Download PPT Path to War

Path to War
Chapter 26
Was WW II caused by Germany’s actions in
both Austria & Czechoslovakia?
• No, World War II had long term causes
• The Treaty of Versailles – 1919
• Patriotic Germans had never forgotten
their nation's treatment in Paris in that
year
Why was the League of Nations so
weak?
• Could not enforce its decisions it lacked
an army
What nations were best equipped to
provide the League with the much
needed ‘muscle’?
Britain & France
Why was Europe so confident in
assuming peace would last?
Two treaties were signed
• 1st – The Locarno Treaty of 1925
• Germany joined the League of Nations
in 1926
• 2nd – Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928
• In both treaties nations vowed to use
diplomacy
How did these two treaties make
Europe feel?
Secure
• By 1929 Europe was lulled into a false
sense of security
• Politicians stated that war was no longer
an option
• previous enemies
now friends
Why did Japan attack Manchuria in
1931?
• Japan had invested
vast sums of money
into Manchuria’s
economy
• An explosion on the
Railway gave the
army the excuse it
needed (sabotage)
How did The League react to Japan’s
aggression?
• Established a Commission of Enquiry
– Japan should withdraw
– Japan resigned from the League
Why did Italy invade Ethiopia in Oct
1935?
• Mussolini desired to show the world how
powerful Italy was.
• He saw himself as a modern day Julius Caesar
• Ethiopia appealed to the League for help
• The League condemned the attack
– Imposed economic sanctions on Italy
– All members didn’t
Why did Hitler withdraw from the
Disarmament Conference of 1933?
• France refused his plan
• France should disarm to the level of Germany
or that Germany should re-arm to the level of
France
How did Hitler rearm so quickly?
• He secretly began rearming in 1933
• In 1935, Hitler went public on Nazi’s military
expansion
• Compulsory military conscription
How did the League react?
•
•
•
•
The League did nothing (condemned it)
France built the Maginot Line
Britain signed a Naval treaty with Germany
The start of appeasement
In March 1936 Hitler reoccupies the
Rhineland
1. Strengthened his
power within Germany
2. Balance of power now
favored Germany
3. The league’s weak
response
encouraged
Hitler’s plans of
expansion
Birds of a feather flock together
• The League opposed
Italy’s 1935 invasion of
Ethiopia
• Hitler supported
Mussolini expansion
• Both sent troops to Spain
Rome to Berlin Axis
• Became allied in Oct 1936
Anschluss with Austria
• In 1938 Hitler
threatens to invade
• Nazis are put in
charge of Austria
• German troops are
welcomed
• Austria is annexed
Lebensraum – Living space
• 1938 Hitler demands
the Sudetenland
• Claims they’re
mostly Germans
anyway
Sudeten woman dutifully salutes
parading Nazis, October, 1938
Munich Conference
•British, French, German & Italian reps meet
• Caved to Hitler’s
demands
• High point of
Western
Appeasement
•Chamberlain boasts – “peace for our time”
Why did Hitler sign a treaty in August
of 1939 with the USSR?
• Avoided a two-front
war
• Could now attack
Poland
• Nazi-Soviet
Nonaggression Pact