Download AP European History: Unit 10

AP European History: Unit 10.1
Totalitarianism: c. 1920-1940
Definition: government controls all aspects of the lives of the people.
I. Totalitarianism
A. Totalitarianism vs. conservative authoritarianism: a contrast
1. Conservative authoritarianism: traditional form of anti-democratic
government in Europe (absolutism)
a. e.g., Louis XIV, Peter the Great, Frederick the Great, Catherine the
Great, Metternich
b. Regimes sought to prevent major changes from undermining the
existing social order
Most people went about their lives and were more concerned
with local affairs that directly affected them rather than national
affairs
c. Popular participation in government was forbidden or severely
limited
This is a stark contrast to 20th century totalitarianism where people
were expected to participate in the system and actively support the
regime
o Stalin’s 5-Year Plans in Russia
o Hitler Youth in Germany
d. Limited in power and in objectives (usually sought the status quo)
Lacked modern technology and communications and could not control
many aspects of their subjects’ lives.
Usually limited demands to taxes, army recruits, and passive
acceptance of the regime
e. Conservative authoritarianism revived after WWI, especially in lessdeveloped eastern Europe and in Spain and Portugal
Only Czechoslovakia remained democratic.
f. Great Depression in the 1930s ended various levels of democracy in
Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Estonia, and Latvia
2. Totalitarianism
a. New technology made this possible: radio, automobile, telephone
Governments could wiretap telephone lines to spy on suspected
dissenters.
Improved communication enabled regimes to coordinate quickly with
local officials
Radio was a new tool used for propaganda (in addition to the
traditional printed media)
Automobiles and trucks gave regimes increased mobility
b. Tools of totalitarianism: censorship, indoctrination, terror
Virtually no freedom of the press; the press became an organ of the
government
Education was geared to creating loyal citizens of the state while
demonizing potential enemies
Failure to support or comply with government policy often resulted in
physical punishment, imprisonment or death
B. Totalitarian regimes were either fascist or communist (see table below)
1. Communist in Russia (Soviet Union)
2. Fascist in Italy and Germany
FASCISM COMMUNISM*
Glorification of the state World wide "dictatorship of the proletariat"
(classless society) Single party; single ruler (dictator)
One party (communist) under the control of the Politburo.
Dictatorship is not the final goal.
Condemns democracy: rival parties destroy unity.
Man is unable to successfully govern collectively.
Condemns capitalism for exploiting workers (“haves” vs. “have nots”)
Supports the idea of capitalism & owning of private property so long as it
serves the needs of the state
Government controls all means of production (industrial & agricultural).
No private ownership.
Corporate State: captains of industry become state economic deputies
Economy is centralized under the communist party
Aggressive nationalism
Spread of communism for the benefit of the world's working class
(Comintern)
Advocates Social Darwinism (powerful states control weaker ones)
Condemns imperialism: advocates a world without nationalism with the
workers united
Believes desire for peace shows weakness of gov't
Peace is the ultimate goal
Glorification of war (military sacrifice is glorified)
Violent revolution to bring about the "dictatorship of the proletariat."
War is not the end but merely the means.
Emphasizes the inequalities among humans
Emphasizes the perfectibility of society.
Mankind is basically good.
* While Marxist views may appear more benevolent and utopian
in theory, 20th century communism in reality became as brutal a
system as fascism, perhaps more so considering the massive
deaths in the USSR at the hands of the government
II. Soviet Union (USSR)
A. Under Vladimir I. Lenin
1. Marxist-Leninist philosophy
a. Theory of imperialism: imperialism is the highest form of
capitalism as the search for new markets and raw materials
feeds the bourgeois hunger for more profits
Conquered peoples are ruthlessly exploited
b. "New type of party": cadre of educated professional
revolutionaries to serve development of political class
consciousness & guidance of the "Dictatorship of Proletariat"
Lenin’s view stood in stark contrast to Marx who did not
envision a totalitarian dictatorship from above (by elites)
but rather from below (by the workers)
c. Like Marx, Lenin sought a world-wide communist movement
1919, Comintern created (Third Communists
International)
o Was to serve as the preliminary step of the
International Republic of Soviets towards the world wide
victory of Communism
2. War Communism
a. Purpose was to win the Russian Civil War (1918- 1920)
b. First mass communist society in world history
c. Socialization (nationalization) of all means of
production & central planning of the economy
d. In reality, the Bolsheviks destroyed the economy:
mass starvation from crop failures, decrease in industrial
output
e. Secret police (Cheka) liquidated about 250,000
opponents
3. Kronstadt Rebellion (1921)
a. Mutiny by previously pro-Bolshevik sailors in March at
Kronstadt naval base had to be crushed with machine gun
fire.
b. Caused by the economic disaster and social upheaval
of the Russian Civil War.
c. Major cause for Lenin instituting the NEP
4. NEP – New Economic Policy, 1921-28
a. Sought to eliminate harsh aspects of War Communism
b. Lenin’s response to peasant revolts, military mutiny,
and economic ruin
c. Some Capitalist measures allowed (Lenin: "necessary
step backwards")
Gov't would not seize surplus grain; peasants could sell
grain on the open market
Small manufacturers allowed to run their own
businesses
d. Gov't was still in control of heavy industry, banks and
railroads.
