Download World War II in Europe

Chapter 15
The Interwar Years, World War II, and the Cold War
 Militarism in Japan
 Militarism in Japan
Impact of the Great Depression
 Nationalism and militarism
Military dominated government
 Assassination and terrorism
 February Rebellion, 1936
 Offensive against Manchuria
Alliance with Germany
 Fascism in Italy
 Benito Mussolini
Fascist party, black shirts
Consolidation of power, 1925-1926
Corporate state
 Nazi Germany
 Adolf Hitler
Beer Hall Putsch, 1923
Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
Appointed chancellor, 1933
Reichstag fire and Enabling Act, 1933
President and chancellor, 1934
Economic policies turn the economy around
 Nazi racist ideology
 Iberian Peninsula
 Portugal, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
 Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939
Latin America Population Density and Guerrilla Warfare
1. On April 1, 1964, Brazil’s civilian government was displaced by the military. A
military junta was appointed and a “democratic revolution”
proclaimed. The military maintained direct and indirect power until 1990 when it was discredited and isolated due to failed economic policies.
Resistance to the military took the form of urban guerrilla warfare. The military responded with use of systematic torture by the military police and
the rise of "death squads" against the leftists. The military permitted in 1982 a general election for Congress as well as state and municipal
elections. The military, however, retained the presidency. In 1990 presidential elections were held and a civilian was elected.
2. In Uruguay a Marxist urban guerrilla movement called the Tupamaros was organized in Montevideo in 1963. In the late 1960s similar guerrilla
movements appeared in Guatemala, Argentina, and Brazil. The Tupamaros sought a violent overthrow of Uruguay's mixed economy and the
establishment of a completely socialist state. Their tactics included robbery, kidnapping, and murder. In 1971, after failing to stem the guerrillas, the
government turned to the military. The following year a state of internal war was declared.
A counterinsurgency campaign (with U.S. aid)
broke the movement but at the cost of brutality and repression. In 1981, a general was appointed the head of state. Democratic elections were finally
held in 1984.
3. In 1955, the Argentine military brougbt down the government of President Juan Per6n who had served since 1946. The military surrendered
power in 1958 but again in 1962 removed the president. National elections were held in 1963 but the government was overthrown by the military in
1966. Free elections were permitted in 1973, opening the way for the return of Per6n. Elected, he died a year later and was succeeded by his wife
Isabella who became the first female head of state in Latin America. As the left and right sought political advantage, the right resorted to death
squads (created by the Ministry of Social Welfare) and the left to guerrilla activity. Civil war seemed immanent in 1976 when the military once again
seized power. Civilian rule was restored in 1982 after war against Britain over the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands.
4. In 1970 Salvador Allende was elected president of Chile when moderates split their votes. His objective was to create a Marxist-socialist state.
Allande also sought to continue a program of nationalizing the copper industry begun by his predecessor. His attempt to accomplish this without
compensation angered the Nixon administration that aided opponents of the government. With the economy faltering, the army under General
Augusto Pinochet reacted with a coup d'etat in 1973 resulting in Allende's murder. A brutal regime under Pinochet followed until 1989 when he was
defeated by 55 percent of the vote in a presidential election. Nevertheless, Pinochet remained in command of the army and was appointed senator
for life. In 1999, he was arrested in England at the behest of Spain that seeks extradition to try him for crimes during his regime.
5. In 1979 a guerrilla group called Sandistas launched an offensive against President Anastasio Somoza Debayle whose family had ruled Nicaragua
since 1936. After only seven weeks of fighting, Somoza fled and the Sandanistas assumed power. Charging that the new government, Cuba, and
the Soviet Union were supplying arms to rebels in El Salvador, the United States cut off aid to Nicaragua and began aiding guerrillas called "contras"
who sought to overthrow the Sandinista government. In 1984, Daniel Ortega Saavedra, leader of the Sandinista junta, was elected president with
63% of the votes. The contra war lasted until 1989 when it was agreed to call a general election in 1990, a year early. In the election, Violetta
Chamorro won the presidency. Her term was plagued by charges of corruption and dismantling the achievements of the Sandinistas. Fearing
insurrection, in 1991 she brought the army under her direct command. In 1996 there was a peaceful transition of power to a new president.
6. Civil war formally ended in 1992 after twelve years in El Salvador. Guerrillas, drawing upon the peasantry and their grievances, had been
fighting a rightist government backed by the United States. A few years later, 1996, the civil war in nearby Guatemala was brought to an end after
thirty-six years.
