Paths to War Chapter 26 Section 1 1930’s

The German Path to War World War II began with the advances made by Adolf Hitler to secure living space for the German people. He believed the German (Ethnic Aryans) were the most superior race and that they were capable of building a great civilization. He planned to expand into Russia and turn the Russians (ethnic Slavs) into slaves that would be used to build the 3rd Reich (3rd German Reign). Hitler believed that the Aryans would rule Europe for a 1,000 years. After WWI, the treaty of Versailles put limits on Germany, including limiting the size of their military. Hitler violates the treaty when he starts to grow his army. First by establishing an air force and later grew the army to 550,000 people.

The German Path to War The West, (formerly the Allies) were preoccupied with economic conditions (Great Depression) in their country so they did not take any actions against Germany and Hitler for violating the treaty of Versailles. Hitler continues to defy the Treaty of Versailles by placing his military in the Rhineland , which was part of the demilitarized zone that had been agreed upon during the Paris Peace conference. France who had the right to use force if Germany moved into the Rhineland would only act against Germany if Great Britain also was involved, G.B. Refuses. Even though the were clear consequences if Germany violated the treaty of Versailles, no one upheld those penalties, thus starting a policy of appeasement towards the Germans.

New Alliances Hitler sought out new allies and found one in Benito Mussolini, the Fascist leader of Italy who dreamed of creating a new Rome. Mussolini entered Ethiopia for conquest, when the British And French denounced the action, they pushed Mussolini closer to Hitler. Germany and Italy sent troops to Spain to aid Gen Franco with the Spanish Civil War in the Hope that Spain would join them. Spain never does. They were able to find an ally in Japan, and all signed a anti- communism pact, promising to stop communism from entering these countries.

Mussolini & Hitler

New Alliances Since Hitler openly violated the Treaty of Versailles and there were no consequences, he once again viewed Germany as a world power. Hitler viewed this as an opportunity to add Austria, a territory also occupied by Aryans and the place of Hitler’s birth to the growing German Empire. He threatened Austria with invasion if they did not cooperate with Germany. Hitler placed Nazi’s in charge of the Austrian government. Hitler’s next step was to add some territory in Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland which had a large Aryan population. Willing to risk World War to acquire this territory the west gave in and allowed Hitler to control the area, further appeasing him.

Reactions towards Nazi Germany Neville Chamberlain, the Prime minister of Great Britain says that appeasing Hitler would mean “peace for our times” as Hitler promised to take no more lands. Hitler does not fulfil his promise and continues to take land from Czechoslovakia. He turned the eastern part into a puppet state controlled by the Nazi’s. After Hitler takes territory in Czechoslovakia, he declares the he wants to take territory away from Poland also. The West now realizes that Hitler would stop at nothing to grow his empire. Great Britain & France come to realize that they would need the help of Joseph Stalin and the U.S.S.R. to control Hitler and begin military negotiations.

A growing Germany

Reactions towards Nazi Germany Hitler is made aware of the military negotiations and realizes if an agreement is reached, that they would have enemies at both their western border & eastern border, similar to WWI. Since that proved costly in WWI, Hitler begins negotiations with Stalin himself in the hopes of establishing an military agreement with the U.S.S.R. . In August of 1939, Nazi Germany & the U.S.S.R. signed the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression treaty, promising not to invade each other. In return Hitler promised Stalin eastern Poland & the Baltic states. Now that Hitler no longer feared enemies on 2 sides after coming to an agreement with Stalin, he invade Poland on September 1. 2 days later Great Britain & France declare war on Germany.

Nazi-Soviet non aggression pact political cartoon

The Japanese Path to War On the other side of the world, Japan also had plans for imperial expansion. They began by taking territory in China. They wanted to add more territory in China so the Japanese blew up a Japanese railroad and blamed it on the Chinese, opening the door for the invasion of Manchuria. The Japanese easily take that territory which was needed for it’s resources. They renamed it Manchukuo and placed a puppet ruler named Henry Pu Yi, The “last emperor” in charge. Pu Yi had abdicated the throne after a 1911 revolution. The Japanese take over of Manchuria angered the west. Japan responded by leaving the league of nations. The U.S. reacted by refusing to accept Japan’s territorial gains.

Imperial Japan

The Japanese Path to War China was facing political upheaval as a communist revolution was beginning in that country. Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of China viewed communism as a greater threat and focused his forces on the Chinese Communist Party & not the Japanese. This allowed japan more access to Northern China. 1936 after Japan had taken a lot of Chinese territory, Chiang refocused his army on the Japanese. They were continually defeated by Japan forcing Chiang to abandon the capital. He would not be in the new capital long as that city also came under Japanese control. Japan wanted to force Chiang into a New Order, comprised of China, Manchuria & Japan with the Japanese taking the lead in modernizing the other 2 areas.

The Japanese Path to War Nazi Germany & Japan held negotiations about a joint attack on the U.S.S.R., if the attack was successful they would dived the U.S.S.R’S resources among them. Since Germany signed the nonaggression pact with the U.S.S.R., Japan had to rethink their strategy as they could not defeat the Soviets on their own. Japan now focused on SE Asia for the raw goods needed to grow their military. By going into SE Asia, Japan would risk confrontation with European countries who had colonies there. First Japan makes their intentions known that they want the raw goods from French indo-china. The U.S. responds by threatening Japan with sanctions, or stopping trade with the Japanese. Japan badly needed the oil that they were getting from the U.S. so they publicly claimed that they wouldn't go into SE Asia. Japans new plan was to launch surprise attacks n SE Asia and on the U.S. in Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S.A. Dec.7th, 1941