e. Results of the NEP: the Russian economy improved
Industry and agricultural output back to pre- WWI levels
Workers shorter hours/better conditions
Temporary relaxing of terror and censorship
5. Lenin’s impact on Russian society
a. “Russia” renamed to Soviet Union in 1922 (Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics – USSR)
b. Old social structure abolished – titles for nobility ended
c. Loss of influence for the Greek Orthodox Church
d. Women gained equality (in theory)
e. Russians had greater expectation of freedom than they
had during the Czar’s regime (although expectations were
later crushed by Stalin)
B. A power struggle ensued after Lenin’s death in 1924
1. Lenin left no chosen successor
2. Joseph Stalin was more a realist and believed in "Socialism in
one Country"
a. First, Russia had to be strong internally and should
defer efforts for an international communist revolution
b. Sought establishment of a Socialist economy without
the aid of the West
3. Leon Trotsky was more the Marxist ideologue and believed in
"permanent revolution"—a continuation of a world communist
revolution
Party leaders believed Trotsky was too idealistic; Russia
first had to survive
4. Stalin gained effective control in 1927 and had total control
by 1929
Trotsky was exiled and eventually assassinated by
Stalin’s agents in Mexico City (1940)
C. Soviet Union under Stalin
1. Entire Politburo from Lenin's time was eventually purged
leaving Stalin in absolute control.
2. The 5-year plans
a. "Revolution from above" (1st Five-Year Plan), 1928; marked
the end of Lenin’s NEP
b. Objectives:
Increase industrial output by 250%; steel by 300%;
agriculture by 150%
20% of peasants were scheduled to give up their private
plots and join collective farms
“We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries.
We must make good this distance in 10 years. Either we
do it or we shall go under.”
c. Results:
Steel up 400% (USSR now 2nd largest steel producer in
Europe)
Oil production up 300%
Massive urbanization: 25 million people moved to cities
Yet, quality of goods was substandard and the standard
of living did not rise
3. Collectivization was the greatest of all costs under the Fiveyear Plans
a. Purpose: bring peasantry under absolute control of the
communist state
Use of machines in farm production, to free more people
to work in industry
Gov't control over production
Extend socialism to countryside
b. Resulted in consolidation of individual peasant farms into
large, state-controlled enterprises.
c. Farmers were paid according to the amount of work they did
A portion of their harvest was taken by the gov't
Eventually, the state was assured of grain for urban
workers who were more important politically to Stalin
than the peasants.
Collective farmers first had to meet grain quotas before
feeding themselves.
d. Results:
Significantly opposed by farmers as it placed them in a
bound situation (like the mirs).
Kulaks, wealthiest peasants, offered greatest resistance
to collectivization
Stalin ordered party workers to "liquidate them as a
class."
10 million peasants died due to collectivization (7 million
in forced starvation in Ukraine)
Agricultural output no greater than in 1913
By 1933, 60% of peasant families were on collective
farms; 93% by 1938
4. Structure of gov't
a. Central Committee was the apex of Soviet power (about 70
people in 1930s)
b. Politburo: About a dozen members; dominated discussions of
policy and personnel
c. General Secretary: highest position of power; created by Stalin
5. Stalin's propaganda campaign
a. Purpose: glorify work to the Soviet people and encourage
worker productivity
b. Used technology for propaganda
Newspapers like Pravda (“The Truth”), films, and radio
broadcasts emphasized socialist achievements and
capitalist plots.
Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1914): quintessential patriotic
filmmaker under Stalin
Writers & artists expected to glorify Stalin and the state;
their work was closely monitored
c. Religion was persecuted: Stalin hoped to turn churches into
"museums of atheism"
6. Benefits for workers:
a. Old-age pensions, free medical services, free education, and
day-care centers for children
b. Education was key to improving one’s position: specialized
skills and technical education.
c. Many Russians saw themselves building the world’s first
socialist society while capitalism crumbled during the Great
Depression
USSR attracted many disillusioned Westerners to
communism in the 1930s.
7. Women
a. The Russian Revolution immediately proclaimed complete
equality of rights for women
b. In 1920s divorce and abortion made easily available
c. Women were urged by the state to work outside the home
and liberate themselves sexually.
Many women worked as professionals and in
universities.
Women still expected to do household chores in off
hours as Soviet men considered home and children
women’s responsibility.
Men continued to monopolize the best jobs.
Rapid change and economic hardship led to many
broken families.
8. The “Great Terror” (1934-38)
a. First directed against peasants after 1929, terror was used
increasingly on leading Communists, powerful administrators,
and ordinary people, often for no apparent reason.
b. The "Great Terror" resulted in 8 million arrests
c. Show trials were used to eradicate "enemies of the people"
(usually ex-party members)
d. Late 1930s, dozens of Old Bolsheviks (had been Lenin’s
closest followers) were tried and executed
e. Purges: 40,000 army officers were expelled or liquidated
(weakened USSR in WWII)
f. Millions of citizens were killed, died in gulags (forced labor
camps), or simply disappeared
III. Fascist Italy
A. Causes for the rise of fascism in Italy
1. In the early 20th century, Italy was a liberal state with civil
rights and a constitutional monarchy.
2. Versailles Treaty (1919): Italian nationalists were angry that
Italy did not receive any Austrian or Ottoman territory, (Italia
Irredenta) or Germany’s African colonies as promised.
Prime minister Vittorio Orlando angrily left the Paris
Peace Conference before it was completed
3. Depression in 1919 caused nationwide strikes and class
tension
4. Wealthy classes fearful of communist revolution looked to a
strong anti-communist leader
5. By 1921 revolutionary socialists, conservatives and property
owners were all opposed to liberal parliamentary government.
6. Fascism in Italy eventually was a combination of conservative
authoritarianism and modern totalitarianism (although not as
extreme as Russia or Germany)
B. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) rises to power ("Il Duce")
1. Although he was the editor of a socialist newspaper, he was,
at heart, a nationalist.