Question:
1. How did the military and the right affect the region's politics?
Latin America Population Density and Guerrilla Warfare
 Latin America
 Personalist dictatorships
Getúlio Vargas, Brazil
Juan Perón, Argentina
 Aggression in the 1930s
 Japan against China
Fearful of Chinese tariffs
 Manchurian or Mukden Incident, September 18, 1931
Manchuko
Shanghai
Jehol
National Salvation Movement
Europe in 1939, Eve of World War II
1. The announcement by Adolf Hitler in March 1935 of the creation of a new German air force and the introduction of a draft, both contravention of
the Versailles treaty, brought condemnation from France, Britain, and Italy but none took concrete action. Emboldened, German troops were sent
into the demilitarized Rhineland in March 1936. Britain viewed this simply as the reoccupation of German territory and without British support
France chose not to act.
2. In July 1934 Austrian Nazis tried to overthrow the Austrian government by murdering the chancellor. They were unable to take power, however,
when Mussolini threatened to use force to stop German troop movement intended to aid the insurrectionists. Hitler was more successful in March
1938 when threats of invasion forced the chancellor to put Austrian Nazis in charge of the government. The new government invited Germany to
send troops to maintain law and order.
3. Italy, under Benito Mussolini, embarked on imperialist expansion with the invasion of Ethiopia in October 1935. Roundly condemned by Britain
and France, Mussolini drew closer to Hitler. This relationship was solidified by their joint support of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War
(1936-1939). In 1936 Hitler and Mussolini signed an agreement recognizing common economic and political interests. The Rome-Berlin Axis was
born.
4. The weakness demonstrated by the European states convinced Hitler he could move on Czechoslovakia with impunity. His initial demand in
1938 was autonomy for the Sudetenland, a mountainous area on the northwestern border containing about three million ethnic Germans. The region
contained Czechoslovakia's most important frontier defenses and industrial resources. On September 15, 1938, Hitler increased his demand to
cession of the Sudetenland to Germany. Two weeks later a hastily arranged conference at Munich gave in to Hitler. Under the pretext of quelling
internal disorder, Germany occupied the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939. Slovakia was declared independent and became a
puppet state of Germany.
5. The German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 sent the predominantly German people of Memel into a frenzy, forcing the Lithuanian
foreign minister to surrender the territory to Germany.
6. Annoyed by the occupation of Prague, Mussolini struck out with his own aggression in April 1939 by transforming the Italian protectorate over
Albania into full annexation into the Italian Empire.
7. German demands for the return of Danzig led Britain to openly declare protection of Poland. On September 1, 1939, Poland was invaded.
Questions:
1. What drove Hitler's quest for territory?
2. Why and how did Italy and Germany form an alliance.
Europe in 1939, Eve of World War II
 Italy’s Aggression
 Invasion of Ethiopia, 1935
 Condemnation by the League of Nations
 German Aggression
 Lebensraum
 Rhineland
 Annexation of Austria
 Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia
Munich Agreement, September 1938
Hitler-Stalin pact, August 1939
 Invasion of Poland, September 1, 1939
World War II in Europe
1. The defeat of Poland took only four weeks. On September 28, 1939, it was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union according to the
terms of the non-aggression pact signed on August 23, 1939. In addition, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania went to the Soviets.
2. After a winter of waiting, Germany launched an offensive on Denmark and Norway in April 1940. The following month Germany attacked the
Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Striking through Luxembourg and the Ardennes Forest, the weakest part of the French defenses, Germany
raced across northern France. Trapped at Dunkirk, the mostly British force of 330,000 men had to be evacuated between May 27 and June 4, 1940.
On June 5 the Germans began an offensive on southern France. Five days later, Italy declared war on France to assure itself some of the spoils.
France surrendered on June 22. The northern and western parts were to be occupied by Germany while the south, with its capital at Vichy, would
be under a puppet government loyal to Germany.
4. In August 1940 the German Luftwaffe was turned on Britain for the purpose of softening it up for an invasion. The Battle of Britain lasted until
June 1941 and though there was wholesale destruction and more than 40,000 deaths, Britain held firm. Frustrated, Hitler broke off the attack and
turned his attention to the Russia. In preparation for its invasion, Germany gained the political cooperation of Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. In
addition, because the eastern flank had been exposed by Italy's failure to capture Greece, German forces were sent to Yugoslavia and Greece in
April 1941. On June 22, 1941, Russia was invaded and by November two million Soviet soldiers had been captured. The German army swept into
the Ukraine, besieged Leningrad (modern St. Petersburg), and reached within twenty-five miles of Moscow. An early winter stopped the advance
and in December the Russians began a counterattack. Between November 1942 and February 1943 German troops were stopped and encircled at
Stalingrad.
