The Era of the Second World War

Katherine Burke

Contents

• The Legacy of the Great War– Treaty of Versailles (1919)– Impact

• Hitler’s Foreign Policy– Rhineland– ‘Lebensraum’– Britain-Italy-Germany Triangl

e• Path to War

– Anschluss– Sudetenland and the Munich

Agreement

• Appeasement• USSR’s Role• Invasion of Poland• Propaganda• Evacuation• Home Front• Churchill Takes Over

– Dunkirk• The Blitz• Turning Points in WW2• British Women in the war• 1943-1944• The Legacy of War in Britain

The Legacy of the Great War

• WW1 ended November 1918• Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1918)– Decision made by Allies– Germans not invited

• Versailles was first of a series of agreements• 1919 – separate treaties with Austria-Hungary

and Bulgaria• 1920 – treaty with Turkey

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Treaty of Versailles (1919)

Aims of the Allies

•Peace settlement to last

•Avoid another war

America

•Punish Germany for starting the war and damage

•Weak Germany cannot start another war

France

•Public same as French

•Worry that harsh Treaty would have opposite effect

•Fear Germans would want revenge

Britain

OutcomesGermany was guilty

Land given to Poland

Northern Schleswig to Denmark

Alsace and Lorraine to France

Reparations for damages• Totalling £6,600 million

Maximum military size• 100,000 men• 6 battleships• No aeroplanes

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Impact• Wilson believed each

nationality should have its own country (self determination)– Yugoslavia contained various

nationalities– 3 million+ Germans living in

Czechoslovakia• Hitler was bitter war ended

– Politicians let down the army– Angry at the Treaty of Versailles

(1919)

• Mussolini was also bitter

– Italy gained land but not much– Badly treated at peace talks

• Churchill learnt different lessons– Britain must gain militarily– Only was to stop aggression

from other countries• French healthy population

dropped– 40% of French aged 20-32 in

1914 were still alive and well in 1918

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Hitler’s Foreign Policy

• Germans told to ignore Treaty of Versailles by Hitler– Little Allies could (or were willing) to do– Did not stop Germany making weapons or

increasing army• 1935 – military service compulsory for men– Hitler wanted army of 500,000– Claimed Germany would rearm• Both forbidden by Treaty of Versailles

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Rhineland

• Rhineland demilitarised as part of Treaty– No military allowed within 50km of the River Rhine to

keep troops from France• March 1936 – German troops entered the

Rhineland and not stopped– Poland looked like action but no support– Some British politicians thought Hitler had a right to

be there• “Jerry can do what he likes in his own back yard”

• Used by Hitler to rest resolve of France/Britain

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‘Lebensraum’

• Hitler wanted all Germans on German soil master race

• Needed living space (lebensraum) to feed all these people– Looked towards Poland and Russia

• Attacking Poland was risky but a surprise attack from France impossible with troops in the Rhineland– Feared fighting 2 fronts like Great War– Wanted Britain and Italy as allies

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Britain – Italy – Germany Triangle

• Britain foresaw a need to have another ally (besides France) against Germany– Italy seemed obvious choice given location etc.

• 1935 – Mussolini attacked Abyssinia which Britain opposed– This spoilt any chance of Britain gaining Italy as an

ally– Hitler also had to choose between Britain and Italy

• 1936 – Rome-Berlin Axis

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Path to WarBack to Contents

• 1937– Japan invades China– Germany signs a military agreement

with Japan– The Rape of Nanjing (Nanking) by

Japanese soldiers

• 1938– Germany announces ‘Anschluss’

with Austria– German military mobilises– USSR beat Japan in border conflict

(Battle of Lake Khasan)– Munich Agreement– Germany occupies the Sudetenland

– Kristallnacht

• 1939– Nazis take over Czechoslovakia– End of Spanish Civil War– ‘Pact of Steel’ signed with Italy– Nazis and Soviets sign Pact– Britain and Poland sign a Mutual

Assistance Treaty– Nazis invade Poland– War is declared on Germany– Battle of the Atlantic begins– Soviets invade Poland which is

divided between Germany and USSR– USSR attacks Finland– USSR expelled from the League of

Nations

Anschluss

• Hitler was keen to join Germany and Austria as he was Austrian himself– But it was banned under the Treaty of Versailles

• Austrian Chancellor wanted to avoid this 1938 he arranged a plebiscite– March (day before plebiscite) German soldiers

marched to Austria with no resistance– Hitler got his Anschluss

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The Sudetenland and the Munich Agreement