2. Organized the Fascist party
a. Combined socialism and nationalism: territorial expansion,
benefits for workers, and land reform for peasants.
b. Party was named after fasces: the rods carried by Imperial
Roman officials as symbols of power.
c. Initially, his party failed to prevail because of competition
from the well-organized Socialists.
3. 1920, Mussolini gained support of the conservative classes
and frightened middle class for anti-Socialist rhetoric;
abandoned his socialist programs.
4. Blackshirts (squadristi): Paramilitary forces attacked
Communists, Socialists, and other enemies of the fascist
program (later, Hitler's "Brown Shirts" followed this example)
This significantly undermined the stability of the
government.
5. March on Rome, October 1922: led to Mussolini taking power
a. Mussolini demanded resignation of existing gov’t and his own
appointment by the king.
b. Large group of Fascists marched on Rome to threaten the
king to accept Mussolini's demands.
c. Government collapsed; Mussolini received right to organize a
new cabinet (government).
d. King Victor Emmanuel III gave him dictatorial powers for 1
year to end nation’s social unrest.
C. Corporate State (syndicalist-corporate system) was the economic basis
for Italian fascism.
1. “Everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing
against the state.”
2. By 1928, all independent labor unions were organized into
government-controlled syndicates
a. Established organizations of workers and employers;
outlawed strikes and walkouts.
b. Created corporations which coordinated activities
between worker-employer syndicates.
c. Authority from the top, unlike socialist corporate states
where workers made decisions.
D. Mussolini created a dictatorship
1. Right to vote was severely limited.
2. All candidates for the Italian parliament were selected by the
Fascist party.
3. Gov’t ruled by decree.
4. Dedicated fascists put in control of schools.
5. Gov’t sought to regulate leisure time of the people.
Fascist youth movement (Balilla)
Labor unions
The Dopolavoro (“After Work”): social activities for the
working class
6. Italy never truly became a totalitarian regime
a. Mussolini never became all-powerful
b. Failed in attempt to “Fascistize” Italian society by controlling
leisure time
c. Old power structure of conservatives, military, and church
remained intact.
Mussolini never attempted to purge conservative
classes.
He propagandized and controlled labor but left big
business to regulate itself.
No land reform occurred
d. Did not establish ruthless police state (only 23 political
prisoners executed between 1926-1944)
e. Racial laws not passed until 1938 and savage persecution of
Jews did not occur until late in WWII when Italy was under
German Nazi control.
7. Women
a. Unlike Russia’s more modern approach to gender issues,
Italy’s social structure emphasized a traditional role for women
This also became the case in Nazi Germany
b. Divorce was abolished and women told to stay home and
procreate.
c. In an attempt to promote marriage, Mussolini decreed a
special tax on bachelors in 1934.
d. By 1938, women were limited by law to a maximum of 10%
of better-paying jobs in industry & gov't
E. Accomplishments under Mussolini
1. Internal improvements made such as electrification and road
building.
2. More efficient government at the municipal (city) level.
3. Suppression of the Mafia (which was especially strong in
southern Italy and Sicily)
4. Improvement of the justice system (except for “enemies of
the state”)
5. Lateran Pact, 1929, resulted in reconciliation with the papacy
a. Vatican recognized as a tiny independent state;
received $92 mil for seized church lands
b. In return, Pope Pius XII recognized the legitimacy of
the Italian state.
F. Fascist legacy
1. Italian democracy destroyed
2. Terrorism became a state policy.
3. Poor industrial growth due to militarism and colonialism.
4. Disastrous wars resulted (from attempt to recapture
imperialistic glories of Ancient Rome).
IV. Nazi Germany
A. Roots of Nazism: Extreme nationalism + racism = Nazism
1. Hyper-nationalism fed the impulse to conquer other nations
The alleged “stab in the back”—the Weimar Republic’s signing
of the Versailles Treaty—fed the nation’s frustration
2. Racist ideas
a. Racial superiority of the Aryan Race—Germanic peoples
b. Inferiority of Jews and Slavs
B. Rise of Adolf Hitler
1. Became leader of National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI) after
WWI
Tiny group of only 7 members that grew dramatically within
just a few years
2. S.A. ("Brown Shirts"): Nazi paramilitary group that terrorized
political opponents on the streets.
In effect, the private army of the Nazis who were very loyal to
Hitler
3. Beer Hall Putsch, 1923: Hitler failed in his attempt to overthrow the
state of Bavaria (and ultimately, Germany) and was sentenced to a 1year jail term
a. The issue gave Hitler national attention
b. Hitler realized in the future he'd have to take control of
Germany legally, not through revolution
4. Mein Kampf (1923) written while in jail: became the blueprint for
Hitler's future plans
a. Lebensraum (“living space”): Germans should expand east, remove
the Jews and turn the Slavs into slave labor
b. Anti-Semitism: Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's political and
economic problems
c. Leader-dictator, Führer, would have unlimited arbitrary power
5. Fall of Weimar Republic was a result of the Great Depression
a. Unemployment reached 43% by end of 1932
b. Economic chaos and political impotence played into Hitler’s hands
Hitler began promising German voters economic, political, and
military salvation.
Hitler promised big business leaders he would restore the economy
by breaking Germany’s strong labor movement and reducing workers’
wages if necessary.
Hitler assured top army leaders that the Nazis would reject the
Versailles Treaty and rearm Germany.
Nazis also appealed to the German youth:
o 40% of party under age 30 in 1931; 67% under 40
c. 1930, Chancellor gained permission from President Hindenburg for
emergency rule by decree
Struggle between Social Democrats & Communists contributed to the
breakdown of the Weimar gov't.
d. The Nazis won the largest percentage of votes in the Reichstag in
1933 elections (though not a majority)
Demanded that Hitler play a leadership role in the government
e. Hitler became Chancellor on January 30, 1933; appointed by
President Paul von Hindenburg.
