“You were given the choice between war and
dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have
war.” Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain
following the Munich Agreement (1938)
Review of WW I Post-War treaties
As mentioned in week 3, the treaty of Versailles created another set of issues
such as extremely high reparations, the breaking up of empires, and the
perfect ingredients for an economic catastrophe
Although some revisionist scholars today argue that the postwar treaties
were the best compromises available at the time, there were
political/economic leaders from the 1920s that were extremely critical of the
treaties, such as economist John Keynes, and Chinese communist member
Mao Zedong
“Wilson in Paris was like an ant on a hot skillet. He didn’t know what to do.
He was surrounded by thieves like Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Makino, and
Orlando. He heard nothing except accounts of receiving certain amounts of
territory and of reparations worth so much in gold. He did nothing except to
attend various kinds of meetings where he could not speak his mind…I felt
very sorry for him for a long time. Poor Wilson!” – Mao Zedong in reaction
to the Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Mao was certainly biased with an anti-imperialist/pro-communist perspective, but the
U.S. Senate left Wilson to dry when they refused to become a member of the League of
Nations
The Myth about “the war to end all
wars”
WW I was also not the last war…
Following 1918, several military conflicts swept across
Europe, examples…
Russian Civil War (1917-23) – began even before WW I ended!
Hungarian Civil War (March-August, 1919) & Hungarian-
Rumanian War (Nov., 1918 – August, 1919)
Irish Civil War (1922-23)
Greco-Turkish War (1919-22)
Russo-Polish War (1920)
You do not have to remember all of these events. It is
simply important to know that WW I did not end
conflict even in the short term.
Review: Totalitarianism On the Rise &
Post – WWI
Following 1918, post-war
Europe was devastated
The war’s economic
ramifications led to a
worldwide depression
Germany, Italy & Spain
embraced fascism
USSR embraced totalitarian
communism
& Japan embraced militarism
All of these political
movements fed off the
economic and cultural
desperation of their respective
nations
Attempts of World Peace
Often WW II is taught simply as
the continuation of WW I
With the benefit of hindsight, it is
easy to be dismissive towards
post WW I attempts for world
peace (the following images
certainly highlight the difficulty
of this task)
However, this view tends to
dilute the fact that several
novelists (T. S. Eliot & Ernest
Hemingway), foundations
(Carnegie Peace Foundation) and
major powers promoted
worldwide arms reductions
following 1918…
(Above) British Punch cartoon
publications from the 1930s that
critique the League’s efforts
The U.S. & International Peace
Secretary of State Charles
Hughes attempted to address
naval arms by hosting The
Washington Armaments
Conference (1921-22)
Hughes stated, “The way to disarm
is to disarm,” and came up with the
5:5:3 naval ship ratio (for every 5
ships Britain and the U.S. built,
Japan would build 3 – why establish
this ratio?)
This conference also established the
4-power treaty, which was a
guarantee among Japan, France,
Britain and the U.S. to consult with
one another before acting if a crisis
arose in Eastern Asia – why make
this guarantee?
The U.S. & International Peace (cont.)
French foreign minister Briand
approached U.S. secretary of state
Kellogg with a guarantee that the U.S.
& France would never go to war with
one another
Fearful of being tied to a military
alliance with France, Kellogg
countered with the
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
Over 60 nations eventually signed this
pact, which, “condemn recourse to
war…and renounce it as an instrument
of national policy.”
Unfortunately, similar to the Open
Door policy with China mentioned
during Week 3, there was nothing to
enforce the Kellogg-Briand Pact…
Japan & China
From the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-
95) onward, Japan had consistently tried
to obtain more land from China,
examples…
21 Demands (1915)
Mukden Incident (1931) (On September 18,
1931, Japanese soldiers detonated a series
of explosions on a railway in Manchuria,
and then accused the Chinese of sabotage)
Japanese forces occupy Manchuria
The League of Nations condemns Japan’s
actions
Japan’s reaction: It withdraws from both
the League of Nations & Washington
Armaments treaties in 1933
The U.S. & World’s Reaction?
U.S. steel and oil businesses continue to
serve as Japan’s major trade partners,
which provides Japan with much needed
war resources
Above, U.S. condemnation of the
Mukden Incident
What does the above image imply
about diplomatic promises in
contrast to military might?
Mein Kampf – Adolf Hitler’s Political
Blueprints
Adolf Hitler, while imprisoned, wrote out his political blueprints in Mein
Kampf (My Struggle) in 1925 – it became the first work to out publish the
bible and was presented as gifts for German baptisms, weddings and
special occasions. The following include a few excerpts from this work
“All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative
race died out from blood poisoning…Those who want to live, let them
fight, and those who do not want to fight in the world of eternal struggle
do not deserve to live.”
“The mightiest counterpart to the Aryan (the supreme German race) is
represented by the Jew.”