5. The Mediterranean strategy of Germany to capture Egypt and the Suez Canal with Italian troops failed and German forces had to be sent.
German advances to Alexandria were stopped at El Alamein in the summer of 1942. By May 1943 the Italians and Germans had surrendered.
When Tunisia was surrendered in May 1943 the Allies crossed into Italy to sweep into Germany from the south. In June 1944 Rome surrendered.
6. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded Europe from Normandy in France. By the end of August they were in Paris and in March Allied troops had
crossed the Rhine. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union pushed into Germany from the east. At the tank battle at Kursk July 5-12, 1943, the Germans
were decisively defeated. By January 1945 Warsaw was occupied and in April Soviet troops entered Berlin.
Questions:
1. With the advantage of interior lines and a powerful war machine, why was Germany unable to defeat the Allies?
2. What was the strategy of the Allies to defeat Germany?
World War II in Europe
 World War II
 Japanese War against China
Marco Polo Bridge Incident, July 7, 1937
Rape of Nanking
U.S. continues to sell steel and fuel to Japan
 Axis Advances in Europe
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, 1937
Blitzkrieg against Poland
“Phoney war”
Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, and Luxembourg,
April 1940
Dunkirk
Defeat of France and division, June 1940
Battle of Britain, 1940
 Attack on Greece
 Attack on Russia, June 22, 1941
 United States Enters the War
 U.S. cuts off scrap iron and oil to Japan, 1940
 Simultaneous attack on British, Dutch, and U.S.
possessions, December 7-8, 1941
 Hitler’s New Order
 Occupied lands provide labor
 Racial policy
 Labor camps
 Final Solution
 Home Front
 Central governments assume great powers to coordinate
the economy and long range plans
 Late civilian mobilization in Germany
 Propaganda
 Women
 North Africa and the Invasion of Italy
 Italy dispatched troops against Britain in northeast Africa,
a failure
 Germany sends the Afrika Corps to rescue Italy
 British and Allied offensive in North Africa, 1942
 Invasion of Italy, July 1943
World War II in Asia and the Pacific
1. The population of Japan had exploded from 30 million in 1870 to 80 million in 1937. The ability to feed the people and purchase raw materials
depended on the manufacturing of industrial goods and textiles. When Western nations hit by the depression sought to protect their economies by
erecting tariff barriers, Japan's economy was devastated. This, in turn, affected democratic growth.
2. Patriotic societies allied with the army and navy to push for expansion at the expense of China and Russia. The navy especially cast its eyes on
oil rich British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
3. Japan had controlled Manchuria (Manchuko) since its victory over Russia in 1905. Chinese nationalism, however, threatened Japan's warlord
puppets. In response, junior army officers in 1931 blew up the tracks of a Japanese owned railroad at Mukden. Citing the need for self-defense,
Manchuria was occupied. The following year, Japan proclaimed Manchuko an independent state with a Manchu puppet as emperor. Manchuria's
valuable raw materials had been guaranteed. When the League of Nations condemned Japan in 1933, it withdrew from the League. In July 1937
Japan invaded northern China. Two years later, from May to September 1939, an undeclared war was fought with the Russians on the Mongolian
border.
4. Following the German defeat of France in June 1940, Japanese troops pushed into northern French Indochina. By July 1941 the occupation was
completed when southern Indochina was seized. The United States responded by cutting off supplies of vital scrap iron and oil to Japan. This
action led the army to press for the occupation of the oil rich Dutch East Indies and Malaya. However, the military leaders feared this would provoke
the United States. Therefore, a preemptive strike was determined. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This was quickly
followed in succession by the capture of Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and northern Burma between February and May 1942.
5. The tide of battle turned on May 7-8, 1942, at the battle of the Coral Sea when naval and air power stopped the Japanese advance and also
relieved Australia from the pressure of Japan. The following month Japanese hopes of annihilating the rest of the American Pacific fleet were
dashed at the battle of Midway in which Japan lost four aircraft carriers. At this point the war became a defensive one for the Japanese. The
Americans initiated two island hoping campaigns. The first sought the recapture of the Philippines which was accomplished by June 1945. The
second struck out across the South Pacific beginning at the Gilbert Islands (Tarawa, November 1943). The two offensives converged at Okinawa in
April 1945. From Okinawa American bombers could strike Japan.
Questions:
1. Why did Japan need an economic hegemony over Asia?
2. What was the strategy of Japan in fighting the war against the United States? What was the strategy of the US? Why was one more successful
than the other?
