Download Paths to War

World War II
1939 - 1945
Paths to War
The German Path to War
• Adolf Hitler
– Germans were part of an Aryan race that
were superior to all other races/nationalities
– Germany was capable of building a great
civilization
– Planned to conquer the Soviet Union in
order to secure land and Slavic states to
strengthen the Third Reich.
Germany
The First Steps
• Treaty of Versailles limited Germany’s military
• Hitler (now Chancellor of Germany) announced to the
world that Germany wanted to revise the treaty
by peaceful means
• Hitler directly violated the Treaty
– Creation of a new air force
– Military draft to expand Germany’s army from
100,000 to 550,000 troops
• France, Great Britain, Italy warned Hitler
but did not take action due to Great Depression
Germany
The First Steps
• Hitler was confident that the Western states had
no intention of using force to maintain the Treaty
of Versailles
– March 7, 1936—Hitler sent German troops to the
Rhineland, which was part of Germany, but according
to the Treaty of Versailles, was a demilitarized zone
(no weapons or fortifications permitted)
• France had the right to use force against Germany for
violating the demilitarized Rhineland, but they wouldn’t act
without British support
• Great Britain didn’t provide support saying “Germans were
only going into their own back garden”
• Great Britain was practicing appeasement – policy of
satisfying reasonable demands in exchange for peace
Germany
New Alliances
• Rome-Berlin Axis – Hitler’s alliance with
Benito Mussolini (Fascist Italy)
• Anti-Comintern Pact – Hitler’s alliance with
Japan
Union With Austria
• 1938 – Germany forms a union with Austria
– Austrian Nazis in charge of the government
– German troops invited to enter Austria to
maintain order
– Austria soon annexed to Germany
Germany
Demands & Appeasement
• Hitler’s next objective – destruction of Czechoslovakia
• September 15, 1938 – demanded that Germany be given
the Sudetenland (an area in northwestern Czechoslovakia
inhabited by Germans)
• Hitler would risk “world war” to do this
• Munich Conference
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Britain, France, Germany, Italy
German troops allowed to occupy Sudetenland
Czechs were helpless
British Prime Minster, Neville Chamberlain, felt that
peace had been secured (“peace for our time”)
 Hitler lied
Germany
Demands & Appeasement
The Munich Conference was a hastily arranged
meeting of British, French, German, and Italian
representatives to address Hitler’s demands on
Czechoslovakia. Although allied with Czechoslovakia,
the British and French agreed to virtually all of Hitler’s
demands. The Czechs were abandoned by their allies
and forced to helplessly watch German troops occupy
the Sudetenland. Hitler promised that this was the end
of his demands, and the Allies believed him. However,
the Munich Conference only served to convince Hitler
that the Western democracies were weak & would
not fight. This encouraged him to continue his
invasions of other European countries, and eventually
led to war.
Germany Great Britain & France React
• 1939 – Hitler took control of w. Czechoslovakia
– Slovakia became a puppet state controlled by Nazi
Germany
– Hitler declared he would be known as the “greatest
German of them all”
• Western states finally realized Hitler was a liar!
• Great Britain offered to protect Poland from Hitler
• Great Britain & France knew that only the Soviet
Union was powerful enough to stop Germany so
they began negotiations with Joseph Stalin
(the Soviet dictator)
Germany
Hitler & the Soviets
• Hitler thought the West wouldn’t fight over
Poland
• He was afraid though, the West would ally with
the Soviets making a two-front war for Germany
– To prevent this, Hitler made his own agreement with
Joseph Stalin  Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
• Germany & Soviet Union promised not to attack each other
• Hitler gave Stalin control of eastern Poland and the Baltic
• This pact gave Hitler the freedom to attack Poland
The Japanese Path to War
In September 1931, Japanese soldiers had seized Manchuria,
which had natural resources Japan needed.
Japan used as an excuse a Chinese attack on a Japanese railway
near the city of Mukden.
The “Mukden Incident” had actually been carried out by Japanese
soldiers disguised as Chinese.
Worldwide protests led the League of Nations to investigate in
Manchuria. This led to Japan withdrawing from the League.
Over the next few years, Japan strengthened its hold on
Manchuria (which was renamed Manchukuo) and expanded
into North China.
By the mid-1930s militants gained control of Japanese politics.
U.S. was angry but did not threaten force.
Japan
War With China
• Chiang Kai-shek
– Tried to avoid conflict with Japan so
he could concentrate on Communist
threat
– Eventually turned focus against the
Japanese when they continued to move into southern
China
– July 1937 – Chinese and Japanese forces clashed
– December 1937 – Japan seized Chinese capital
– Chiang Kai-shek refused to surrender and moved his
government upriver
Japan
The New Asian Order
Japanese military leaders hoped to force Chiang to
join a New Order in East Asia (Japan, Manchuria, and China)
Part of Japan’s plan was to seize Soviet Siberia for its
rich natural resources.
During the 1930s, Japan assumed Germany would
help them attack the Soviet Union and divide its
resources between them.
But Germany had signed the nonaggression pact with
the Soviets so Japan had to change plans. They
knew they couldn’t defeat the Soviets without help.
So…Japan focused on SE Asia’s raw materials
Japan
The New Asian Order
A move southward though would risk war with the
European colonial powers AND the United States.
Nevertheless, in the summer of 1940, Japan demanded
the right to exploit economic resources in French
Indochina.
U.S. was angry! Warned Japan we would apply
economic sanctions (restrictions intended to enforce
international law) unless Japan withdrew.
Japan badly needed the oil and scrap iron it was getting
from the U.S. Should the U.S. cut off these resources,
Japan would have to find them elsewhere.
Japan
The New Asian Order
Japan was now caught in a dilemma -To guarantee access to the raw materials it wanted in
SE Asia, Japan had to risk losing raw materials from
the U.S. (the oil and scrap iron)
Japan’s military leaders, guided by Hideki Tojo,
decided to launch a surprise attack on U.S. and
European colonies in SE Asia.