“…I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty
Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the
Lord…”
This work served as the basis for extreme German nationalism, anti-Semitism
& anti-communism
It is likely, besides future British prime minister Winston Churchill, that
few people read this work thoroughly (it is perhaps one of the worst
written pieces of political philosophy throughout recorded history).
Nevertheless, it clearly outlined Hitler’s desire for a unified Germany
based on racial superiority in the pursuit of lebensraum (“living space”) in
Eastern Europe
Hitler’s First Spe
ech as Chancello
r
, 1933
Appeasement is the Name of the
Game
The rise of Italian & Nazi Fascism,
and Japanese militarism
challenged world peace reforms
head on…
France, Britain & The U.S.’s response to
Nazi aggression?
Appeasement – The belief that accepting
the demands of a bellicose state would
reduce, if not eliminate any chance of
hostilities
Examples of appeasement in Europe?
Hitler rearms Germany’s Air force
(Luftwaffe) and army (Wehrmacht)
Remilitarizes the Rhineland (border
region to France)
But most notably, The Munich Agreement
of 1938 – British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain believed granting Hitler the
Sudetenland (surrounding region of
Czechoslovakia) would appease him,
which is what he did in 1938 at Munich,
Britain’s reaction?
Many people believed this policy worked
effectively
In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed (aka
Anschluss) Austria.
To secure his eastern front, Hitler signed a
treaty with the Soviet Union (against any political
sense, fascists and communists made a treaty
with one another!)
U.S. Isolationism vs. Interventionism
What was the U.S.’s role in these
affairs?
Following WW I, isolationist
sentiments swept across the U.S.
From 1919-32, U.S. presidents
even attempted to reduce
intervention in Latin America
In 1935, FDR signed the first
Neutrality Act – prohibited the
sale of weapons to any nations in
a state of war
But what did this mean when a
belligerent nation like Italy
invaded a neutral nation like
Ethiopia in 1935? The U.S. refuses
to trade with either party.
By 1937, the act extended to civil
wars
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) –
Europe’s Playground of Ideologies
Following the Spanish-American war, the
Spanish monarchy went from bad times to
worse
In 1931, the monarchy dissolved
In 1936, the weak Republican government was
overthrown
Spain’s War quickly becomes an international
affair
USSR supports the Communists
Italy & Germany supports the fascists
Several U.S., British, Dutch and Belgians
volunteer, but their respective governments
provided no direct government assistance
These volunteers included notable novelists like Ernest
Hemingway and George Orwell
The League of Nations remained impotent as
generalissimo Francisco Franco established
fascist rule, which lasted into the 1970s…
(Above) 1937 – German Luftwaffe
bombed “undefended civilian targets.”
Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” (1937)
A artistic response to the nondiscriminatory
bombing of civilian targets
Isolationism (cont.)
In spring, 1937, a Gallup poll showed
94% of Americans wanted to stay out of
all wars at all costs
July 1937, Second Sino-Japanese war
begins (marks the beginning of WW II in
Asia)
China’s resistance was weakened by
internal divisions among Chinese
Nationals (KMT) and Communists (CCP)
FDR tweaks his earlier position,
denounces, “the reign of terror and
international lawlessness”
In December, 1937, U.S. citizens read
about the destruction of the USS Panay &
3 Standard Oil tankers by Japanese
bombers outside the Chinese city of
Nanking
This was just the surface of Japanese
military aggression…
Top Right – Shanghai in ruins, the
photojournalist placed that child in that
position, it was published by Time
Magazine – why put the child in that
position?
Below – USS Panay Incident (1937)
The Rape of Nanking – 1937
By December of 1937, Japanese forces had
reached Nanking’s city limits
The Japanese military had encountered
moderate KMT military resistance when
approaching the city
The KMT forces routed, most of which fled
from the city of Nanking, when the Japanese
forces reached the city, this is what happened…
Estimated 140,000-200,000 civilians killed
If it was not for the efforts of Nazi party member John Rabe
and U.S./British missionaries, the figure would have been
higher…
Soldiers gang raped and murdered women (pregnant
women were not spared)
Children were thrown on bayonets (viewer discretion i
s strongly advised)
This event is known as the Rape of Nanking,
which the Japanese government to this day
largely refutes
U.S.’s response?
