Download Lecture 01 December

World War II
and Its Aftermath
The World War
The Cold War
Decolonization
1939-1960
The causes of WWII
• Some historians argue that WWII was
simply a continuation of WWI
• The expansionist aims of Germany and
Japan are seen as a continuation of the
imperialism that had dominated since the
end of the 19th century
• Britain and France, though they want to
keep their own empires, face other
economic challenges
Military Imperialism
Isolationist
Expansionist
Britain
France
Russia
USA
Germany
Italy
Japan
Diplomacy and Internationalism
• The League of Nations was a watered-down
version of Wilson’s 14 points
• It tried to adjudicate peaceful settlements for
international crises but lacked the muscle to
back up its judgements
• In particular, it was unable to deal with the
ambitions of imperial powers, who could easily
flaunt their threats and sanctions (Germany was
never a member; Japan withdrew in 1933)
• In reality, the old balance of power system
prevailed – forging an alliance between Britain,
France and the Soviet Union to check German
and Japanese aggression
War in the east
• Japan’s militarization continues steadily
after taking control of Manchuria in 1931
• In 1937 they launch a massive invasion of
China, controlling a large part of the
Chinese coast
• They push on into Vietnam, the East
Indies and Burma, setting up militaristic
regimes in order to feed necessary raw
materials and staple foods for their war
effort
Italian Expansionism
• In 1935 Mussolini
invades Ethiopia to
expand Italy’s
Empire
• Uses a modern
army and mustard
gas to quickly
subdue any
resistance
Germany’s expansionism
• By 1933 Germany is a dictatorship under
Hitler’s personal rule
• 1936 – German troops march into the
Rhineland (against Treaty of Versailles),
remilitarization begins
• 1938 – Germany absorbs Austria in Reich
• March, 1939 – German troops march into
Czechoslovakia
• Sept. 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland
Appeasement
• The policy of Britain and France to allow
Hitler to expand unchecked is known as
appeasement
• Neither Britain nor France wanted to go to
war – they had bigger social problems to
deal with and people did not want to think
about war so soon after WWI
• Thus as Hitler continued to flaunt the
Treaty of Versailles and the Japanese
ignored the League of Nations – the “great
powers” stood by
German Blitzkrieg
• Poland was occupied and surrendered
within months
• Belgium, Holland and France were next
and in May 1940 a mass evacuation of
Allied troops at Dunkerquee took place,
leaving Nazi Germany in control of Europe
• They began next an aerial bombardment
of Britain to knock them out of the war, but
were unsuccessful
Stalin and the Soviet Union
• Stalin had initiated a massive purge of the
Red Army in 1938 – executing and
sending into exile his most experienced
officers
• In 1939 he signs a secret “non-agression”
pact with Germany to give him time to
rebuild the officer corps
• He is shocked when in the summer of
1941 the Germans invaded Russia and
very quickly overrun a baffled Red Army
The United States
• The US had no desire to join what they
saw as a European war – but they were
worried about Japanese expansion in the
Pacific
• The bombing of Pearl Harbour in Dec,
1941 – however – galvanized public
opinion for the war and all of the resources
of the state were put on a war footing
• By choosing to enter into the war they set
on a course to become a world
superpower
Turning the tide in Europe
• The resilience of the Red Army in the East
and the added force of the Americans saw
the tide turn against the Nazis
• In 1943 Allies had invaded Italy and in
June of 1944 the Allies sent a massive
expeditionary force to liberate Europe
• Soviet and Allied forces meet at the Elbe
in Germany in April of 1945
Red Army soldier raises Soviet Flag over the Reichstag in Berlin
The Americans in Japan
• The Americans are quick to rebuild their
navy and by 1944 are defeating the
Japanese in the Pacific
• They begin an intensive bombing
campaign of Japan to beat them into
submission
• In the summer of 1945 they drop two
atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima and the
other on Nagasaki – causing 240,000
deaths
New Imperial Order
USA
Soviet Union
The Americans pour
billions of dollars into
the reconstruction of
Europe and Japan –
hoping to keep the
world free for
capitalist-oriented
liberal democracies
The Soviets move
swiftly to take control
of Eastern Europe
and the Baltic States
– setting up
communist regimes
loyal to Moscow
Decolonization
• After WWII, Britain is eager to shed its
former colonial holdings
• In 1949 India gains its independence and
in the subsequent years former British
holdings in Africa gain independence as
well
• Many former East Asian colonies turn to
communist revolutions – Korea and
Vietnam