The Causes of WWII
Please note: This is not a history of the war, it is a history of
events leading to conflict in Europe and will end at Pearl Harbor, when
what began as a European War truly became a World War. All efforts have been made
to ensure that this is factually correct, but there may be mistakes. If anybody has
nodes on events during this period, /msg me and I will hardlink them in.
Backwards to 'Effects of the Treaty of Versailles' (Part 1) and
'The 1920s in Europe' (Part 2)
Three: International Relations Crises in the 1930s
The Great Depression hit Europe hard. It began in 1929 when American investors had
fears that they would not be able to receive payments for debts and tried to get their
money back. Wall Street collapsed and all loans were called in. The Dawes Plan had
previously ensured that Europe's economy was meshed with America's, so this crash affected
Europe just as hard as it did America. All the European governments looked for explanations
and solutions to the bankruptcies and unemployment in their countries.
Hitler and the Nazis had been known since their 1923 Munich Putsch (Beer Hall Putsch), and although they were not taken very seriously, nobody counted on Hitler's enigmatic personality. With strong promises of a
strong Germany, no reparations, not ratifying the Treaty of Versailles, no corruption in Germany
and plently of food and jobs for citizens, it is not surpising that in these desperate times,
the Nazi Party was (by 1930) the second largest party in the Reichstag. In 1933, President
Hindenburg was persuaded to appoint Hitler to office (as Chancellor), even though he did not have a majority.
From that point on, Hitler seized total power in Germany.
For many countries during the Depression, war was a quick and easy solution to that nation's
problems. Conscription provided jobs through the army and arms factories, and provided
an excuse for criticism to be suppressed. In many governments,
right-wing factions struggled
against
left-wing with these arguments.
To sum up - There was no money, the League of Nations was ineffective and Europe was insecure.
Governments looked for new solutions... how about Communism, Fascism or War?
It was now that strong leaders emerged, or became very powerful, and that tension became
apparent in Europe. Leaders like Mussolini (1922), Hitler (1933), Stalin (1930) and Franco (1939)
rose to lead their countries.
Japan was the first country to take aggressive action during the 1930s by invading
China
at
Manchuria and setting up a puppet state,
Manchukuo.
Before the Great Depression, Japan's major export was
silk, a luxury item. With the collapse
of world economy, people everywhere were more interested in feeding themselves than importing
luxury items, so Japan was in financial trouble. There was unrest in the army and
population,
and Japan needed space and raw materials, so in
1931, the Japanese military (independent of
the weak government) sabotaged a section of their
railway in Japanese territory near
Mukden
on mainland China. They then blamed this on the Chinese, and used this incident as an excuse
to invade. The
League of Nations set up the
Lytton Commission to investigate this act of
aggression, and discovered the sabotage, but could do nothing. As a result, Japan got away
with keeping Manchukuo. This theme of aggression followed by
appeasement (letting an act
of aggression go in attempt to satisfy the aggressor) would happen time and time again in
the
decade to come. The Japanese and Chinese had a war that began (officially) in
1937 and
ended in
1945.
The next European event to go badly wrong was the failure of disarmament. In 1919/1920, the
Treaty of Versailles had included a clause on disarming. The disarmament conference had made
little progress (a committee had been set up by the League in 1925 but nothing had become of
this) apart from the Pact of London, in which the number of naval vessels for Britain, Japan
and the USA were limited. In 1932, Hitler declared that Germany would only disarm if other
powers did so as well - an ultimatum. France refused to consider this (as it was next to
Germany), and this suggestion was no very practical as the Manchurian Crisis was being played
out on the world stage at that point in time. The Allies also refused to revise the Treaty
of Versailles on the issue of Germany's defese capabilities. Hitler was enraged as Germany
was not getting equal treatment... so he withdrew Germany from both the Conference and the
League. In 1934, Hitler openly delared that Germany should rearm (in defiance of the Treaty).
From this moment on, disarming was forgotten as all countries began to build defenses.
In 1935, the world knew that Germany was rearming (this will be explained in another
paragraph).
In 1934, Hitler began to overestimate his power a little. He attempted anschluss
(union) with Austria against the Treaty. Nazi fifth-columnists in Austria began riots, and
were banned by the Austrian Chancellor, Dollfuss. In July, they assassinated Dollfuss and
called for Hitler to take power in Austria. However, this defiance of the Treaty caused
international protest, and Mussolini sent Italian troops to the Austrian border. Hitler backed
down. This situation is interesting from a present time perspective, as it shows that when
presented with force instead of appeasement, Hitler backed down.
