure.
• Munich Conference, 1938 – Allied powers agreed to Hitler taking over Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia)
League of Nations
End of Appeasement
• 1939, Hitler invades Czechoslovakia.
• This convinced Britain and France that Hitler could not be trusted.
• Poland was Hitler's next target.
• Both Britain and France promised to help if Poland was attacked.
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
• Stalin was concerned about the rise of Hitler.• USSR joined League in 1934 to gain protection• However, Stalin saw how useless the League
was.• USSR was not invited to the Munich
Conference.• Stalin suspected that Britain and France were
waiting for Germany to destroy Communism in Russia.
• 23 August, 1939 – USSR and Germany sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
Invasion of Poland
• 1 September 1939
• Hitler invades Poland
• 2 September – Britain and France demand that Germany withdraw from Poland. Hitler refused.
• 3 September – Britain and France declare war on Germany.
• War begun in Europe.
Europe on the eve of war.
What does this source tell you about the Nazi-Soviet Pact?