Japan pays $2 million in reparations the U.S.
continues to trade with Japan…
(Above) Two Japanese officers had a beheading
competition – their actions were publicized and
praised in Japan
War in Europe…Again
The German Wehrmacht (Army)
utilizes mechanized infantry, tank
regiments and modernized air power
to knock out Polish Defenses
(September, 1939)
In less than a month, Poland is knocked out of
the War (still, they put up more of a resistance
than France would the next year)
In 1940, the German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe
would adapt Blitzkrieg tactics (“Lightening
War”), which refers to the combined use of
artillery, infantry, tanks and air power
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is enacted and
Poland is split between Germany and the USSR
France & Britain declare war on Germany, but
do not attack – this period is known to them as
the Phony War – it did not feel phony for
anyone who was actually fighting
The German Juggernaut turns North &
West
In 1940, Nazi Germany
attacked and overwhelmed…
Denmark & Norway
The Low Countries (Belgium,
Netherlands and Luxembourg)
Led to the British Expeditionary
Force evacuation at Dunkirk Beach
The following scene demonstrates
the chaotic
rout of the BEF at Dunkirk
France (the free world is
stunned)
& Romania
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
demonstrates Britain’s resolve with
the “We Shall Never Surrender ”
speech
American mobilization
Alarmed by Germany’s military
successes, Roosevelt prepares the
country for war
Defense spending goes from $3
billion to $17 billion (1940)
In the summer of 1940, all men aged
21-35 are required to register for a
year’s military service
After Britain won the Battle of
Britain (air battle between the
German Luftwaffe and the British
Royal Air Force), the U.S. traded 50
obsolete destroyers for 99-year land
leases on several bases – primarily
in the Caribbean
FDR launches the Lend-Lease Act
(passes in March, 1941)
The U.S. must become, as FDR
stated, “The Great Arsenal of
Democracy.”
(Above) What are some of Dr. Seuss’s
criticisms of the Lend Lease Act?
Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (January,
1941)
In 1941, FDR issued the Four Freedoms – go to the
following site for his full speech
The First is freedom of speech and expression – everywhere in the world.
The Second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way…
The Third is freedom from want – which…means economic
understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life
for its inhabitants.
The Fourth is freedom from fear – which…means a world-wide reduction
of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no
nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against
any neighbor.”
As you can imagine, some U.S. citizens felt the Four Freedoms were
hypocritical – go to the following site– which ethnic group argues they do
not have equal political and socioeconomic rights at this time?
(copy and paste the “following site” link if you have trouble opening it)
Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941) – A
Soviet Soldier asked his CO, “We are being
fired upon. What shall we do?”
From early 1941 onward, Germany continued
to enjoy extreme military success
Sole exception: Does not knock out Britain
Eager to carve out Lebensraum (living space)
for the German people, Hitler
orders the invasion of the USSR – this
marked the largest military operation in
history
Due to Stalin’s purges, the Soviet military is
woefully unprepared (Stalin himself endures a
weeklong nervous breakdown)
Churchill’s reaction, “If Hitler invaded Hell, I
would make at least a favorable reference to
the Devil…” – Britain allies with the USSR
The U.S. extends aid to the USSR via the Lend-
Lease Act
The German army does not take Moscow,
but invades deep into Soviet territory
Mobile Killing-Units (Einsatzgruppen) follow
front line troops and systematically kill tens of
thousands of Jews across Eastern Europe
FDR’s Four
Freedoms
provided little
comfort for
Holocaust victims
across conquered
Soviet territory
(below)
The Atlantic Ocean, An Undeclared
War Against Germany
Despite the fact the U.S.
had no formal alliances with
Britain, France and/or China,
on August, 1941, Churchill &
Roosevelt agreed to the
Atlantic Charter
Emphasized free trade, respect
of political autonomy & a
mission to end Nazi tyranny
In September, FDR orders U.S.
Navy ships to patrol against
German U-Boats. As of this
time, the U.S. Navy is at war
with the “rattlesnakes of the
Atlantic,” (German U-boats).
While Japanese soldiers brutally raped and
pillaged their way across China, the Japanese
government claimed they were…
Removing the imperialist yoke of the Americans,
British, and Dutch
& in their stead creating The Greater East Asia Co-
Prosperity Sphere
In the next slide, you will see several pieces of Japanese
propaganda from WW II – look at the images carefully
and reflect on what message(s) they are communicating
Japan’s “Asia for the Asians”
Campaign
Japan & The Greater East Asia Co-
Prosperity Sphere
September 27, 1940, Japan signs a Tripartite
Agreement with Germany and Italy – forms the
Axis Powers.
Where is the Japanese
boy placed in the
(Above) above picture?
Japanese hand
shaking a
Filipino’s hand
Caricatures of
Franklin Roosevelt
and Winston
Churchill
Japan in Indochina
Japan occupies French Indochina (Laos,
Vietnam and Cambodia) by late 1941
Burma possesses strong anti-colonial
movement
Steady Japanese-Indochina Relations?
No, Japanese soldiers regularly disrespected
these regions (e.g. urinating on Buddhist
temples as they believed Indochinese Buddhist
denominations were inferior to their own
Shinto Buddhist beliefs)
July, 1940 – the U.S. places a trade
embargo on Japan
Thailand allies with Japan in December,
1941
By mid 1941, Japan is desperate for
natural resources
Japan takes an extreme risk and launches
an all out war against the Chinese,
British, Dutch & U.S. colonies/states…
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