• A fortnight after the Anschluss, Hitler wanted the Sudetenland– 3 million Germans there– Heavy industry and main Czech

defences

• September 1938 – Chamberlain flew to Germany to discuss issue– In Britain gas masks were

issued and trenches dug in preparation for air raids• Nobody wanted war – most

wanted Czechs to give in

• 3 trips were made– Czechs present but not

taking part in talks– Britain and France already

decided to give in to Hitler

• Agreement signed 1 October 1938– “Peace in our time”

• Bookmakers offered odds of 32:1 against war in France– But PM Daladier thought

war was now inevitable

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Appeasement• Popular policy aimed to satisfy

Hitler and prevent war• Most thought it was fair for

Germany to get what it lost in Versailles

• Few outside Germany read Mein Kampf– Few realised there was no limit

to lebensraum

• Half British Cabinet against appeasement– Chamberlain didn’t trust Hitler– Britain started to rearm from

1937

• Reasons for appeasement’s popularity:– Germany had been treated

harshly at Versailles– Britain too weak for war– Hitler would stop the

Communists– Couldn’t help Czechoslovakia

due to its location– Sacrifice would be worth

making for peace– USSR too weak and unreliable

as an ally (plus they are Communist!)

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USSR’s Role• No invitation to Munich

Agreement• Communists not trusted by

Western world• Communists wanted another

war– Spread communism– But scared and unready

• USSR in a dangerous position from the threat of war– 1934 – joined the League of

Nations– Couldn’t get support to stand up

to Hitler– Caused mutual distrust with West

• Hitler’s invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia where Britain and France did nothing left USSR vulnerable– Needed an ally

• Germany or Britain

• Distrust on all sides– Had talks with Britain but Britain

didn’t think USSR could stand up to German military

– USSR wondered if Britain and France would ever stand up to Germany

– Fear of alliance with Germany to attack USSR

• Stalin allied with Hitler– Nazi-Soviet Pact (23 August 1939)

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Invasion of Poland

• March 1939 – invasion of Czechoslovakia– Czechs showed ager by throwing snowballs

• Hitler wanted Polish corridor• Appeasement had failed• March – Britain and France promised to support Poland if

attacked• Early April – Hitler gave secret orders for army to attack

Poland on 1 September 1939• May – Germany and Italy made the ‘Pact of Steel’

– Mussolini thought war with Poland would lead to a wider war– Hitler disagreed: ‘neither England or France will embark upon a

general war’

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Invasion of Poland continued• Britain was getting ready for

war– May – all men 20-21 were

conscripted– June – first young men signed on– Newspapers supported this

saying it would make them fitter

• August – reports of clashes between German and Polish troops– 23rd – USSR signed pact with

Germany, including a secret pact to carve up Poland

– 24th – Polish mobilised troops

• SS officers disguised as Polish soldiers took over a German radio station on the Polish border with an anti-Hitler message

• Meant to mean German attack justified– Orders to attack signed 8 hours

before

• 1 September – invasion• 3rd September – war declared

on Germany by Britain and France

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Propaganda

• British propaganda very effective in WW1– Goebbels studied this very closely– 1933 Goebbels became propaganda chief

• sole control over all media (including radio, film, etc.)

• After the war began Britain set up:– Ministry of Information – propaganda for British– Another organisation for propaganda aimed at enemy

• Posters were always propaganda• Photographs that showed real events could be used

for propaganda

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Evacuation

• 1 June – 3 September 1939 – 3.5 million moved house– Many were newly-weds– Many were children – 1.5million moved 3 days before war

started• Accompanied by teachers and mothers if under 5

– Anywhere with room to spare had to have at least 1 child– Government paid 52 1/2 p/week– Locals chose evacuees

• Many were middle class while the children were often very poor

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Evacuation continued

• Stepney – 10% of homes had a bath• Glasgow – 50% of homes had a bath• 50% of children had lice and fleas– Many only had one set of clothes– 10% were not toilet trained– Some didn’t know what a bed was for and slept under it or

were found standing in a corner• For the first time the well off saw how poor the poor was– Shocked and saddened– Many felt guilty

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Home Front• Most feared air raids

– Animals also evacuated

• Many feared gas attacks– Tops of pillow boxes were

pained in gas-sensitive paint– Gas masks were issued

• From 1 September blackouts were enforced

• From 3 September there was conscription for all men 18-41– Anyone whose jobs were not

vital– Conscientious objectors not

forced to join

• No rationing until January 1940 – bacon, sugar and butter– Meat and tea later in 1940– Jam in 1941– Sweets in 1942

• Restaurants rationed from 1942– Only allowed to serve 1 main

meal– Meals could cost no more than

25p

• Phoney War– Blackouts relaxed (dimmed lights)– ½ evacuees returned home

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Churchill Takes Over

• Blitzkrieg tactics used effective by Germany– Poland was invaded and nothing could be done

• April 1940 – Chamberlain: ‘Hitler had missed the bus’– Within days. Denmark and Norway were invaded

• 10 May – Chamberlain resigned, replaced by Churchill– Germany entered Holland, Belgium, and later,

Luxemburg– Germany would soon turn onto France

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Dunkirk

• Britain sent an Expeditionary Force to France but the Germans continued to advance

• French and British troops retreated to the coast and were surrounded at Dunkirk

• 300,000 were rescued by sea – pleasure boats, yachts and dinghies– Called a ‘miracle’ by the newspapers– But France was soon defeated by Germany (and Italy)

• 22 June – France surrendered to Germany, an agreement was signed in the same railway carriage as the Treaty of Versailles

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The Biltz• Battle of Britain began August 1940 after Hitler decided he

must invade Britain• Goering boasted that he would control the air within 4 days• The raids damaged the RAF

– Pilots were being killed faster than trained at one point• British had radar and ingenuity of developing their aircraft• RAF bombed Berlin, which made Goering decide to bomb

London• London was bombed 76 nights in total – one night off due

to bad weather

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Britain vs. Germany

Britain• At first there were too few

planes• Spitfires and Hurricanes were

built quicker than they were being destroyed– German losses mounted

• Londoners got used to the raids

• Civilian deaths outnumbered military ones until September 1942

Germany• Hitler kept bombing after he

decided not to invade Britain

• Attacks elsewhere (Egypt) weren’t successful

• May 1941 – British and Empire forces had overtaken Abyssinia

• Germany turned to the USSR as its new target

Coventry

Dresden

Turning PointsBack to Contents

• Battle of the Atlantic– U-boats used to attack merchant ships in 1941– RAF and the convoy system were used to protect British (and American)

ships• America Enters the War

– Sinking of American ships helped them join the war– However, bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942 was the catalyst– By May, Japan suffered their first defeat to the US

• Russian Invasion– Germany’s invasion slowed in 1942 due to Russian resistance and then

winter cold– Stalingrad battle started in September 1942 and only ended when German

troops disobeyed Hitler in February 1943 and surrendered• British Success

– Success in North Africa - General Montgomery

British Women• 1941 saw all unmarried women, 20-30 years old, called up

– WAAF– Land Army– Industry

• Better paid and hours in new jobs compared to old– Men still earned more than women (est. 2/3)

• Better conditions for all – women’s campaigns• 1942 allowed women to go to Church without hats or stockings –

clothes were rationed• Relationships were also more relaxed

– Many unmarried women had sexual relationships with soldiers• Still had some traditional values

– BBC banned a song “I heard you cry last night” because a man crying was ‘bad’ for morale

– Men resented women’s new freedoms (thought they should be at home)

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1943-44• January 1943 – Allies asked

Germany to surrender unconditionally– Hitler refused and so fighting

continued

• Soviets pushed Germany out of the USSR throughout 1943– Two villages wiped out

completely– Millions living in holes in the

ground– Million people had died at

Leningrad alone

• Anglo-American troops crossed from Africa to the Mediterranean towards Italy

• Mussolini was rescued by Germans in September 1943– Italy was split into two halves;

both at war with each other

• D-Day (6 June 1944) was to attack Germany from the west

• 150,000 troops landed that day – to increase to millions within a month– Hitler received reports but

dismissed them

• August 1944 – Paris was liberated• By December, the Allies had

pushed on to the German borders

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The Legacy of War in Britain

• Britain had lost as much as Germany– In fact Germany could completely rebuilt whereas Britain just

‘patched up’• Britain had bigger debts than any other country by 1945

– £1100million from America• Rationing continued until 1954• Emergence of a welfare system

– Beveridge Report– 1948 – NHS was set up

• France and Italy was exporting twice the rate of Britain– Out of date machinery and technology– Industry was also out of date (e.g. shipbuilding)

• Erosion of world status – Empire erosion and World Power status

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