C. The Third Reich (1933-1945)
1. Hitler quickly consolidated power
a. Reichstag fire occurred during violent electoral campaign in
1933
Incident used by the Nazis to crack down on the
communists
b. The S.A. stepped up its terrorism of political opponents
c. Enabling Act (March 1933) passed by Reichstag
Gave Hitler absolute dictatorial power for four years
Only the Nazi party was legal
d. Hitler outlawed strikes and abolished independent labor
unions.
e. Publishers, universities, and writers brought into line
Democratic, socialist, and Jewish literature put on
blacklists.
Students and professors burned forbidden books in
public squares.
Modern art and architecture were prohibited (dubbed
"degenerate art" by the Nazis)
2. Joseph Goebbles: minister of propaganda effectively glorified
Hitler and the Nazi state
Leni Riefenstal’s Triumph of the Will (a documentary of
the Nuremburg rally of 1934) was used by the regime as
propaganda to make Hitler look larger than life and glorify
the Nazi regime.
3. “Night of Long Knives” (June 1934)
a. Hitler was warned that the army and big business were
suspicious of the S.A.
b. To please conservatives, Hitler’s elite personal guard—the
S.S.—arrested and shot without trial about 1,000 SA leaders and
other political enemies.
c. The S.S. grew dramatically in influence as Hitler's private
army and secret police
Led by Heinrich Himmler
4. The S.S. joined with the political police, the Gestapo, to
expand its network of special courts and concentration camps.
5. Hitler Youth: Nazis indoctrinated German youths with views of
German racial superiority and Jews as the source of Germany’s
problems
a. Eventually, membership in the Hitler Youth effectively
became mandatory
This is an example of how totalitarian regimes
demanded participation by the masses (in contrast to 17th
century absolutism where regimes merely sought
obedience)
b. Children were encouraged to turn in their teachers or even
their parents if they seemed disloyal to the Reich
6. Persecution of Jews
a. By the end of 1934, most Jewish lawyers, doctors, professors,
civil servants, and musicians had lost their jobs and the right to
practice their professions.
b. Nuremburg Laws of 1935 deprived Jews of all rights of
citizenship.
Marriage or sex between Jews and other Germans was
prohibited
Jews could not hire German women under the age of 45
as domestic workers
Jews were forbidden from displaying the Reich or
national flag
c. Other laws were passed: Jews could not use hospitals; could
not be educated past the age of 14; were prohibited from using
parks, libraries and beaches; war memorials were to have
Jewish names removed
d. By 1939, 50% of Germany’s 500,000 Jews had emigrated
(many were the "cream of the crop")
Huge emigration fees and confiscation of Jewish
property helped the government to finance economy
recovery.
e. Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”) -- 1938
Hitler ordered an attack on Jewish communities (using the
assassination of a German diplomat in Paris by young Jewish
boy as pretense)
Well-organized wave of violence destroyed homes,
synagogues, and businesses.
Thousands of Jews were arrested and made to pay for
the damage.
f. Holocaust: 6 million European Jews were eventually killed
during WWII ("Final Solution")
7. Other victims of Nazi persecution included Slavs, Gypsies,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, communists, homosexuals, mentally
handicapped, and political opponents (totaled 6 million by 1945)
a. T4 project: 200,000 handicapped and elderly people
were murdered by 1939 in the name of maintaining Aryan
purity.
D. German economic recovery
1. Major reason for Hitler's soaring popularity
Hitler delivered on his economic promise of “work and
bread.”
2. Large public works program started to get Germany out of
the depression.
Included superhighways (autobahn), offices, gigantic
sports stadiums, and public housing.
3. 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin, signaling Germany’s
legitimacy by the international community
4. 1936, Germany began rearmament and government spending
began to focus on the military.
5. Results of Nazi economic policies
b. Unemployment dropped from 6 million in January 1933, to
about one million in late 1936.
c. By 1938, shortage of workers existed; women took many jobs
earlier denied by antifeminist Nazis.
d. By 1938 standard of living for the average employed worker
increased moderately.
e. Profits of business rose sharply.
E. Nazi society: was there really a social revolution?
1. Well-educated classes held on to most of the advantages they
possessed prior to the rise of Hitler
2. Only a modest social leveling occurred.
3. Like fascist Italy, women were viewed as housewives and
mothers.
a. Hitler implored German women to “make babies for the
Reich”
b. Birth control information and abortions were forbidden for
German women (although allowed for unwanted groups such as
Jews, Gypsies and Slavs
c. Women were denied most meaningful occupations outside the
home
d. Only in wartime were large numbers of women mobilized for
work in offices & factories.
Essay Questions
Note: This sub-unit is a very-high probability area for the AP exam. In the
past 10 years, 12 questions have come wholly or in part from the material in
this chapter. Below are some practice questions that will help you study the
topics that have appeared on previous exams or may appear on future
exams.
1. Compare and contrast conservative authoritarianism in Fascist Italy with
totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
2. To what extent did Lenin and Stalin adhere to the ideas of Karl Marx in
governing the USSR between 1918 and 1940?
3. Compare and contrast totalitarianism in the USSR and Nazi Germany.
4. Compare and contrast totalitarianism in the 1920s and 1930s with
absolutism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
5. To what extent did the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany constitute a
social revolution in each of those two countries?
6. Analyze the extent to which women’s roles changed in the USSR, Italy and
Germany in the years 1917 to 1940.
