Download WWII ROOTS AND CAUSES—European/African theatres Keith

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WWII ROOTS AND CAUSES—European/African theatres
Keith Eubank
****HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT CONQUERING A REGION/ CONTINENT/ THE WORLD?
Link to all topics from the IB=synthesis.
In addition:
19th cent: which empire “ruled the world”/how maintain/why collapse?
20th cent: which empire “ruled the world”/how maintain /why collapse?
21st cent: which empire “ruled the world”/how maintain /why collapse?
-German army into Poland Sept 1, 1939=START OF WW2 IN EUROPE (WW2 started in Asia 1937 w/ Japan attacking China
in Beijing)
(Acts of Appeasement that aren’t the start of WW2: Japan invades Manchuria; Abyssinia; Sp Civil War w/ NIC + West
reaction; Anschluss; Munich/Czech capitulation)
-The efforts to stop another European war failed:
WHAT LED TO THIS WAR?
-Hitler had come to power Jan 1933 (Chancellor) by exploiting the crisis of the Great Depression/resentment of the Treaty of
Versailles:
•loss of colonies
CA-did little to harm Germany & relieved some costs!
•loss terr Europe
CA-didn’t radically affect production=still largest nation c. Europe save USSR
•disarm
CA-General staff, though banned, went underground or to USSR (Rapallo)
•reparations
CA-tough to deal with (see previous summaries+ Dawes/Young Plans) + MacMillan article
•limited occupation
CA-Saar coalfields, west bank of the Rhine...but eventually removed
**though the treaty was not enforced, it was enough to give Hitler a cause!=Goal to break TOV
4 BASIC CAUSES OF WWII in Europe (according to Eubank)
**If compare/contrast: Paragraphs should be nationalism, imperialism, ideology, militarism etc…
If only writing about causes of WW2, you can do the above OR…below (but this is just about Germany!! Add Japan!!)
1. (HITLER’s) INTENT--why did he do it? (Leader/Group INTENTION to dominate the region/world [?]) McDonough Hitler
reading
-was the war a product of a carefully drafted plan developed over years (Mein Kampf + “Hitler confession” Stroodle pdf)
or
-result of uncontrollable forces that he took advantage of (like Bismarck) that set off a chain reaction culminating in
outbreak war (WW1 powderkeg/trail theory ie Taylor Origins of German History article)?
**Compare to Japanese war council and Mussolini intent (Anti-Comintern Pact…joined by Bulgaria, Romania,
Croats=Ustache)
2. APPEASEMENT--to what degree was it responsible for the war?
-eventually became defined as “surrender to an aggressor’s demands” but NOT the original meaning: before WWII it
meant a way to “relax tension” or DÉTENTE (in 1970s the word “détente” is used to try to salve Cold War relations—don’t use the
word “appeasement” due to horrible WWII connotations)
Brainstorm instances of appeasement + how cause WW2:
1.
2.
3.
3. USSR COMPLICITY/REACTION TO THE SOVIET STATE
-Stalin’s aid to the Nazis through allowing them to rearm/do military exercises (Treaty of Rapallo)
-His role in the destruction of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War
-Nonaggression pact
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-Many Eastern European monarchies choose to side with Hitler vs communism
4. FINAL SOLUTION=parallel war started in 1934 w/ Nuremberg Laws and also a “result” (influence on Mussolini, Euro allies and
Japanese tactics in the Pacific)
-Hitler’s overriding goal was to accomplish this goal (Bonus article in WWII pkg)
(Other reasons that could be body paragraphs: nationalism/ethnic tension, economic problems/expansion, alliance system,
League of Nations failure to enforce TOV, militarism)
1. HITLER’S INTENT:
•WHAT WERE HITLER’S INTENTIONS? HISTORIOGRAPHY: (See McDonough reading in Hitler package as well)
-pdfs: AJP Taylor’s ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR vs. Norman Rich in HITLER’S WAR AIMS vs.Andreas Hillgruber
1. TAYLOR: was criticized when published as Taylor seemed to imply that Hitler was no worse than contemporaries and
war was NOT premeditated=redeemed Hitler while blaming others! (compare to “Origins of German History”)
-he said that Hitler was NOT a planner but an OPPORTUNIST taking advantage of opportunities ie. Bismarck
2. RICH: in HITLER’S WAR AIMS stated that expansionism was at the center of his ideology= the threat to Germany was
in the east/get land there at USSR expense (Stalingrad-Grozny,Chechnya, Mosul, Iraq, Persia)=feed 4 Year Plans
3. HILGRUBER: -felt Hitler dreamed of world power starting with Europe (show Joon’s DICTATOR: mix of clips from Leni
Riefenstahl’s TRIUMPH OF THE WILL vs Chaplin’s THE GREAT DICTATOR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOuoyoMhj8
•HOW TO REARM?
