Chapter 30

1. Chapter 30 World War II

2. Section 1 Threats to World Peace

3. Japanese Aggression in Asia In 1928 the U.S. secretary of state, Frank B. Kellogg, and the French foreign minister, Aristide Briand, met in Paris. Together they created an agreement that made war “illegal.” Eventually more than 60 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact. During the 1930s, however, it became clear that world powers would not be able to put such an agreement into effect. Japan made one of the first challenges to this pact.

4. The Japanese military began gaining power in the late 1920s. Then in 1930 Japan’s liberal prime minister,OsachiHamaguchi, was fatally shot. Political chaos followed the assassination. Within 2 years, a group of military leaders controlled the Japanese government.

5. In September 1931 a small group of Japanese army officers staged a fake attack on the railway near Mukden, in China’s province of Manchuria. Blaming the attack on China, Japanese forces in Manchuria quickly took control of the entire province.

6. The major nations in the League of Nations condemned Japan’s aggression but were not willing to take military action to protect China. Japan responded to the condemnation by withdrawing from the League of Nations. The lack of enforceable opposition encouraged Japan, which announced its intention of extending its influence not only to all of China, but also throughout East Asia and the western Pacific. Six years later in 1937, the Japanese army captured the city of Beijing. While Chinese forces fought hard to protect their country, Japan slowly gained more territory. By 1939 the Japanese controlled about ¼ of China, including all seaports.

8. Italy’s Conquest of Ethiopia Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922 and ruled as a fascist dictator. Mussolini worked to improve the nation’s economy. He may have believed that overseas expansion would help ease some of Italy’s economic problems. Ethiopia, one of the few independent nations in Africa, became the target of Mussolini’s aggressive goals.

9. When a border dispute with Italy broke out in 1934, Ethiopia called on the League of Nations to help. The League could not offer military protection to Ethiopia, however, because it maintained no armed forces. A year later Italian forces invaded and defeated the poorly equipped Ethiopian army. The League declared Italy an aggressor and placed economic sanctions on the country. The weak boycott on trade had little effect on Italy, however. In the spring of 1936, Mussolini announced Ethiopia was part of the Italian Empire.

10. Most countries did not agree with Italy’s actions. However, no major power was willing to enforce the League’s sanctions. Horrible memories of World War I made countries such as Great Britain and the United States unwilling to risk another war. In addition, many countries were busy dealing with problems created by the Great Depression. As a result, Italy and Japan realized they could continue their acts of aggression with little real threat of opposition.

11. Civil War in Spain After World War I political instability increased in Spain. In 1923 rebels overthrew the government and set up a military dictatorship. This government fell in 1931 when the army withdrew its support.

12. Spain’s new leaders formed a government called the Second Spanish Republic. They planned to establish freedom of religion and to separate church and state issues. Education came under government control and members of the clergy were not allowed to teach. The new government also took land from the Catholic Church and the nobility and gave it to the peasants. Workers received new benefits as shorter hours, better wages, and the right to organize.

13. Nationalists Versus Loyalists These dramatic new changes angered many Spanish conservatives. They quickly gave their support to a fascist party called the Falange. Using terrorism, the Falange worked to preserve the power of the army, landowners, and the church. Members of the Falange became even more active after a group of socialists and Communists, called the Popular Front, won a major election in February 1936. In the summer of 1936, Falangist uprisings led to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

18. The Falangist rebels were led by General Francisco Francoand called themselves Nationalists. Those who supported the republic were know as Loyalists, or Republicans. By the end of 1936, the Nationalists controlled most of Northern Spain. The Loyalists controlled the east and southeast. They also had power over most of the northern coastline and the capital of Madrid.

20. Foreign Assistance to Spain The Spanish Civil War soon grew into a small European war. Germany and Italy saw a fascist Spain as a part of their plan to surround France with unfriendly powers and threaten Great Britain. They went fully equipped military units to bolster Nationalist forces. The Soviet Union sympathized with the republican government. Soviets sent planes, technicians, and military advisors to Spain. Their support, however, was not nearly as great as what Franco received from his fascist allies.