AP European History: Unit 10.2
World War II
I. Failure of collective security and peace
A. Treaty of Versailles (1919) did not create an enduring peace
1. Severe punishment of Germany due to Article 231 resulted in
conservative German resentment against the "dictated peace"
(“diktat”)
2. League of Nations, without the U.S. & USSR, didn't have the
will nor the support to maintain peace.
During the 1930s, the League essentially stood by while
aggressors like Germany and Italy invaded other countries and
violated provisions of the Versailles Treaty.
B. Washington Naval Conference, 1921-22: did not stop the naval
arms race between the West and Japan
1. Five Power Treaty: created a 5-5-3 battleship ratio between
U.S., Britain and Japan
Yet, smaller naval vessels were exempt from the
agreement
2. Four Power Treaty
a. Replaced Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902
b. Bound Britain, Japan, France, and the U.S. to preserve status
quo in the Pacific, a concession to Japan’s favor.
C. “Paper agreements” of the 1920s had few enforcement mechanisms
1. Locarno Pact, 1925: Germany and other European nations
agreed to settle all disputes peacefully.
a. Gave Europeans a false sense of security about the
future
b. “Spirit of Locarno" was no longer relevant once Hitler
took power
c. Provisions were not enforceable
2. Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928
a. 62 nations signed the treaty proclaiming "war is illegal"
(unless for purely defensive purposes)
b. Once again, the treaty lacked enforcement provisions
c. Hitler later claimed that his aggressive military ventures were
for “defensive purposes”
D. Great Depression resulted in the rise of fascism in Japan and
Germany
1. Japan invaded Manchuria, 1931
a. League of Nations condemned the invasion but did little
by way of sanctions
b. Japan pulled out of the League
2. Hitler withdrew from League of Nations in 1933 and secretly
began rearmament
3. London Economic Conference in 1933 failed to achieve
international cooperation in remedying the depression
a. The U.S. played a major role in undermining the treaty
b. The conference’s failure sent a strong signal to Hitler
that the democracies lacked the organization and will to
address international crises
E. Stresa Front, 1935
1. Mussolini and others grew concerned when Hitler withdrew
from Versailles Treaty
2. Italy, France, and Britain protested strongly, understanding
the danger
Agreed to use force to maintain the political status quo
in Europe
3. Ironically, a year later Mussolini allied Italy with Hitler to help
fascists win in the Spanish civil war.
F. Italian invasion of Ethiopia, 1935
1. Italy gained a measure of revenge for its earlier defeat by the
Ethiopians in 1896.
500,000 Ethiopians died in the war compared to only
5,000 Italians.
2. League of Nations imposed sanctions on Italy, but did not
include oil on the list of embargoed goods.
a. No attempt was made to prevent Italy’s navy from using the
Suez Canal on its way toward Ethiopia.
b. France and Britain were not willing to press Italy because
they needed Italy’s help in keeping Hitler in check.
Britain, in particular, sought to appease Italy to end the
crisis and only placed an embargo on the sale British
weapons to Italy.
c. In 1936, the League lifted its sanction on Italy.
d. The Stresa Front was now defunct as Mussolini clearly defied
the League of Nations
3. Hitler was further encouraged that the international
community lacked the will to enforce peace
G. Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
1. Generalissimo Francisco Franco, a fascist, sought to
overthrow the republican government in Spain
a. Franco sought to restore power of the Catholic Church
& destroy socialism & communism in Spain
b. Civil War erupted between the fascists (Falangists or
Royalists) and the republican Loyalists
2. Mussolini and Hitler supported Franco and used the conflict as
a testing ground for their military forces
a. Italy sent 100,000 soldiers to Spain and the Italian
army gained practical experience in warfare
b. Germany's air force – the Luftwaffe—bombed
republican-held cities
The bombing of innocent civilians in the city of Guernica
prompted Pablo Picasso to paint his masterpiece—
Guernica—in 1937.
3. Franco won the war and imposed a fascist dictatorship in
Spain
a. Help from Germany and Italy was a major cause for the
fascist victory.
b. Britain and France officially recognized Franco’s government
c. The League of Nations once again proved ineffective, this
time in helping republican Loyalists against Franco.
Ineffective in patrolling Spain’s borders to prevent
supplies from reaching Franco’s forces
d. Hoping to maintain peace, the British government did little to
help the Loyalists
e. In France, the issue of the war split the government and led
to the fall of the leftist Popular Front.
4. In response to military cooperation in Spain, the Rome-Berlin
Axis was formed ("Fascintern"): an alliance between fascist Italy
and Germany
H. Germany reoccupied the Rhineland, 1936
1. Directly violated the Versailles Treaty (as well as the Locarno
Pact)
a. The Rhineland—a region between the Franco-German border
and the Rhine River—had been demilitarized in the Versailles
Treaty.
This would guarantee France that German forces were
not directly across the border.
b. The German military high command was very nervous: feared
Germany was still too weak to effectively resist a Franco-British
invasion and that Hitler was being reckless
c. The League of Nation’s futility in earlier crises convinced Hitler
that France and Britain would do nothing
2. France was unwilling to enforce the treaty without British aid
a. This may have been the turning point in the balance of power
France was still more powerful than Germany and may
have been able to defeat and remove Hitler
b. Pacifism in Britain, stemming from the horrible memories of
World War I, made the government reluctant to risk another
world war with Germany.