-Generals/admirals secretly rearmed
-with the blessing of the Weimar Republic!
-Treaty of Rapallo (with USSR; renewed in 1926 Treaty Berlin by Streseman) but also in Sweden (Luftwaffe etc) + “flying
clubs” allowed--MacMillan
- threatened by Allied proposals in 1932/3 at the Geneva Disarmament Conference
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Disarmam.html
Einstein’s speech at the 1932 Conference
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/einsteinsethics/einstein-1932disarmamentconference.shtml
US proposal:
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/davis.htm
-Hitler challenged them, at risk of war, when ordered German delegation to leave the conference
-Hitler then withdrew from LON Oct 1933 to protect G rearmament
-According to Edward R. Bennett, Hitler’s #1 goal was to protect rearming
-18mths later in 1934/35, Hitler regained full military sovereignty for Germany by announcing:
1. the existence of the German Air Force (Apr 35) =Luftwaffe
2. the resumption of milt conscription, and
3. a planned army of 36 divisions=annulled Part V of the TOV that limited Germ armed forces
4. “Fuhrer” 1934 & the entire military swears allegiance to HIM not the country (as was done before in DE)
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•MOVE TO STRENGTHEN=REMILITARIZE RHINELAND, MAR 7 1936:
-Violated TOV and Treaty of Locarno
-this changed the BOP in Europe: Fr lost a strategic advantage (see W Murray pdf What if Fr acted?)
-Why didn’t Br and Fr retaliate?
-Br govt determined to appease (Chamberlain against Churchill’s minority members)
-Br and Fr militaries said they were not ready to act militarily (see W Murray pdf What if Fr acted?)
**Brinton: up until 1938 the combined armies of Br and Fr were stronger than German…(but without Br?)
**Williamson Murray says late Aug 39 when rearming made Germ stronger than Br/Fr=strategic advantage
•FOUR YEAR PLAN Summer 1936: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Hitler4.html
**Should Germany rearm according to a level the economy could support OR to prepare for a lengthy war like WWI?
-4 Year Plan drafted in Aug 1936 set down policy for economy and army.
**GOAL: armed forces ready for war within 4 YEARS
=by then Germany would solve long term need for resources through TERRITORIAL CONQUEST (ally Rumanian oil and
oil in Grozny + Ukrainian fields for food) *until Romania was an official ally, they had treaties
-Rejected stockpiling resources for a war of attrition--instead, INTENTION OF SERIES OF SHORT LIGHTNING
WARS=BLITZKRIEG!