21. Volunteers from France, Great Britain, and the United States also rushed to help the Spanish Republic. These idealistic antifascist volunteers became known as theInternational Brigades.

22. The French and the British feared that the Spanish Civil War might spread to the rest of Europe. Nationalist forces defeated the Loyalists in the spring of 1939. Franco set up a fascist dictatorship. He became Spain’s head of state and had unlimited power. Franco’s government and economic structure began to look a lot like Mussolini’s in Italy. Franco brought an end to all free elections and most civil rights.

23. During the years of the Spanish Civil War, Spain and its people suffered greatly. The war caused considerable destruction and loss of life. Estimates of Spain’s war dead during these years range from 500,000 to 1,000,000. Over the course of the war, moreover, the bitter differences that had separated the various groups in 1936 became deeper and even more divisive.

24. Section 2 Hitler’s Aggressions

25. Austria and Czechoslovakia In 1933 Adolf Hitler announced that he would rearm the country. He then took Germany out of the League of Nations. In March 1936 German troops marched into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles.

26. In October 1936, Hitler and Mussolini created an alliance called the Rome-Berlin Axis. They began calling themselves the Axis Powers.

27. Shortly afterward, Japan and Germany promised to work together. They signed an agreement called the Anti-Comintern Pact, pledging to stop the spread of communism. Italy later signed the pact. By the end of 1936, the 3 nations who would later enter World War II as the Axis Powers had hidden their aggressive intentions under the cover of fighting communism.

28. Annexing Austria The Nazi Party had been formed in Austria in the late 1920s. By the early 1930s, the extremely conservative Austrian government was doing little to resist Nazi inroads.

29. By 1938, threats from both Hitler and Mussolini forced the Austrian government to include Nazi members in its cabinet. Although the Austrian chancellor had made an agreement with Hitler on union with Germany, he regretted the agreement and suggested that the Austrian people be allowed to vote on the issue. Hitler refused, preferring instead to take Austria with a show of force. The Austrian chancellor resigned, and a German army marched into Austria unopposed. In March 1938 Hitler declared Austria to be part of the Third Reich. This was in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which had specifically forbidden any union between Germany and Austria. Even so, Great Britain and France did nothing more than send protests to Hitler, which he ignored. The League of Nations took no action.

30. The addition of Austria increased the size of Germany’s population, territory, and resources. It also increased Hitler’s power in Europe. Germany now had a common border with its ally Italy and it nearly encircled Czechoslovakia. Hitler identified this country as his next area of expansion.

32. Crisis in the Sudetenland More than 3,000,000 Germans lived in the Sudetenland (soo DAYT uhn land), a region around the western rim of Czechoslovakia. The Sudetenland included a chain of mountains that provided a natural defense for Czechoslovakia. They were heavily fortified as a very important defensive line.

33. The Czech government tried to protect the rights of Germans living in this area. However, many still wanted union with Germany. As a result the Nazi Party grew in strength there. When riots broke out in September 1938, Czechoslovakia placed the region under martial law. Hitler then announced he would invade and annex the Sudetenland to protect fellow Germans. The loss of this heavily armed mountain region would mean disaster for Czechoslovakia since it would leave the country defenseless against Germany.

34. Appeasement As tensions grew in Europe, Hitler held a meeting on September 19, 1938, called the Munich Conference. He invited British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and French premier Edouard Daladier (dahlahdyay). Also in attendance was Mussolini. Chamberlain and Daladier accepted Hitler’s demand that the Sudetenland be joined with Germany. Britain and France feared Germany’s military strength. In addition they knew their own countries were not prepared for war. This policy of trying to keep the peace by accepting some of the demands of the aggressor is called appeasement.

35. Upon returning to London, Chamberlain spoke triumphantly to a cheering crowd.

36. He announced that he had achieved “peace in our time.” France announced it would not honor its agreement to defend Czechoslovakia. Germany began to occupy the Sudetenland. Abandoned by its allies, Czechoslovakia was left defenseless. The United States also tried to avoid the conflict. In March 1939 German troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Within 6 months this independent republic had been erased from Europe’s map. Yet another country lost its independence when Mussolini invaded Albania in April 1939. The League of Nations was helpless in the face of aggression.