By the mid 1930s, there were many in Britain who
believed Germany had been unfairly punished by the
Versailles Treaty
3. For the first time since World War I, Germany now had troops
close to the Franco-German border
Posed a major threat to France’s security
I. Japan invaded China in 1937
The League of Nations watched the "rape of Shanghai" but did
little to punish Japan
II. Germany’s conquests in Europe lead to World War II
A. Hitler repudiated the Versailles Treaty and began massive
rearmament in the mid-1930s
This was an important reason for Germany’s economic
recovery from the depression
B. Anschluss (March 1938): Germany annexed Austria
1. Germany’s threat of military action forced the Austrian
Chancellor to resign
2. Austrian Nazi party assumed control and requested that
Germany annex Austria
3. Germany marched into and absorbed Austria without firing a
shot
4. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain rejected joining an
alliance with France and Russia
a. Believed it to be too aggressive diplomatically and that
it might destroy future attempts to negotiate peace with
Hitler.
b. As a result, the international community did nothing in
response
C. Czechoslovakia
1. Sudetenland
a. Hitler demanded that Germany receive the German-speaking
province in western Czechoslovakia or else there would be war
b. Czechoslovakia refused
It had well-defended borders along its border with
Germany and had France as an ally
Another world war now seemed imminent
2. Munich Conference, 1938
a. Issue of the Sudetenland was to be resolved in a conference
arranged by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
b. Conference attended by Germany, Britain, France, and Italy
Czechoslovakia or its ally, Russia, were not invited
c. Chamberlain adopted a policy of appeasement
Definition of appeasement: making concessions to an
aggressor in order to achieve peace
Pacifist sentiment in Britain and France was very strong
d. Solution: Czechoslovakia was forced to give away the
Sudetenland
Germany, in return, guaranteed the independence of
Czechoslovakia
o Czechs were shocked that the fate of its country
was decided by other countries
Hitler promised he would make no more territorial
demands in Europe
If Czechoslovakia refused to comply, it would receive no
military support from Britain or France
e. Chamberlain returned to Britain a hero claiming he had
achieved "peace in our time"
3. Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia, March 1939
a. Hitler had double-crossed Chamberlain
b. Czechoslovakia did not resist the invasion
c. In the space of a year, Hitler had taken both Austria
and Czechoslovakia without engaging in war
D. Germany’s invasion of Poland began World War II
1. One week after taking Czechoslovakia, Hitler demanded the
Baltic port city of Danzig (located in the Polish Corridor that
separated East Prussia from Germany)
a. As he had done with Sudetenland, Hitler used the alleged
poor treatment of ethnic Germans in Poland as a pretext for his
demand
b. Chamberlain threatened that if Germany attacked Poland,
Britain would fight a war to protect Poland
c. Hitler sought to avoid a two-front war against France & Britain
in the west and Russia in the east
2. German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Aug. 1939
a. Hitler sought assurances that Russia would not attack
Germany if he invaded Poland.
A guarantee of non-aggression would ensure that
Germany would only have to fight a one front war against
France and Britain
b. The world was shocked that the archenemies Hitler and Stalin
would make such an agreement
c. Public provisions of the treaty: 10-year nonaggression pact
between Germany and Russia
d. Private agreement: Germany and USSR would invade Poland
and split the country in half.
Stalin would also get the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania
France & Britain had offered Stalin military risk without
gain; Hitler had offered Stalin territorial gain without risk
3. Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939
a. Marked the beginning of World War II
b. September 3, Britain & France declared war on Germany
III. Germany’s conquests: 1939-1941
A. Blitzkrieg ("lightning war") used against Poland
1. New form of warfare used by Germany to quickly defeat an
enemy by poking a hole in enemy line and cutting off front lines
from the rear thus surrounding enemy.
2. Used coordinated attack on one part of enemy line with air
force, tanks, and artillery
3. Strategy sought to avoid trench warfare of WWI
4. Poland defeated in about a month
5. Partition occurred when USSR attacked from east
a. Stalin invaded Finland (1939)
b. USSR annexed Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania (1940) to create a
buffer zone against Germany
Believed Hitler would one day invade Russia
6. Sitzkrieg (“phony war”): After Poland, a 7-month lull ensued,
causing some to say WWII was a myth. The world waited to see
where Hitler might strike next.
B. 1940
1. April: Hitler invaded Denmark, Sweden, Norway
2. May: Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg fell to Germany
3. June: Fall of France occurred in less than six weeks
a. Dunkirk: thousands of French and British soldiers were
trapped on beaches of France
Before Germans came in for the kill, thousands were
rescued by an armada of British vessels
b. Vichy France created
Hitler did not wish to waste time subduing all of France
Puppet gov't created in southern France
o Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain in charge (later executed
for treason by the French gov’t)
Pétain had been a war hero in WWI at the battle of
Verdun.
Vichy France eventually was taken over completely by
Germany later in the war
c. The “Free French” were led by General Charles De Gaulle, who
fled to Britain during France’s fall
4. Tripartite Pact, 1940: Japan added to Rome-Berlin axis for
mutual defense and military support.
