Road to WWIIFocus Question: How do we go from the “War to End all Wars“ to WWII?

What were the legacies of the Treaty of Versailles?

Legacies of the Treaty of VersaillesMilitary Restrictions (Disarmament)-

Limits set on size of German army, forbidden to build up naval force or have air force Germany prohibited from importing/manufacturing weapons

Territorial LosesGermany returned Alsace-Lorraine to French and lose all African and Pacific coloniesFrench border extends into Rhine River

Collective Security (League of Nations)International Peace Keeping organization- Germany and Russia excluded

War GuiltSole Responsibility of war to GermanyGermany forced to pay $30 billion in reparations to Allied Powers

Legacies of WWI: The Great Suffering

Atmosphere of Post-War France and Great Britain

War was simply too abhorrent to both Great Britain and France; neither wished to repeat what they had endured during WWI“Peace at any Price”- French foreign minister, Aristide Briand argued in the 1920’sIn 1928 France and the United States signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which denounced war as a means of settling disputes—eventually 52 nations of the world signed the agreement A “Peace Ballot,” initiated in Great Britain in 1935, resulted in 11 million vote for reduction of armaments by international agreement

Spectrum Activity1. Consider the previous slides and

for the next activity imagine you were a member of the Allied powers during WWI.

2. You will be presented with various scenarios that took place in Europe throughout the 1930s. Evaluate the actions of Germany and establish whether you believe action should or should not have been taken against Germany.

Rearmament

European Reaction

Three countries, Britain, France and Italy, signed an agreement condemning Hitler’s announcement. But no country took military action to stop this breach of the Treaty of Versailles

Invasion of Rhineland

European Reaction of Invasion of Rhineland

But the gamble paid off. The British refused to help the French, and the French did not want to fight Germany single-handed. So the German army stayed in the Rhineland and was able to build up a great line of forts on the border with France and Belgium. The building of this so-called ‘West-Wall’ meant that, in the future, France and Britain could not easily take military action against Germany if Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles.

Alliances and Anschluss (union)

with Austria

European Reaction to Alliances and Anschluss (union) with Austria

Shuschnigg asked Italy, Britain and France to protect his country, but all three refused. He had to resign. An Austrian Nazi took his place and immediately asked Hitler to send German troops into Austria to help ‘restore order’Hitler could now send in German troops by invitation!

He hadn’t attacked or invaded the countryAustrians were now forced to live under a Nazi reign of terror

The Sudetenland Crisis

European Reaction to the Sudetenland Crisis

Hitler got a second chance to invade Czechoslovakia within months, and he was given the chance by Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain. Chamberlain thought that the Sudetenland should belong to Germany and persuaded the French to agree with him

He believed that there would be a big war if Hitler did not get what he wantedChamberlain was willing to go to almost any lengths to avoid such a warHe felt that APPEASING Hitler was the best option

The Munich ConferenceThe Policy of Appeasement

Chamberlain met with Hitler 3 times to try to work out a peaceful solution to the problems that were occurring in the SudetenlandThe 3rd meeting took place in Munich and the leaders of France & Italy were also in attendanceIt was agreed that Hitler would get the Sudetenland

The Czech leaders were not consulted but need to comply because without the British and French they had not allies to back them up

The photograph shows (front, from left to right) the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano.

European Leaders at the Munich Conference

Time Magazine-1938The crisis proved…that modern communication and enlightenment…reduce the chances of an outbreak of war. For the first time in history, a major conflict had been settled by talking instead of shooting first. And, while [many people] deplored the dismemberment of central Europe’s one island of democracy and were saddened for the painful uprooting of the minorities which will leave the ceded territories, realists took heart from one fact…The Czechoslovakia rape had at least set a precedent, which might flower into a great influence for peace, for aggressors being persuaded to follow legal-diplomatic forms.

Munich Agreement and the Policy of Appeasement

Chamberlain flew back to London feeling very pleased with himselfHis policy of appeasement had avoided war…

EVALUATE:What do you think about the policy of Appeasement?

PROS & CONS

Despite promises by Hitler not to, six months after the Munich Agreement, he seized control of the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Hungary and Poland took the rest.

Czechoslovakia no longer existed.

Evaluation of Appeasement

In the post-war atmosphere, some political analysts believed (or perhaps wanted to believe) that Hitler merely wanted to incorporate German-speaking populations into his Third Reich. Other saw Hitler as a bulwark (safeguard) against Communist Russia. Still others though that he was so strong as to be irresistible. Whatever the rationale, the policy worked out to the same thing: whine a little, but give Hitler what he wants and everyone can sleep at night, knowing war has been avoided. That attitude enabled Hitler to:

• Re-arm Germany, take back the Rhineland, annex Austria, annexed the Sudetenland and eventually the rest of Czechoslovakia.