World War II

Liberalism in the Interwar Period  Treaty of Versailles (1919)  Disillusionment with BOP politics  National self-determination: –Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic countries  Liberal Idealism: –Woodrow Wilson: “The Fourteen Points”

The League of Nations (1920)  Collective security principle –Aggression against one is aggression against all (art. 16) –Outlaw aggression –Pledge to assist victims of aggression –Act collectively against aggressor  Decisions by unanimity  US did not join the League  Treaty of Locarno (1925): allows Germany into the League

The Failure of Collective Security  Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931)  Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935)  German annexation of Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) 1938 –Munich Agreement between Hitler and Chamberlein

Hitler’s Rise to Power  National Socialist Party (Nazis) win and becomes chancellor: 1933 –National humiliation –Economy devastated –Hyper inflation  Totalitarian state system  Fascist and nationalist ideology  Expansionist foreign policy

Appeasing Hitler  March into Rhineland (1936)  Annexation of Austria (1938)  The Munich Agreement over Czechoslovakia (1938)  Treaty between Germany and USSR

Blitzkrieg and Over-reach  Germany invades Norway, Holland, Belgium, France, pushes back the British  Germany invades USSR (1942)  Japan and the US get involved (1941)  Germany defeated: 1945

The Nuremberg Trials ( )

Causes of WWII?

Structural Causes  Post WWI peace unstable: Treaty of Versailles  Failure of institutions and collective security  Failure to balance German power

Domestic Politics  Rise of fascism in Germany, Spain, Italy  Isolationism in the US  Imperialism in Japan  The Great Depression and economic collapse  Internal divisions in liberal democracies

The Role of Individuals  Hitler’s war?  Poor judgment on the part of Neville Chamberlain?  Miscalculation of by Japanese leadership?  Wrong lessons learned from WWI?

Was World War II inevitable? What factors contributed most to this event?

Lessons of WWII  Appeasement leads to larger conflicts  Nationalism taken to extreme dangerous  Disillusionment with collective security and international institutions  The Holocaust: “Never Again!”

War and Its Causes Frequency of war: 5500 years of recorded history: 14,500 wars. 278 from 1480 to from 1816 to 1980 Several causes of war (Farnsworth, 1992):  Human nature  Balance of power theory: imbalances cause war, equilibrium causes peace  Arms races and security dilemma  Number of states in system - both directions: some argue more equal powers equals less war; others like Waltz that fewer is better  Demands of domestic system - capitalist economies battle over rights to resources; competing economic/political systems; colonial wars;  Nationalism  Bad leadership and policy choices