The Move to Global War - Italy and Germany

1. World Trade declined by 70%

2. Massive unemployment in industrialized countries

3. Collapse of banks around the world

4. Trade barriers - these barriers were supposed to keep money in the country and protect domestic businesses. They decreased and harmed trade. Some countries only traded with their colonies through systems of imperial preference.

1. Coalition governments formed in many countries due to political instability.

2. USA - the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Democrats in 1933. This continued USA’s isolation policies.

3. UK - imperial preference brought some economic stability, a coalition government formed in 1931. P.M.H Bell argued that UK’s trade barriers caused DE to get politically closer to central and eastern EU. The UK limited arms.

4. France - unstable coalition governments, imperial preference, self-sufficient in food production.

5. DE - high unemployment, suspension of reparation payments from TOV at some point due to poor economy.

Nazis:

• autarky

• lebensraum and denying TOV

• hatred for Jews and other minorities

• women in the home

• Aryan race

Commies:

• rejecting nationalism and religion

• confiscation of private property

1. Coalition governments of Bruning, von Papen and von Schleicher failed, Hitler appointed chancellor in 1933 as his party had crazy support.

2. March 1933 election gave Hitler 44% of the Reichstag seats, however that’s also because he got rid of his opposition by:

   1. banning the KPD for burning down the Reichstag

   2. harassing and attacking opposition candidates

   3. restricting civil liberties

3. March 1933 - Enabling Act was passed which allowed Hitler to create laws and sign treaties without approval from the Reichstag.

1. League of Nations - no authority

2. France

   1. worked to isolate DE.

   2. formed an alliance with CZSL and PL.

   3. wanted an alliance with UK (failed), made ties with ITA

   4. maintained a large military

   5. invaded the Ruhr in 1923 cuz DE wasn’t paying

   6. was politically unstable due to the fight between nationalists and communists, who wanted opposite things. This made FR weak.

UK

1. diplomatic and economic rehabilitation of DE

   1. trade would benefit both

   2. better economy would stop commies in DE

   3. TOV terms needed to be revised.

2. UK didn’t have a formal alliance with FR but didn’t want sour relations. They sought disarmament.

DE lost land

1. Poland got DE territory

2. The region of Memel was under international administration.

3. Gdańsk became a free city under LON control and was completely surrounded by Poland.

4. Saar region (with coal and iron) was ruled by FR until a vote in 1935 determined its future.

USRR

1. The Five Year Plan began in 1928 and started the country’s industrialization. Collectivisation happened too, led to famine.

2. Supported commies in the west.

1. Emphasis on nationalism.

2. Support for industrialists and (supposedly) workers

3. anti-communism

4. obedience to the state

5. single-party government led by an authoritarian leader

1. ITA was one of the victors of WWI. It was promised land in the Treaty of London in 1915 but never got it.

2. WWI left a huge debt and political and economic instability.

3. Mussolini created the Black shirts, who were supported by industrialists, bankers and conservatives. He gained support through nationalism and anti-communism.

4. March on Rome - October 1922, Mussolini threatened to seize power and he was appointed prime minister by the King. Quickly turned to Il Duce.

1. banned all parties except the Fascist party

2. banned opposition newspapers

3. outlawed labor unions

4. used violence and intimidation

1. he created youth groups based on fascist ideology

2. reconciled the government with the Catholic Church regarding territories seized in the 19th century, e.g Rome.

3. relied on propaganda to depict his rule as the return of ancient Rome.

Fascism embraced war, expansion and imperialism. War led to:

1. women’s role as mothers being stressed

2. the goal of a high birth rate to support future armies

3. the belief that men should sacrifice themselves for the state

1. ITA’s economy relied on international trade with UK, FR and USA, hence the need for careful foreign policy.

2. Opportunism, especially in regards to weaker nations. Greece with Corfu Incident, fighting with Yugoslavia. Prior to WWI, Italy got control of Somaliland, Eritrea and Libya, all poor countries.