+ Use PROPAGANDA! Show Bill Moyer’s Evolution of Propaganda 20th century (Fritz Hippler role
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021018/ai_n12658055
•MILITARY DEMANDS ON ECONOMY:
-demands overwhelming: quarrels among leaders armed services (also occurs in Japan): Minister of War Gen Werner von
Blomberg (below left) denounced Hermann GOERING (below middle), in charge of 4 Year Plan
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-Admiral ERICH RAEDER Commander in Chief of NAVY (above right) v. Goering over who would get which resources! (Japan had
the same quarrels between Army & Navy) vs Harry S Truman was in charge of milt spend oversight=very effic US spending (the
beginning of the US “military-industrial complex”=key result WW2 to help get out of the Great Depression + ie. San Diego was a key
base for General Dynamics [key military contractor])
**To restore harmony, Hitler called a conference of a select group of ministers/military leaders in Reichschancellery=to discuss
goals/cases where military action would be necessary
•Nov 5 1937= HOSSBACH MEMORANDUM (only surviving account of this meeting)= prove Hitler PLANNED A WAR OF
AGGRESSION, but did it? (Taylor used this to challenge opinions re Hitler’s intent) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/hossbach.asp
-this is a source of controversy used in the Nuremberg Trials to prove that Hitler PLANNED a war of aggression, yet
historians like AJP Taylor stated Hitler was just fantasizing (like Marx’s utopian visions) vs. Paul Stafford states that he gathered the
people to tell them their plans so they would know what to do and carry it out
-during conference Hitler indicated he considered Czechoslovakia more dangerous to German security than Austria, but
German armies first conquest was Austria Mar 11, 38--a more easy target to build on as a base + Mussolini, who had objected
previously, was now overextended in the Sp Civ War=could not object!
2. APPEASEMENT:
•OCCUPATION OF AUSTRIA/CZECHOSLOVAKIA:
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-“Ostmark”=”Eastern march” used 1938-42 to determine the Austrian terr within Germany
-when German forces occupied Austria March 12, 38 (Anschluss declared then--German troops in the day before), Europe knew
Czech endangered
-Anschluss was the fulfillment of the German nationalist goals of WWI + Grossdeutschland from 1848 that Bismarck did NOT do!
(1931 G and A had tried to do a customs union again and appealed to LON to do it, but was rejected as it violated the TOV clause
forbidding their union-Brinton).
-Ban of Austrian National Socialist Party & parliament dissolved
-music that was banned in German occupied lands (mostly by Jewish composers + also Jazz!)
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/music_nazi_germany.htm
-Austrian composer Schoenberg's music was also banned "Schoenberg’s music was banned because it was too radical and in the mind of
Hitler simply not classically German." http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/music_nazi_germany.htm
-And an interesting case of "Music & the Holocaust" of a German composer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, who continued to compose under
the Nazis and some of his resistance, in Germany and Austria http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-propaganda/thirdreich/reichskulturkammer/furtwngler-wilhelm/
-What song in an Occupied Nazi country WAS banned by the Nazis due to its patriotic potency? Czech composer Smetana's "Ma Vlast"
http://books.google.cz/books?id=D0VX3ASxm4C&pg=PT426&lpg=PT426&dq=smetana+ma+vlast+banned+by+nazis&source=bl&ots=PuynshbVG7&sig=2tTP5X5etn3DsBRHjp
a3tmmYh_Q&hl=cs&sa=X&ei=l3hSUc3JJcO7O8fGgJgJ&ved=0CGkQ6AEwBw
“In the movie/musical Sound of Music: Austrians who resisted German annexation symbolized by Col Von Trapp in the Sound of
Music used the song “Edelweiss” as a symbol of Austrian sovereignty—in the movie this song was banned during the German
annexation
Ok! Key points to clarify re Edelweiss/point I was trying to make:
From Sebastien "Interestingly, the musical itself is virtually unknown in Austria. Many people believe that Edelweiss is an Austrian folk song, or
even the national anthem, but it was written by Oscar Hammerstein and is hardly known in Austria." (though I disagree re Austrians not knowing
about the musical?! Has the reporter ever been to Salzburg? Sound of Music plays a big role in the tourist economy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/07_july/11/maria_facts.shtml
SO! Now piecing together the REAL History:
-"In 1907, the Austrian-Hungarian Army made the edelweiss the symbol of its Alpine divisions." http://www.ehow.com/facts_6745402_meaningedelweiss-flower.html
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-Edelweiss Op. 31 Op. 31, was created by the German (from Erfurt) Gustave Lang in the mid 1800s...and here's what is sounds like :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5dCrd_9C0s
-"Es war ein Edelweiss" was also used in a song written in 1941 by Herms Niel as a German Army marching song used for Nazi propaganda
http://www.amazon.co.uk/WW-II-German-Nazi-Era-Music/dp/B002HDW2PY
-"At the same time that the von Trapps were becoming a popular singing group, Germany was moving toward war with some European countries.