World War II In Asia and the Pacific
 Allied Victory in Europe
 Allies decide to defeat Germany first
 Success of Allied navies and air forces
 Soviet counteroffensive, 1942
 June 6, 1944, “D Day”
 April 30, 1945, Hitler suicide
 German surrender, May 8, 1945
 Defeat of Japan
 “Island hopping”, 1943
 Atomic bomb: Hiroshima, August 6, 1945; Nagasaki,
August 9, 1945
 Japanese surrender, August 14, 1945
131 ME-11 The Cold War in Europe, 1945-1990
1. In a speech at Westminister College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill proclaimed that "... an iron curtain has descended
across the continent."
2. At Yalta in February 1945 it was agreed that Germany, Austria, and Berlin would be divided into four zones of occupation. While the Western
leaders wanted Eastern European states to be independent, autonomous, and democratic, Stalin feared that such conditions could mean an unfriendly
attitude toward the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, rather than risk confrontation, Stalin signed the Declaration on Liberated Europe promising selfdetermination and free democratic elections. By 1948 the Soviets had established loyal governments in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia, though communist, remained unallied to either East or West.
3. As disagreements over the economic and political future of Germany became heated, the Western Allies proceeded in 1948 with uniting their
sectors. In the summer, Russia sought to drive the West out of Berlin (located in the Russian sector) by closing railroads and highways. The Berlin
Blockade failed and access was reestablished in May 1949. The split of Germany became formal in September 1949 when a constitution was granted
to the western German Federated Republic. In October, the eastern German Democratic Republic was granted its own constitution by the Soviets.
In both cases, outside troops remained while in Austria troops were withdrawn.
4. In March 1948 Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and Britain signed the Treaty of Brussels that provided for cooperation in
economic and military matters. In April 1949 these states were joined by Italy, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Iceland in signing an agreement with
the United States and Canada forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A few years later, West Germany, Greece, and Turkey joined
the alliance. The United States agreed both to supply equipment for European rearmament and to guarantee Western Europe against invasion. The
alliance was somewhat weakened when France, protesting the influence of the United States in Europe, withdrew in 1969. However, France still
remained a western ally.
5. In 1953, workers revolted in East Germany over the nationalization of industry. The Soviets responded with tanks. Such a steady flight of people to
West Germany ensued that East Germany built the Berlin Wall in August 1961.
6. The Warsaw Pact was created in May 1955 as a formal military alliance. It included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany,
Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Earlier in the year, Soviet occupation forces were withdrawn from Austria after it pledged to be
a neutral state.
7. In October 1956 the Polish Communist Party refused to fill the vacant office of prime minister with a Soviet selected successor. Instead, they
selected Wladyslaw Gomulka who declared Poland had a right to follow its own socialist path. Nevertheless, rather than provoke the Soviets, Poland
promised to remain loyal to the Warsaw Pact. With this, Poland was allowed to pursue its own socialism.
8. Drawing energy from Poland, Hungary attempted an independent road when the new head of government, Imry Nagy, declared it a free state on
November 1, 1956. Since the promise of free elections could potentially doom communist rule, Russia sent tanks into Budapest on November 4.
Soviet authority was reestablished.
9. In January 1968 Alexander Dubcek was elected first secretary of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party and introduced reforms that included
freedom of speech and the press. However, he went too far when suggesting neutrality and withdrawal from the Soviet bloc. In August the Soviet
army crushed the reform movement.
10. At Gadansk, Poland, an independent labor movement called Solidarity began to make revolutionary demands for the workers in 1980. Despite
arrests, outlawing the union, and military rule, Solidarity triumphed and parliamentary elections were held in 1988.
Question:
1. What were the future implications of Soviet gains after the war?
The Cold War in Europe, 1945-1990
 Settlements with Germany
 Germany to be divided into four occupation zones
 De-Nazified Germany
 Berlin divided but in Soviet zone
 Nuremberg Trials, 1945-1946
 Soviets retain territory gained in 1939-1940
 Soviet boundary moved westward
 German western boundary returned to 1937
 Settlement with Japan
 Emperor and government retained; General Douglas
MacArthur the allied commander in charge of Japan
 Lost all conquests
 Tokyo International Court
 Emperor renounces divine status
 Beginning of the Cold War, 1945-1949
 Britain wished to retain its empire and imperial economic
system
 U.S. wants spheres of influence and worldwide free
markets
 Soviet Union wants to dominate Easter Europe and keep
Germany military important
 Relations deteriorate at Yalta and Potsdam Conferences,
1945
U.S. wants to rebuild Germany economically
West wants democratic governments in Eastern
Europe
Soviets want eastern Europe as a buffer zone
 Soviets integrate eastern economies into their own
The Economic Division of Europe During the Cold War
1. France, Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy formed the European Coal and
Steel Company (ECSC) in 1951. This was the first post-war attempt to create a sense of European economic unity. The arrangement sought to
establish a common market for coal and steel among the members by eliminating tariffs and trade barriers.
