Why did international peace collapse by 1939 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Why did international peace collapse by 1939Slide2

Reason: The Versailles Settlement and The League of Nations

The Treaty of Versailles left Germans Extremely dissatisfied.

Did not prevent them from growing into a powerful State

League of Nations did not have the resources to defend against aggressors

( Japan/ Manchuria, Italy/ Abyssinia and Later Germany)

Led to a policy of Appeasement ( Making pacts with dictators in order to satisfy their demands with out going to warSlide3

Reason: Appeasement Slide4

Reasons for Appeasement of Germany

Many British people agreed with Hitler that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair

.

Hitler attacked communists and unionist an idea which many of British conservatives shared

Many

British people wanted peace

.

Many people in Britain felt that events in Europe were not Britain's

business.

Believed a strong Germany would stop westward expansion of communism Slide5

Reason: Hitler's goal of making Germany great

In order to do this he believed he must achieve three secondary objectives

Destroy the Treaty of Versailles

Expand German territory.

Destroy

C

ommunism Slide6

Destroy The Treaty Of Versailles

Disarmament would be broken by building of Air Force, Navy, and Army

League issued

Stresa

Front ( A

strongly worded protest to Germanys rearmament)

The allies did not follow through on their threats

After the failure of the

Stresa

Front lead to the signing of a mutual assistance pack between Soviet Russia, France, and Czechoslovakia Slide7

Destroy The Treaty Of Versailles

Germanys western Frontier would reinforced by remilitarizing the Rhineland Region

The French and British did nothing to stop the Germans.Slide8

Expand German territory.

(

Lebensraum)

Hitler believed Germans needed more Lebensraum (living space)

The only way to do this was to expand eastward into Russia and Poland.

He had a desire to unite all German speakers into the

Reich

(A central European empire)

German boundaries would now spread into Austria,

Czechoslovakia

and PolandSlide9

Destroy Communism

The menace of Russia hangs over Germany.

All

our strength is needed to rescue our

nation from

this international snake

.

Hitler, Mein

Kampf

(1924)Slide10

Destroy Communism

The Nazis were Fascists the exact opposite of the Russian Communists

Hitler blamed the Communists for Germany's defeat in World War One, and he feared that the Communists were trying to take over Germany.

Anti-

Comintern

Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan. Each pledges to support the others in conflicts against communism.Slide11

Eight Events That Lead To War

(

Scramcup

)

S

AAR PLEBISCITE

C

onscription and Re-Armament

R

hineland

A

ustria

M

unich

C

zechoslovakia

U

SSR/Nazi Pact

P

olandSlide12

Saar Plebiscite

he Treaty of Versailles had put the Saar under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years.

In 1935 the inhabitants of the Saar voted to return to Germany.

The

Saar plebiscite is cited by many historians as the first step to war. Slide13

Conscription/ Rearnment

Hitler began to build up his armed forces. In 1935 he introduced conscription (calling up men to the army).

This

broke the Treaty of Versailles, but Britain and France let him get away with it. Slide14

RhineLand

Hitler invaded the Rhineland on 7 March 1936. This broke the Treaty of Versailles.

It was a bluff – the German army had only 22,000 soldiers and had orders to retreat if they met any resistance.

But

once again, Britain and France did nothing. Slide15

Austria

In 1938, Hitler took over Austria.

First, Hitler encouraged the Austrian Nazis to demand union with Germany.

Then

Hitler invaded Austria (11 March 1938)

.

This

broke the Treaty of

Versailles but once again

Britain and France did nothing. Slide16

Munich

In 1938, Hitler tried to take over the

Sudetenland( German Speaking region of Czechoslovakia).

First, Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Nazis to demand union with Germany.

Then

, Hitler made plans to invade Czechoslovakia

.

Neville

Chamberlain (French Prime Minister)

appeased Hitler. At Munich, on 29 September 1938, Britain and France gave Hitler the Sudetenland.Slide17
Slide18

Czechoslovakia

On 15 March 1939, Hitler’s troops marched into the rest of Czechoslovakia.

This

, for most British people, was the time when they

realized

that the only thing that would stop Hitler was a war. Slide19

USSR/Nazi Pact

In

summer 1939, Hitler began to unfold his plan to take over Poland.

First

, the Germans in Danzig demanded union with Germany. Then, Hitler threatened war

.

Chamberlain promised the Poles that Britain would support them if Germany attacked Poland

.

In August 1939, Hitler made a secret treaty with Russia. He thought this would stop Britain & France helping Poland.Slide20

Poland

In April 1939, Chamberlain announced the 'Polish Guarantee' - a promise to defend Poland if Hitler invaded (this was the event which ended appeasement).

On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland.

On 3 September 1939, Chamberlain declared war on Germany.Slide21

Russia’s Place In Pre WW2

(Russia and England)

In

1939, he invited Lord Halifax, the British Foreign Secretary to go to Russia to discuss an alliance against Germany.

with war in Poland looming, the British eventually

sent an official.

He travelled by slow

boat.

He did not have authority to make any decisions, and had to refer every question back to London.

Russians asked if they could send troops into Poland if Hitler invaded.

The British refused. The talks broke down.Slide22

Hitler and Russia

In August 1939, Hitler sent

Nazi Officials to

russian.Theye

offered a Nazi-Soviet alliance – Russia and Germany would not go to war, but would divide Poland between

them

Stalin knew Hitler was lying, but he did not trust the British either – the Munich Agreement had convinced him that Britain and France would never dare to go to war with Hitler.Slide23

Stalin's Decision

(The Nazi Soviet Pact)

Stalin had two choices:

If

he made an alliance with Britain, he would end up fighting a war with Hitler over Poland.

If

he made an alliance with Germany, he would get half of Poland, and time to prepare for the coming war with Germany.

He chose the latter. On 23 August 1939, he signed the Pact with Hitler.Slide24