37. Preparations For War After Hitler took over Czechoslovakia, British and French leaders could no longer ignore the fascist dictators. Britain and France therefore began to prepare for war. Neville Chamberlain ordered that Britain’s rearmament program be stepped up. He also rushed through Parliament a law drafting men into the military. Great Britain joined France in a promise to protect Poland if Germany attacked.

38. Negotiating With Stalin Great Britain and France asked Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to become part of an alliance against Germany. The Soviet Union had joined the League of Nations while Japan, Germany, and Italy had dropped out. However, Soviet leaders still did not trust the Western democracies. Western nations were fearful of communism. Until this time they had kept the Soviet Union out of all major decisions. Soviet leaders in turn feared that the Western powers would welcome a chance to turn Hitler loose on them.

39. The Soviets required that any agreement with the West guarantee the independence of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All but Lithuania had common borders with the Soviet Union. The Soviets also wanted a military alliance with these countries. This would allow an immediate response if Germany attacked. The Baltic states immediately protested the Soviet’s idea. A military agreement would mean that Soviet armies would have the right to move into their countries to fight off a German attack. As a result the talks dragged on without any agreement.

40. The Nazi-Soviet Pact At the same time that Stalin was negotiating with Great Britain and France, he was carrying on secret talks with Germany. In August 1939 the Western democracies received a huge shock when Hitler proudly announced a German-Soviet nonaggression pact. Also called the Nazi-Soviet Pact, this agreement publicly stated that Germany and the Soviet Union would never attack each other. Each would remain neutral if the other went to war.

42. The reasons for this agreement were not clear at the time. Both Hitler and Stalin may simply have been playing for time. Hitler wanted to make sure the Soviets would be neutral if Great Britain or France took action against Germany. Stalin hoped that Hitler’s attention would be focused on events in the West. This would give the Soviet Union enough time to prepare for a conflict with Germany.

43. Secretly, however, Hitler and Stalin had agreed to divide eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Germany was to take western Poland. The Soviet Union was to have a free hand in the Baltic countries. It would also control eastern Poland and the province of Bessarabia. Little doubt existed as to the meaning of the agreement. The Western nations had lost a possible ally in the East, and Germany had arranged for the Soviet Union to be neutral. This gave Germany a huge military advantage.

44. Danzig and the Polish Corridor The crisis that finally touched off World War II began in Poland. Hitler had wanted Germany to control the seaport city of Danzig -- modern day Gdansk. Danzig was a free, city, protected by the League of Nations. Poland and Germany both had rights to use the busy and strategically important port of Danzig

45. It had been granted to Poland in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles in order to provide Poland with a direct opening to the Baltic. This strip of land, known as the Polish Corridor, became a growing source of conflict between Poland and Germany during the years following WWI. Hitler wanted Danzig for Germany because it had a large German Population.

46. On September 1, 1939, Hitler announced the annexation of Danzig to the German Reich. At the same time, without warning, his air force began a massive attack on Poland. Nazi tanks sped across the border and swiftly drove toward Warsaw and the Polish heartland.

47. The Poles were relentlessly attacked by German forces equipped with modern weapons and technology, and a strategy of total war. Two days later Great Britain and France decided that they would not stand for any further Nazi aggression. They kept their promises to Poland and declared war on Germany. Within 48 hours the unannounced attack on Poland had become the beginning of World War II

48. Section 3 Axis Gains

49. The “Phony War” Hitler’s invasion of Poland introduced the world to a new kind of warfare. The attack was a blitzkrieg (German for “lightning war”), meaning it took place with great speed and force. After a month of fighting Poland surrendered to Hitler.

50. While Germany attacked Poland, France moved its army up to its chain of fortifications along the Maginot Line. British forces landed on the northern coast of France and the British navy blockaded Germany’s ports. The Germans placed troops in the Siegfried Line, a system of fortifications they had built in the Rhineland. There were a few attacks on British battleships. Otherwise, however, there was little action on the western front. While there was an increase in troop movement and arms production, newspapers began to speak of the “phony war” in western Europe. Some people still hoped that an all-out war could be avoided.