Baron von Trapp was against Austria joining with Germany. In 1938, when the Nazis invaded Austria, he knew he needed to get his family
out...(went to US...back to Austria...back to US=no run over mtns to Switzerland ;-) ) http://www.trappfamily.com/press/2010/12/singing-family
-Did the actual von Trapp family ever perform the song Edelweiss (found in the musical)? Yes! On Oprah ;-)
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/The-Von-Trapp-Singers-Perform-Edelweiss-Video_2
-Before/during the War, Edelweiss became associated with the anti-Nazi movement, The Edelweiss Pirates (perhaps inspiring the creation
of the song in the musical in addition to the other symbolic inspirations Hammerstein used, though it seems this group were only in Germany)
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/edelweiss_pirates.htm
-Edelweiss has many other associations with WW2, both helping/hinder the Nazis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelweiss_%28disambiguation%29
The point I was trying to make: Edelweiss is a symbol of the High Alps & the militaries of those countries (AH, DE, SUI) pre-Nazi. The
symbol came to be used by both pro/anti Nazi groups (and was seemingly getting more pro-Nazi associations, which did upset those who had had
Edelweiss associated with their military positions [in Austria/Germany] WITHOUT Nazi association, so there were movements/attempts to try to
"seize back" the non-Nazi connotation/purely military & or nationalistic association with the flower. Whether the musical song existed/was
sang by the von Trapps (which it wasn't: thanks for all of the research confirming this ;-) ), is not the point: the movie/musical just created a
powerful symbol of varied anti-Nazi efforts in various Germanic territories at the time :-)
-London/Paris debated the future of Germany and Czechoslovakia—Edvard Benes (bottom left) rarely consulted!
-France: March 15, 1938 Fr def min Edouard DALADIER (bottom center)
-Daladier told a Permanent Committee on Ntl Defense that Fr could NOT send aid CZ despite a treaty from1925
-London: Mar 28, 1938 a report from the Chiefs of Staff in response to a request from PM Neville CHAMBERLAIN (had
become PM May 28, 1937—above right) about the ramifications of a German attack on CZ ENDED any chance of Br support of
Cz=Br milt not ready to engage (Vs. Murray: Chamberlain not want to fight for country far away)
=the report became ammo for Chamberlain to use APPEASEMENT in Munich
Maps of progressive annexation: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_nm.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005688&MediaId=2735
-after ANNEXING AUSTRIA, Hitler seized on issue of SELF-DETERMINATION for SUDETEN GERMANS (Konrad HEINLEIN
demanded SG autonomy on Apr 24, 1938)
-it would be a WEDGE to split CZ into the various minorities within its borders=DIVIDE AND CONQUER
-what if the Sudeten Germans had been granted their demands for autonomy by Masaryk? A valid right to selfdetermination? And higher unemployment rate for SG than Czechs (discrimination) BUT many SG in industries effected by Grt
Depression (Lowe) (but German language suppressed, not allowed German radio broadcasts)
-other minorities might seek the same treatment=destabilization=”failed state” (only exist since Oct 28, 1918)
=more reasons why Br/Fr/US don’t get involved
-Br/Fr/US reaction:
fearful of a war where “JUSTICE” could be on the side of the Sudeten Germans (right of minorities to self-determination a
la Wilson/LON)=pushed the Czechs to grant them concessions
-In Berlin, a draft was composed for a German attack on Czechs=OPERATION GREEN
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~pv/munich/czdoc05.html
=summer 1938 Germ army mobilized
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-when negotiations between Czech and Sudeten leaders collapsed Sept 1938, CHAMBERLAIN attempted personal negotiations
with Fuhrer at Berchtesgaden Sept 15, ‘38 & Godesberg Sept 22-23, ‘38
-SUDETEN NAZIS, in collusion with Hitler, insisted Sudetenland become part of Third Reich=basis for Hitler to demand
Sudetenland be ceded to Germany and IMMED OCCUPIED by Germany=Sept 1938. Germans invade a sovereign nation (Cz) and
“liberate” one of its peoples. Like in the Spanish Civil War, when sovereign govts rights are violated who are members of the LON
(collective security NOT fulfilled, like in Abyssinia), Br/Fr/LON do NOTHING!!