In the early 1930s, Benito Mussolini was presented with a problem in Italy - he was fast losing popularity
due to the effects of the Depression. He hatched a plan to regain his country's favour through
the diversion of a successful war. In 1934, there were border clashes between Abyssinia
(Ethiopia) and Somalia (Italian controlled). These clashes were referred to the League to
be peacefully worked out, but in October 1934, Italian forces attacked Abyssinia without
declaring war or waiting for a League decision. The Italian victory in 1935 was a foregone
conclusion. Italian troops occupied Abyssinia for eight months, and the Emperor of Abyssinia,
Haile Selassie called to the press and the League for help. The League passed economic sanctions
against Italy, but these were ignored by Britain and France (the League's most powerful members,
which made a mockery of it). Britain and France did not want to offend Mussolini as he was
their hope for containing Hitler, so they did not close the Suez Canal. The British navy
also did not want to be tied down in the Mediterranean during Japanese expansion. With these
thoughts in mind, Britain and France made a secret deal (the Hoare-Laval Plan) with Italy
allowing Mussolini to keep most of Abyssinia. To the press and the public, this was betrayal,
and the Anglo-French governments were obliged to apply token sanctions against Mussolini.
This action offended Mussolini, and now his only alternative ally was Hitler.
In March 1935 Hitler re-introduced conscription upon his people, and his rearming was
no longer secret. His Luftwaffe (airforce; that was expressedly forbidden) were
revealed. Hitler was confident that no action would be taken against him because of the
British 'Peace Ballot' (a referendum in England under PM Stanley Baldwin on the issue of
British rearmament - a resounding 'no') and the strong British policy of appeasement.
Hitler was correct. The British government used the Peace Ballot as justification of appeasement
to come; Hitler viewed it as proving the British were weak. France was unhappy with German
rearming, but as it had been severely weakened by the Depression, could do nothing.
Another issue resulted from the rearming of Germany. Should Hitler be stopped in his
relentless breaking of the Treaty of Versailles? The USSR, in an attempt at collective
security, joined the League in 1934. In 1935, Britain, France and Italy met at Stresa to
discuss Hitler's actions, and eventually formed the Stresa Front (to counter Hitler's moves
and contain him). This Front, however, depended on Mussolini's cooperation, and after the
Abyssinian Crisis and resulting offending of Mussolini, the Stresa Front was useless.
After discussion in Stresa though, the three powers agreed to appease Germany's actions, and
let Hitler rearm the country.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) began as an outside event to the rest of the aggressive actions
discussed in this node. It was a revolt of the Spanish Fascist Party (led by General Franco,
with the support of the army, Church and landowners) against the Republican government who
had brought many changes to the country. The Republicans were left-wing, and the Nationalists
(Fascists) wanted changes made to bring Spain back to how it was before the current government
came to power. Hitler and Mussolini formed a Fascist triangle with General Franco against
the Republicans who were supported by the USSR and a few European volunteers. Mussolini and
Hitler both had ulterior motives for helping out in Spain - Mussolini wanted a Fascist ally;
Hitler wanted an ally, iron ore, to test out his new incendiary bombs and to use his involvement in
the war as a smokescreen for his planned anschluss with Austria (second attempt). The League
did not become involved in the Spanish Civil War apart from making Italy, Germany and the USSR
sign a statement saying that they would not be involved in the war (which all promptly ignored).
By the end of the war, which the Fascist leader General Franco won (although it is interesting
to note that although he allied with the Fascist leaders during this war, he kept Spain neutral
during WWII) Spain was in ruins with up to 1 000 000 people dead. Mussolini and Hitler had
become allies, and German weapons were tested (for example the incident at
Guernica, about which Picasso created his famous painting) and the League of Nations had
appeared very weak.
In 1936, after Germany's successful rearmament, Hitler was encouraged to reoccupy the
Rhineland, breaching the treaties of Versailles and Locarno. He had gambled that neither
Britain or France would resist, and was correct, however Nazi troops had orders to withdraw
at first sign of French opposition. The British were holding fast to the appeasement policy,
and as France was too weak to fight a Germany that was fast increasing in strength, it had
to ceed the Rhineland. The failure of Britain and France to act proved to Hitler that there
was little or no threat of the Allies engaging in a full-scale war against him anytime soon.
Enocuraged again, Hitler began his quest for lebensraum, or living space for Germans.
In October 1936 (during Fascist alliance in the Spanish Civil War), Hitler and Mussolini
signed the Rome-Berlin Axis, a 'defensive' alliance in which the two countries would work
together in matters of mutual interest. By 1939, this Axis had transformed into the Pact
of Steel, a full military alliance. In November 1936, the Anti-Comintern (Anti Communist
International) Pact (aka Rome-Tokyo-Berlin Axis) was developed. Germany, Italy and Japan were the signatories, and had
aims of restricting Soviet Russian influence in Asia and defending the signatories. Basically,
it was the alliance of the major aggressive powers of WWII.
The facts mentioned above heightened Western fears that Hitler was preparing for war,
but no action was taken.
Onwards to 'Aggression, Appeasement and the End of Peace'
Sources:
- World War II (History Workbook) :- Debra Francis
- LWON - History - International Relations - The Origins of World War II :- George Bowen
- Freedom or Compulsion :- George Bowen
- Mein Kampf :- Adolf Hitler
- The Hossbach Memorandum :- Adolf Hitler
- Various notes from class
- Photocopy of the Treaty of Versailles
Special thanks to C-Dawg for a bit of help ;)