1. Origins of World War II

2. World War One 1914-1918 Germany, Austria Hungary, Turkey vs
Britain, USA, Russia, France
Germany suffered:
- Casualties
- Starvation
- Rebellion
- Had to surrender

3. The Big Three Wilson (USA) Clemenceau (France) Lloyd George (Britain)
14 Points
Revenge / Weaken Germany
Make Germany pay

4. Treaty of Versailles (Terms)
Germany has:
-No submarines
-No air force
-Loses 13% of territory in total
-Polish corridor lost
-Alsace & Lorraine lost
-Rhineland Demilitarised
-Colonies Lost
-War guilt clause

5. Views of Versailles Germans: -Murderous -Enslavement
-End as a great power
-Resented corridor
-Secret
-Bankrupting
Others:
-Germans had heavily punished Russians
-Still had many resources
-Was mostly to blame

6. Other Treaties
St Germain
-Austria carved into 4 states
Sevres
-Turkey

7. League of Nations Wilson’s idea Sought lasting peace
Collective security
Maintains peace through:
-Negotiation
-Arbitration
-Sanctions
-Force
Mandates
Outside the League
-Russia (civil war)
-USA (isolationism)
-Germany (punishment)
+ France saw L of N for holding Germany down

8. The 1920s Germans see L of N as Versailles enforcer French alliances
-Still worried about Germany
-Allied with Belgium + Poland, Czeckoslovakia, Yugoslavia
1923 Ruhr occupied by France
-Germany fallen behind on reparations
-Opposition from workers on strike
-Germany engineered hyper inflation
1924 Dawes plan
-Reparations modified
-More time to pay

9. More 1920s Money go round 1925 Locarno Pact:
-France, UK, Belgium, Germany
-Germany accepts Western borders as final
-Eases tension
1926 Germany joins L of N
1928 Kellog Briand Pact
-Symbolised growing sense of security
-France and USA
-Renounce War
-Fight only in defence
-65 countries join
1929 Young Plan
-German reparations reduced

10. 1924-29 An era of hope? No Yes -Old fears remained
-Germany not accept Eastern borders or war guilt
-UK not interested in Europe
-Germany borrowed more than paid
-Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
-Hitler + Nazis continued to survive
Yes
-International Agreements
-Prosperous times
-Anti war feeling high

11. 1929-1934 -Leads to depression 1929 Wall Street Crash
-Lytton Commission
-League fails
-Mussolini mobilises in support of Austria
1929 Wall Street Crash
1931 Japan occupies Manchuria
1933 Japan leaves League
1934 Anschluss tried

12. 1934-1936 1934 USSR joins league -Afraid of Germany
1935 Italy invades Abyssinia
(last remaining independent state)
-Wants Mediterranean as Italian lake
-Hoare Laval Pact
-Seeks compromise
-UK not close Suez canal
-Sanctions fail
1936 Italy leaves L of N

13. 1936 Germany remilitarises Rhineland -UK & France do nothing
-Cements Hitler’s power
-Army leaders had doubts
-Victory none the less
Civil War in Spain
-Republicans vs Fascists
-Franco
-Germany + Italy support fascists
-Test bed for German military
-Bombing of Guernica
-Franco Wins
-L of N Fails

14. 1936 Rome Berlin Axis
-Japan attacks China
-Rape of Nanking
1937 Rome Berlin Tokyo
1938 Anschluss
-Germany occupies and absorbs Austria
-Hitler’s homeland
1930s policy of appeasement
-France & UK
-Based on giving way to Hitler’s demands
-Depression of more concern
-Rearmament costly
-Next war could be even more destructive
-Central Europe far away
-Defensive Maginot Line thinking

15. 1938 Munich Crisis Hitler demands Sudetenland from Czeckoslovakia
Chamberlain flies to Germany (Munich)
Germany, Italy, France, UK do not consult Czecks
Appeasement in action
Versailles broken, L of N fails

16. 1939 Slide to War
Rest of Czeckoslovakia divided by Germany, Poland, Hungary
Pact of Steel, Germany + Italy
Anti-Communism pact signed by Japan, Germany, Italy
France + UK guarantee Polish security
Soviet-German non-aggression pact
Molotov & Ribbentrop
Secret agreement to divide Poland
War inevitable

17. 1939 War Begins September 1 German Blitzkrieg in Poland
Russia joins in to divide Poland
War in Atlantic
U Boats aiming to cut UK supplies
Phoney War in France

18. 1940 Attacks in the West Norway Low Countries France Panzer Blitz
British + French unco-ordinated
UK retreat for evac at Dunkirk
Mussolini enters war
Britain alone
USA neutral
Lend Lease

19. Ongoing War in 1940s Battle of Britain
Germany sought air superiority for invasion
Narrow German defeat
Radar vital
German tactics inconsistent

20. 1940-41 Germany on Top Italians defeated by British in North Africa
Germans invade Balkans to support Italy
NZ + allies defeated in Greece + Crete
Rommel victories in desert
Bombing Blitz on UK
Battle of Atlantic being lost
Vital for raw materials for UK

21. 1941 Fatal Year for Axis Hitler determined to invade USSR
-Thinks war in West is won
-Slavs inferior
-Wants living space
Hitler’s fatal miscalculation
-Broke principle of avoiding war on two fronts
-Russia vast and a harsh environment
-Russia bigger population

22. 1941 Japan Seeks an Empire Co-prosperity sphere Wanted resources
Oil vital
Living space
Been in negotiations with USA
Suspicions and rivalry between the two had escalated
Japan decided on a knock-out blow
Tactical success
Strategic blunder

23. Japan’s Fatal Miscalculation
USA much larger + industrial
Determined on revenge
Hitler hoped Japan would declare war on Russia so he declared war on USA
A world war is the result