Origins of World War II

Anti-war Sentiment• Horrors of WWI caused many

countries to become reluctant to use military force

• The Kellogg-Briand Pact– 1928 Agreement that renounced war

as an instrument of foreign policy– Signed by 62 countries

Japan• 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria

• Violation of Kellogg-Briand, and Washington treaties

• The League of Nations proved ineffective; Japan withdrew from the League

• Japan withdrew from the Naval disarmament agreements and began a naval build up

• 1936- Japan joined the Anti-Comintern Pact w/Germany & Italy

• 1937- Japan invaded China; WWII had begun in Asia

Italian Invasion of Ethiopia• 1935

• League of Nations discredited

• Italy strengthens relations with Germany

• Italian-German relations further strengthened by the civil war in Spain (1936-37)

• 1936- “Rome-Berlin Axis”

• Manchuria demonstrated that the league was toothless. However, the blow to the League was not a mortal one and the decisive test came two years later in the Abyssinian crisis... The Abyssinian crisis delivered a death blow to the League. It was already weakened by the departure of Japan in March 1933 and Germany in October. Italy left in 1937. While Britain and France were distracted, Hitler made his first major territorial move, sending a force of 22,000 men into the demilitarised Rhineland. Written by the historian AP Adamthwaite (1977)

Germany Re-arms• In 1935, Hitler introduced a

military draft, and announced the creation of an air force

• 1936- Hitler sent German troops into the demiltarized Rhineland

• These were blatant violations of the Treaty of Versailles & Locarno; France & Britain protested, but took no action

US Isolationism• Senate rejected the Versailles

Treaty; US never joined the League of Nations

• 1930- Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

• Congress passed Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, 1937

• Strengthened by the Nye Report

• “America First” was the slogan of the isolationists

AppeasementThe policy of granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain peace

Anchluss• March, 1938- Nazis took control of

the government in Austria, and invited German troops into the country

• One day later, Hitler announced the annexation of Austria; this was specifically forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles, Treaty of St. Germain, & Locarno Agreement

The Munich Conference• Sept.1938- Hitler began demanding the

Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia

• Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, & Italy met at Munich to resolve the crisis (Czechoslovakia & USSR not invited)

• The leaders gave in to Hitler’s demands in exchange for his promise of peace

• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was most influential

• Most significant example of appeasement

• By March 1939, Germany controlled nearly all of Czechoslovakia

Appeasement

“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing

peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.”Croydon Airport in September 1938

“What, no chair for me?”

Poland• By summer 1939, Hitler was

demanding the return of Danzig & the Polish Corridor

• Britain vowed to protect Poland; Hitler doubted they would

• Britain & France had always believed they could count on the Soviet Union to contain Germany

The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact • A.K.A. The Nazi-Soviet Non-

Aggression Pact

• Aug. 23, 1939- Germany & the Soviet Union agreed not to intervene if either went to war for the next 10 years

• Secretly they agreed to divide Poland, and for the Soviets to take over Finland & the Baltics

The War Begins• Sept. 1, 1939- Germany invaded

Poland

• Britain & France demanded a withdrawal; Hitler ignored them

• Sept. 3, Britain & France declared war on Germany; WWII had begun