-Br and Fr accepted this and negotiations with Hitler met an impasse over timing
-MUNICH CONFERENCE: Sept 29-30, 1938: 4 men, Hitler, Benito Mussolini (despite Abyssinia/LON pulled out, he was still seen as
the “Man of Peace” and had stood up to Hitler in Tyrol in 34), Chamberlain, and Daladier settled fate of Czech and Sudetenland-Benes not invited! (In Czech, conference called “Conference of Closed Doors” as there WAS a Czech delegation, they just weren’t
invited in! + Czech army ready to fight (strongest army in central Europe=more professional soldiers than Germans did (Papirnik
reputable source  ), but when Br and Fr wouldn’t support it b/c not want to be labeled “aggressors” for mobilizing with Cz vs
Germany.)
-Gerhard Weinberg argues that Hitler was furious for he had been tricked OUT of war (but unclear if Hitler would have
won=pros/cons) + Murray concurs
*March 15, 1939: Germans take rest of Bohemia/Moravia: Slovakia becomes a German puppet state (Adam IA)
-CRITICS MUNICH: condemn Br/Fr for failing to call Hitler’s bluff & fight for CZ (many Czechs WANTED to stand up and
fight as the Poles do in 1939, but it wasn’t THEIR decision as the decision was made by the leaders in pic above right + many
Czechs left and fought with the RAF) + analogy to Manchurians who wanted to fight and could have defeated Japan but were told
by Chiang to stand down
-DEFEND MUNICH: Br/Fr unprepared for war ie Fr had no attack plans (their plan was defensive behind the state of the
art, but not finished Maginot Line but
- Williamson Murray argues that not only were Fr and Br unprepared for war, but so was Germany, so...
-it would have been better in the long run, esp Fr and Br, to have gone to war’ 38
*Show PRAGUE UNDER THE SWASTIKA package
-Br and Fr erroneous intelligence estimates caused error (Crane article)
-they were told an exaggerated strength of the G armed forces
*Sp Civil War also here (see below)
3. USSR POSITION NAZI-SOVIET PACT:
-difficult to determine intelligence estimates= key in origins of war
-difficult for Fr/Br to know how far the USSR was assisting Germany with Treaty of Rapallo/other agreements
-Robert Tucker found that Stalin pro Nazi=war!
-**See Giovanna Dreyer’s essay on “Why Stalin underestimated Hitler”
-Suvorov states that Stalin had originally helped Hitler by telling the G Communist party not to go against Hitler in the pre-33
elections, but changes and Stalin had planned an offensive war against Germany (not possible to implement in 1941—why?)
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-Stalin purges terrorized people=disaster USSR policy as milt officers executed (date of the purges late 1930s shows that Stalin
doesn’t anticipate the war –Murray)
- Jiri Hochman argues that this made the USSR more vulnerable, so a key reason for the pact
*Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact signed Aug 23, 1939 after Hitler had signed the Pact of Steel with Mussolini May 22, 1939 (time for
Stalin to prepare for war with Germany [Lowe] and 2nd 5 yr plan focused on armaments building=buy time!)
**Soviets had an agreement with the French to help the Czechs, but when the Fr don’t help the Czechs, the Soviets back down)
•SPANISH CIVIL WAR LESSONS! 1936-39 (See Spanish Civil War unit next!)