1. Trade barriers stopped trade with FR, UK and USA, so ITA traded with eastern Europe.

2. Lack of consciousness regarding the economy allowed ITA to act on its foreign policy goals without fear.

1. Deficit Spending as a way to stimulate the economy.

2. Increase in military size.

3. Increase of government and consumer spending, decline in unemployment, the expansion of the army and navy further decreasing unemployment.

4. By the mid 1930s, Mussolini could act on his foreign policy goals because:

   1. ITA was less dependent on UK, FR and USA.

   2. The government had increased control of the industry and the economy.

   3. Italy’s military was expanding in size and equipment.

5. In 1933, Mussolini reorganized the government, making himself minister of war, interior, foreign affairs and the prime minister.

1. 1934 - assassination of the Austrian dictator by the Austrian Nazi party, who wanted Anschluss. Mussolini viewed this as a threat to ITA because:

   1. ITA bordered Austria.

   2. ITA worked with UK and FR to isolate DE.

   3. ITA had political and economic interests in this region.

2. Mussolini announced his intentions to move Italian troops to the border with Austria in 1934.

1. Formed in 1935 by UK, FR and ITA as a united front against DE.

2. Partially in response to DE remilitarization and meddling in Austria.

3. ITA and FR wanted to cooperate until ITA became involved in the Abyssinian Crisis.

1. Mussolini wanted to make ITA a great power like the UK. ITA had some colonies but they were poor.

2. Mussolini chose to get Abyssinia (Ethiopia) because it bordered his current colonies and had weak protection. Abyssinia offered little economic benefits but expansion was more important than economic

1. December 1934 - the Abyssinian and Italian troops skirmished at the small Abyssinian oasis of Wal-Wal.

2. 2 ITA and 100 Abyssinian troops were killed, ITA demanded an indemnity and an apology.

3. Abyssinia appealed to LON but LON decided in 1935 that the incident was minor and no one was at fault.

4. ITA had been preparing for an invasion since December 1934. UK and FR knew but they didn’t want to risk their good relations.

5. OCTOBER 1935 - ITA invaded Abyssinia. The emperor, Haile Selassie, escaped to the UK. In 1936, ITA merged its colonies into Italian East Africa.

• LON condemned the invasion in October 1935 and voted to impose economic sanctions, but never an oil embargo. In May 1936, LON allowed Abyssinia’s emperor to speak so ITA left LON in protest.

• The Suez Canal wasn’t closed to ITA, FR didn’t threaten ITA either.

  Consequences for LON

  • The response to the invasion showed that LON couldn’t enforce collective security.

  • It allowed the destruction of a member state by another member state.

  • FR and UK seemed more concerned with themselves than anything.

  • It showed with Japan and Manchuria and now Italy and Abyssinia that member states could just leave if they had a problem.

  • So they lost all legitimacy.

1. Neither country wanted to damage relations with Italy.

2. In Jan 1935, FR PM promised Mussolini that FR wouldn’t intervene in Abyssinia.

3. Britain hoped to avoid annexing of Abyssinia by ITA.

4. In FR and the UK, different groups supported LON and different groups supported ITA. So political instability.

5. Neither UK nor FR wanted their actions to lead to war and Mussolini’s anti-communism was important too.

6. Hoare-Laval Plan, DECEMBER 1935 - plan between UK and FR foreign ministers which assumed giving 2/3 of Abyssinia to ITA, and making 1/3 an independent state. This plan got leaked to the French press, Hoare was forced to resign and the pact was abandoned.

USA

• USA banned selling military goods to ITA and Abyssinia but this only hurt Abyssinia because ITA made its own arms anyways.

• USA didn’t recognize Italian East Africa.

USRR

• condemned Italy and imposed economic sanctions as well as an embargo on trail.

1. Italy left LON in May 1936.

2. Its economy became more isolated from Western Europe and USA but it strengthened ties with eastern and central European countries.

3. Focused on rearmament.

4. The Rome-Berlin Axis was a mark of strengthening ITA-DE relations.

5. The Stresa Front collapsed.

6. