Hitory Elective Notes: Chapter 6

Tanjong Katong Secondary School

Secondary Four History Elective

Chapter 6: War in Europe*

How was Germany responsible for the outbreak of WWII?

Hitler’s foreign policy aims:

• Hitler wanted to make Germany ____ again by having a _________ and regaining the ____ lost by TOV.

• Wanted all German- speaking people to live together in one country called _____________.

• Felt that Germany’s growing population needed more room to live and grow food. He called this ___________ (living space).

• He could get his lebensraum by __________ lands east of Germany.

• Hated the _____________ ideology and wanted to conquer the Soviet Union to destroy _____________.

• SU had vast lands and Hitler believed that the Germans could use the lands for _________.

Steps taken by Hitler:

• 1933: Hitler pulled Germany out of the ________________ organised by the League of Nations, announcing that she will disarm only if other nations did so as well.

• 1933: Pulled Germany out of ____________________.

• 1934: Increased the size of his ____ from 100, 000 to 300,000 men. (conscription)

• 1935: Increased the size of the army to 550,000 men & reintroduced ___________________________ for all male citizens.

Re-militarisation of ______________:

• TOV stated that no ________________ were to be in Rhineland after Allied troops had withdrawn.

• 1936: Ordered troops into ______________________________.

• Britain and France took no action against Germany.

• British claim: Germany was only ‘marching into its own backyard’.

• France unwilling to take action without Britain’s support.

Anschluss with _______

• TOV stated that there should be no ____________ (anschluss) between Germany and Austria.

• Hitler tried to take control of Austria.

• Hitler threatened Austrian Chancellor Schushnigg that he would send in his army.

• March 1938: German troops marched into Austria, which then became a _________ of Germany.

How was the League of Nations responsible for the outbreak of WWII?

Weaknesses of LON:

• An exclusive club for __________ of WWI.

• Germany was not treated well.

• By not treating all its members with _______________, it failed to win the _________ from members.

• Richest and most powerful member of the world – ______- not in the League => weak.

• Britain and France were the unofficial leaders of LON but only took action when it served their own ________. Poor leadership -> members ______________ for the League.

• Members of the League were supposed to ________ each other through the use of __________________, but this was never applied.

• When League did not punish Japan when it attacked Manchuria, Italy and Germany went ahead with their attacks ________ that the League could not stop them.

• Did not have an ____ of its own, thus not in a position to _______ a country from ________.

Failure to curb Italian aggression in ___________, 1936:

• Action: Benito _________ (Fascist leader of Italy) wanted to increase Italian influence in Abyssinia (today’s Ethiopia) and made plans to ______ it.

• Response: LON only implemented a _________ economic embargo against Italy. But this too was not fully implemented due to fear that any embargo would affect members’ own economies.

• LON was not _____ enough to protect countries from attacks by its members.

Failure to encourage ___________ :

• France: Did not feel ____ from Germany and refused to disarm.

• Hitler: If other countries did not disarm, then Germany had the right to build up its armed forces and did so at a ____ pace.

• Other European countries: Began to rearm _______ Germany.

Failure to preserve ______ of the League:

• Britain: Fear that Germany would have a navy ______ than hers. In 1935, signed the ______________________ which allowed Germany to increase the size of its navy to 35% of the British navy, including submarines, which were banned in TOV.

• Britain, the unofficial leader of the LON, broke the military terms of the TOV and placed her own interests first.

• Other members followed Britain’s example, instead of acting together to _________ the ___ of a ________ strong Germany.

Failure to preserve _______________ :

• Due to ________________, many countries priced their goods more _______ than foreign goods, in an attempt to sell more of their goods overseas.

• They also tried to _______ foreign goods from being sold in other countries by raising ______ on the foreign goods.

• 1933: LON held international conference to stop countries from increasing tariffs, but none of the countries wanted to _________.

• Each country believed that it had to protect its own interest first –> ______ war between countries.

How were Britain and France responsible for the outbreak of WWII?

Appeasement:

• __________ war at all costs by _________ to whatever the enemy country asks for.

Reasons for appeasement:

• WWI, with its great __________ made war an __________ choice.

• Economies _______________ by WWI and GD. Needed to _________ economies and could not _____ to fight another war.

• Br and Fr needed more ____ to _________ their army.

• Many British and French ______ were fighting for their independence. Br and France could not afford to quell these rebellions and fight a major war in Europe at the same time.

• Felt that they could not win a war against Germany without the help of USA. USA was following a strict policy of ________ and would not get involved in any war in Europe.

• Felt that _________ was a bigger threat than _______. A strong Germany would prevent the spread of Communism from Soviet Russia to other parts of Europe.

Example of appeasement: ______________ Crisis, 1938

• Hitler wanted to take over Sudentenland (part of ______________) after Austria.

• Despised the Czech people as they were _____ – an ‘_______________’.

• Prosperous country ____ in resources.

• Over 3 million _________ living in Sudentenland – wanted to make it part of his Greater Germany.

• Sudetenland important for Czechoslovakia because of its _________ and heavy __________ located there.

• Encouraged members of the Sudetenland _____________ to make as much trouble for the Czech government so that it would give up Sudetenland.

• Czechoslovakia looked to Britain and France to stop Hitler, since Sudetenland was not a German land which had been taken away by TOV. It had never ___________ to Germany.

• Britain and France feared that Europe will be _______ into a war if the crisis was not solved.

• Br PM Neville _____________ went to Germany three times in Sept 1938 in and effort to prevent war.

• 3rd meeting in _______ – Representatives from Br, Fr, Italy, Germany attended, but not ______ or ______.

• Munich Agreement: Germany would not be stopped from taking Sudetenland. In exchange, Hitler promised not to take any more land in Europe.

• Chamberlain happy that war had been __________.

Impact of appeasement:

• Policy of appeasement had merely _____________ greater ___________ from Germany, since Hitler was _________ that Britain and France would give in to all his demands/actions, as they did not want to get involved in a bigger war.

End of appeasement:

• March 1939: Hitler invaded ______________.

• Invasion convinced Br and Fr that Hitler could no longer be _______ and ended their policy of appeasement.

How was Soviet Union responsible for the outbreak of WWII?

Stalin’s concerns:

• Worried about the rise of Hitler, who openly stated that he ______ Communism.

• ________ was Hitler’s next target and it was _________ on USSR’s western front.

• 1934: Stalin joined _______________ to gain _____________ for USSR from Germany.

• However, he was concerned that the LON will not protect USSR since it took no ______ against Germany when it broke terms of TOV.

• Believed that Br and Fr wanted to see Communism _____________ too.

Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939:

• Pact of _________ between Germany and USSR.

• Hitler’s reason: wanted Poland but worried about fighting a war on two ______ – Br and Fr on western border and USSR on eastern border.

• Stalin’s reason: To avoid war with Germany.

• Terms: USSR would remain _______ if Germany attacked Poland. In exchange, they would ________ Poland between them.

• Reaction: Came as a ______ to the world as Hitler hated Communism and USSR.

• Significance: Gave Hitler _________ to invade Poland, as he would not have to face a two-front war.

• On 1 Sept 1939, he ________ Poland, confident that his army would be able to handle a war with Br and Fr, if they responded at all.

• The following day, Br and Fr _________ a _________ from Poland or face a war.

• Hitler _________. Br and Fr _______________ on Germany.

Questions to ponder:

Who/what was responsible for the outbreak of WWII and to what extent?

What were the long term causes of the war?

What were the short term causes of the war?

What were the factors which triggered the war?