C. Battle of Britain: one of most critical battles of the war
1. Hitler offered Britain peace if it accepted Germany’s control of
western Europe
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had
replaced Chamberlain, flatly refused
2. Hitler then planned a massive German invasion of England
(“Operation Sealion”)
Germany tried to soften Britain up for a German
invasion with massive aerial bombings
3. August, Luftwaffe (led by Herman Goring, one of Hitler's inner
circle) was ordered by Hitler to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF)
Britain effectively used radar (a new technology) to
detect Germany’s air attacks
4. After almost destroying the RAF, Hitler ordered the bombing
of London (“the Blitz”): fatal error
RAF recovered and ultimately defeated the Luftwaffe
5. Hitler forced to call off invasion of Britain in September
a. Germany lost 2,433 planes; RAF lost 900
b. The “Blitz” continued until May, 1941
6. Significance: Hitler now had to guard against a future twofront war
D-Day in 1944 was launched from Britain
D. German invasion of the Soviet Union, June 1941
1. Hitler all along had planned on invading Russia to fulfill his
dream of "lebensraum" (“living space”) in the east
Constituted Hitler’s greatest blunder
2. "Scorched Earth": Soviets destroyed anything of value as they
withdrew to deprive German army of resources; thousands of
towns in the USSR destroyed
3. By winter, Germans were at the gates of Moscow while laying
siege to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) that lasted two years
4. In the USSR, WWII became known as “Great Patriotic War of
the Fatherland”
5. Atlantic Charter (Aug 1941): Churchill and U.S. President
Franklin Roosevelt met secretly after the invasion of Soviet
Union
a. Agreement: once Axis Powers were defeated, there
would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of
inhabitants (self-determination)
b. Called for “a permanent system of general security”:
later became the United Nations
c. Stalin endorsed the agreement soon thereafter
d. Meanwhile, the U.S. remained militarily neutral until
December, 1941
Neutrality Acts in 1930s prevented FDR from drawing U.S. into
the conflict earlier
Lend-Lease Act (1941) gave large amounts of money and
supplies to help Britain and Soviets; effectively ended U.S.
neutrality
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, resulted in U.S.
entry into the war
E. Hitler declared war on U.S. on December 11
1. Proved to be another fatal blunder
2. Instead of focusing on Japan (who had attacked the U.S.),
the U.S. (along with Britain) would now instead focus on
defeating Germany first.
F. The Grand Alliance formed in 1942
Consisted of Britain, the Soviet Union and the U.S. as well as
two dozen other countries
IV. Nazi Empire in Europe
A. German victories by the end of 1941
1. Controlled all of western Europe (except for neutral
Switzerland & Sweden): Austria, Czechoslovakia, western
Poland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway,
western Russia.
2. Spain allowed Germany the use of its ports (although Spain
remained essentially neutral)
3. German allies: Italy, Japan, Romania, Hungary, & Bulgaria.
4. Britain isolated, although gained much aid from U.S.
B. The Nazi “New Order”
1. Nazis exploited Europe for its economic value
2. Nordic peoples – Dutch, Norwegians, and Danes— received
preferential treatment as they were racially related to Germans.
3. Hitler heavily taxed the French as they were seen as “inferior”
Latin people; they were tolerated as a race.
4. Slavs in eastern Europe were seen as “subhuman”
a. Seized men & women for slave labor to work in
German factories.
b. Hitler planned that Poles, Ukrainians, and Russians
would be enslaved and forced to die out, while Germanic
peasants resettled the resulting abandoned lands.
c. Polish workers and Soviet prisoners of war were
transported to Germany where they did most of the
heavy labor and were systematically worked to death.
80% of Soviet prisoners did not survive the war.
C. Genocide of Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and captured
communists
1. Businesses and property was confiscated
2. Jews had to register with gov't authorities & wear yellow ID
stars.
3. In Poland, Jews were forced to live in ghettos (e.g. Warsaw
and Krakow)
a. Deprived of adequate supplies
b. Several families crammed into a single apartment
c. Forbidden contact with the outside world
4. “Final Solution” to the Jewish Problem: began in late 1941
a. Formal plan came at Wannsee Conference in 1942
b. Six death camps built in Poland in addition to hundreds of
concentration camps
Auschwitz was the most notorious
c. 6 million Jews killed (approximately 2/3 of the pre-war Jewish
population)
d. Between 5-6 million others also murdered including political
prisoners, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Gypsies
D. Underground movements sprang up and increased during the war.
1. Sabotaged Nazi supply depots, derailed trains, blew up
bridges.
The French Underground is the most famous example
2. Supplied allies with valuable information & aid: detailed troop
movements, published secret newspapers, hid escaped Allied
prisoners and downed Allied pilots
V. Turning points in the war
A. El Alamein, Nov. 1942
1. By November, British forces (led by Bernard Montgomery)
drove the Germans (led by Erwin Rommel—the “Desert Fox”)
out of Egypt
German forces were pushed westward across North
Africa.
2. “Operation Torch” (Nov. 1942)
a. Meanwhile, U.S. and British forces landed on the beaches of
Morocco and Algeria and engaged retreating German forces
b. Rommel’s Afrikakorps were surrounded by Allied armies and
defeated by May, 1943 and removed from Africa while suffering
mass casualties and prisoners of war.
3. Hitler’s decision to invade the USSR instead of defeating
Britain in the Mediterranean now proved disastrous
4. Allied victory in North Africa opened the door for the invasion
of Italy in July, 1943
B. Stalingrad (Nov. 1942—Feb. 1943)
1. Critical battle of the Eastern Front
First German land defeat in Europe
2. Hitler sought to take the industrial city of Stalingrad en route
to taking control of Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains.
3. German armies were eventually surrounded by Soviet forces.
Hitler refused to allow the German forces to surrender
and thus the bulk of the German army in Stalingrad
(300,000 men) was destroyed in the battle.
4. After the battle, the Soviets began the 2 ½-year campaign of
pushing the German army back to Berlin
5. Subsequent battle of Kursk (July 1943) was the largest tank
battle in human history ending in a Russian victory
6. By February 1945 Soviet armies had penetrated to the
outskirts of Berlin.
C. D-Day, “Operation Overlord”, June 6, 1944
1. 120,000 troops crossed the English Channel from southern
England and invaded France in an amphibious assault on
Normandy (northern French coast)
Success of D-Day demonstrated how important the Battle of
Britain had been in 1940 when Germany failed to defeat the RAF
and invade England.