Progressive maps: http://www2.bc.edu/~heineman/maps/SpCW.html
-a “testing ground” for the German and Italian militaries
-Forces for the Republic (many different socialist groups with several leaders) vs. Fascists
(conservatives/monarchists/military led by Franco)
-Republicans lose as their side was too fragmented--a civil war within their own side between those who were pro-Stalin
and those pro-Trotsky--the latter were slaughtered--and the fascists DIVIDED & CONQUERED them
-Br and Fr appeased the fascists and would not commit to war=a lesson for Hitler and Mussolini (in addition to Abyssinia)
-those who wanted to fight formed divisions in the International Brigades ie. George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway (also an
“appeasement” reason)
-First massive bombing campaign on civilians was by Hitler’s Luftwaffe =GUERNICA (Picasso’s painting)
Painting analysis: http://www.guernicamag.com/features/6/the_painting_guernica/
Guernica painting/history activity http://www.gordon.ac.il/english/call/picasso_guernica_LP.htm
-Result:
1. Germany was confident of military;
2. Stalin realized the west would not help them as they had not fought fascism if Germany would invade=sign a pact with Hitler
3. Mussolini’s forces exhausted, declare war late, not ready in Balkans/Afr
4. Franco’s Spain stays neutral when war ends as country is exhausted
5. Testing ground for an alternative to Stalinism in Catalonia (a form of anarcho-socialism which thrived 1933-37) defeated
•POLAND: “Case White” (Fall weiss) (Williamson Murray)
-post MC, Germ demanded concession from Poland: German occup Cz Mar 1939 meant Poland threaten from 3 sides
-1934: Hitler non-aggression Poland (Murray)=these pacts are subterfuge about Hitler’s true intents
-to isolate Poland completely meant an agreement between Germ and USSR
-Stalin was eager to deal with Hitler over Eastern Europe after debacle of Sp Civ War (and knew that Br and Fr wouldn’t
help him!)--Stalin laid down concessions and Hitler agreed!
=Aug 23, 1939 (1 week before start WW2 in Europe) VM Molotov and Joachim von Ribbentrop signed
NONAGGRESSION PACT with secret provisions that gave spheres of influence to Nazi Germ and USSR=end of Poland
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**Romania had an alliance with Poland to help it, but didn’t fulfil it and went with Germany (bringing its valuable oil with it)
-Br and Fr sent military delegates to Moscow Aug 1939 to negotiate an agreement with Molotov (“acted for his master”)
-negotiations failed and war broke out.
-Could the Br/Fr stopped the war here?
-Some have complained that war could have been stopped here if Br and Fr had made more concessions ie.
-Soviet historian DM Volkogonov: Fr and Br failure to form an alliance with Stalin left Stalin no alternative but to join with Hitler
VS.
-Gerhard Weinberg states that Stalin wanted the pact that would lead to a war between Germany and the capitalist West
VS.
-Murray: Stalin rejects an alliance w/Br & Fr as he could not get terr concessions re Poland/Baltics
ONLINE ACTIVITY CARD GAME—match the dates!:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/hitlersaimsandactionsrev_print.shtml
4. HOLOCAUST: (Hitler’s Personal War=causes)
Lucy S Dawidowicz argues Holocaust=interrelated war, but a war on its own!
-there is difficulty determining how much of the Final Solution was planned and who participated as many documents
were shredded or codewords were used
-the Wannsee Protocol (Jan 20, 1942) is the only evidence of a greater plan for genocide--used at Nuremberg
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Wannsee_Protocol.html
**What do you think was the MAIN cause/s? Other causes ie. LON? Nationalism? Imperialism? Why? Compare these to
WWI causes?!
**HITLER’S CONFESSION: Nov 23 1939 boast about instigating WWII (see excerpt in WWII package)
•WHAT IF history:
1. Rhineland
-if allied forces had not left their Rhineland bases in the 1920s...Hitler’s party still find power?
2. TOV enforcement
-what if there had been more strenuous enforcement of its provisions?
3. BR and Fr LON appeasement/intervene in Sp Civil War
-What if war had started there instead of years later in Poland?
4. Austria/Czechoslovakia aid
-what if the Great powers had not appeased?
5. Stalin agreement with west
-what if the diplomats had been more forceful in trying to seek terms with Molotov?
**WHAT IF articles to read! BONUS!! + show World at War Episode 1 Vol 1 ch 4
WRAP UP: 3 similarities and 3 differences between the causes of World War One and Two!