2. The success of the ECSC led the Europeans in 1957 to create the European Economic Community (EEC). The Common Market, as it is called,
by 1968 had eliminated customs barriers for the six member nations and created a large free trade area protected from the outside nations by a
common external tariff. In 1973 it expanded to include Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark. Spain, Portugal, and Greece were added in 1986.
3. In 1959, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, and Portugal formed the European Free Trade Area. Nevertheless,
Britain sought membership in EEC but was turned down in 1963 and 1967 due to the veto of France's president Charles de Gaulle who said that
Britain was too closely tied to the United States. Finally, Britain was admitted in 1973.
4. The leaders of the EEC (now called the European Union) in 1991 signed the Treaty of Maastricht that would eventually lead to a universal currency
and a strong central bank. It failed to be adopted in Denmark and only narrowly was approved in France and Britain. On January 1, 1999, Austria,
Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain fixed their currencies according to the
value of the Euro. By 2002 the national currencies of these states will be replaced by the common currency of the Euro.
5. In 1949 the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was established by the Eastern European states for economic cooperation and
integration. This was more to serve the Soviet Union than anything else.
Questions:
1. Why is it important for the European states to form a single economic community?
2. What kind of difficulties could undermine the EEC?
3. Why was France opposed to British membership in the EEC?
The Economic Division of Europe during the Cold War
 Economic and Political Divisions
 Soviets want joint Soviet-Turkish supervision over the
Bosporus Strait
 Civil war in Greece; Britain withdraws aid
 Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947
 Marshall Plan, June 1947
 European Economic Community, 1957
 European Community, 1992
 Berlin Blockade, June 1948-May 1949
 West and East Germany created, 1949
 Communists defeat Nationalists in China, 1949
The New European Alliance Systems in the 1950s and 1960
1. In March 1948 Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and Britain signed the Treaty of Brussels that
provided for cooperation in economic and military matters. In April 1949 these states were joined by Italy, Denmark,
Norway, Portugal, and Iceland in signing an agreement with the United States and Canada forming the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). A few years later, West Germany, Greece, and Turkey joined the alliance. The United States
agreed both to supply equipment for European rearmament and to guarantee Western Europe against invasion. The alliance
was somewhat weakened when France, protesting the influence of the United States in Europe, withdrew in 1969. However,
France still remained an ally.
2. In 1949 the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) was formed by the Eastern European states for the purpose of
integrating their economies.
3. A workers revolt broke out in the German Democratic Republic in 1953 over the nationalization of industry. The Soviets responded with
tanks. Such a steady flight of people to West Germany followed, especially skilled workers, that East Germany built the Berlin Wall in 1961.
4. The Warsaw Pact was created in May 1955 as a formal military alliance. It included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Earlier in the year, Soviet occupation forces were withdrawn from Austria
after it pledged to be a neutral state.
5. In October 1956 the Polish Communist Party refused to fill the vacant office of prime minister with a Soviet selected successor. Instead,
they chose Wladyslaw Gomulka who declared Poland had a right to follow its own socialist path. Nevertheless, rather than provoke the
Russians, Poland promised to remain loyal to the Warsaw Pact. With this, the Soviets allowed Poland to pursue its own socialism.
6. Drawing energy from Poland, Hungary attempted to also take an independent road when the new head of government, Imry Nagy,
declared it a free state on November 1, 1956. Since the promise of free elections could potentially doom communist rule, Russia sent tanks
into Budapest on November 4. Soviet authority was reestablished.
7. In January 1968 Alexander Dubcek was elected first secretary of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party and soon introduced reforms
which included freedom of speech and the press. However, Dubcek went too far when he suggested neutrality and withdrawal from the
Soviet bloc. In August the Soviet army invaded and crushed the reform movement.
Questions:
1.Why would France withdraw from NATO?
2. Why did reform work in Poland but not Hungary and Czechoslovakia?
The New European Alliance Systems in the 1950s and 1960s
 Cold War Military Expansion
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
 Warsaw Pact, 1955
 Sputnik launched, 1957
 Space race, “mutually assured destruction”
 Dissatisfaction in East German (1953), Poland and
Hungary (1956)
 U.S. spy plane shot down over Russia, May 1960
 Berlin Wall, August 1961
 Reunited Germany, 1990