Had the invasion failed, Germany would have been able to
concentrate its forces against the Soviets on the eastern front,
perhaps resulting in a stalemate.
2. Western front established
a. Spelled the end of Nazi domination of Europe
b. Paris was liberated 1 month later
c. Hitler now fighting on three fronts: east against
Russians; west against U.S. and Britain (& France); and
in Italy against U.S. and Britain
d. By the fall, Allied troops reached the German border and
were preparing an invasion of Germany.
D. Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 1944
1. Hitler's last gasp offensive to drive Allies away from the
western German border
2. Brutal fighting in the dead of winter resulted in frightful
casualties on both sides.
3. After Hitler’s counteroffensive failed, the Allies quickly
penetrated deep into Germany in 1945.
E. May 8, 1945: Germany surrendered (Hitler committed suicide a few
days earlier)
F. End of the war against Japan: Aug. 1945
1. U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
2. Japan surrendered although the emperor was allowed to
remain on the throne
VI. Diplomacy during the war
A. Casablanca Conference, 1943:
1. FDR and Churchill declared a policy of unconditional
surrender for “all enemies”
2. Italy would be invaded first before opening 2nd Front in
France
Stalin never forgave the Allies for putting off an invasion of
France until 1944: it ensured the Russians would have to fight
the brunt of the German army alone
B. Tehran Conference, 1943: First meeting of the “Big Three”—
Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin
1. Allies agreed to an invasion of the Western Europe in 1944.
2. Stalin reaffirmed the Soviet commitment to enter the war
against Japan once Germany had been defeated
3. Stalin insisted on Soviet control of eastern Europe and the
carving up of Germany amongst the Allies
Churchill demanded free governments in eastern Europe and a
strong Germany after the war to preserve a balance of power in
Europe.
4. Roosevelt acted as a mediator and believed he could work
with Stalin to achieve a post-world peace within the construct of
the United Nations.
C. Yalta Conference, 1945: "Big Three" met again
1. Stalin agreed to enter Pacific war within 3 months after
Germany surrendered
2. Stalin agreed to a “Declaration of Liberated Europe” which
called for free elections.
3. Called for United Nations to meet in U.S. beginning in April
1945
a. Soviets would have 3 votes in General Assembly
b. U.S., Britain, USSR, France & China to be permanent
members of Security Council.
4. Germany to be divided into occupied zones and a coalition
government of communists and non-communists was agreed to
for Poland.
5. U.S.S.R. allowed to keep its pre-1939 territory.
6. FDR accepted Soviet control of Outer Mongolia, the Kurile
Islands, the southern half of Sakhalin Island, Port Arthur
(Darien), and partial operation of the Manchurian railroads.
D. Potsdam Conference, July 1945: Stalin, Harry Truman and Clement
Atlee
1. Issued warning to Japan of unconditional surrender or face
utter devastation
During conference Truman ordered dropping of atomic
bomb on Japan
2. Stalin reversed his position on eastern Europe stating there
would be no free elections
3. Approvals given to concept of war-crimes trials and the
demilitarization and de-Nazification of Germany.
4. Reparations from Germany could be taken from each
respective zone.
VII. Results of the war
A. Human losses: About 55 million dead (including missing)
1. 22 million in the USSR alone
2. Holocaust resulted in deaths of 6 million Jews and 6 million
other
B. Millions left homeless and millions relocated (especially
Germans living outside Germany)
C. Much of Europe lay in ruins: would take years to rebuild
the economy
D. Women played even larger role in the war economy than
in WWI (gained more rights after the war)
E. The U.S. and Soviet Union emerged as the two dominant powers in
the postwar world.
Post-war competition for influence in Europe led resulted in the
Cold War
VIII. Why did Germany lose the war?
A. Three-front war: Russia, France and Italy
1. German army stretched across an entire continent
2. Eventually, Germany began running out of soldiers
Resorted to using children and older men near the end
of the war
B. Major blunders
1. Allowed Britain to remain intact after the Battle of Britain
2. Invasion of the Soviet Union (and later decision to engage
Soviet army at Stalingrad)
3. Hitler’s declaration of war against the U.S. immediately after
Pearl Harbor guaranteed the U.S. and Britain would focus first
on Germany before defeating Japan.
C. Industrial capacity not equal to Allies
1. U.S. out-produced all the Axis powers combined
2. Allied bombing of German cities destroyed factories
3. Use of slave labor (Slavs, Jews) not as effective
4. Much economic energy spent on the “Final Solution”
5. Germany did not shift its economy to “total war” until
1943. By that time, the Germans were being severely outproduced
D. Axis alliance proved to be a liability
1. Italy’s failures in Greece and Yugoslavia drew Germany into
the Balkans when it should have focused on the Mediterranean
2. German forces eventually had to take control of Italy after
the Allies began penetrating up the peninsula
Mussolini caught and executed by his own people in
1944
3. Japan’s attack on the U.S. drew Germany into war against
the U.S.
E. Grand Alliance proved overwhelming
1. Included U.S., Britain, Russia and over 40 other countries
2. Alliance worked together to achieve “unconditional surrender”
for Germany
Essay Questions
Note: This sub-unit is a low-medium probability area for the AP exam. In
the past 10 years, 5 questions have come wholly or in part from the material
in this chapter. Below are some practice questions that will help you study
the topics that have appeared on previous exams or may appear on future
exams.
1. Analyze political, economic and diplomatic factors for the failure of peace
after World War I.
2. How did diplomacy during the war play a role in the war’s outcome?
3. Analyze military, economic and political reasons for Germany’s loss in
WWII.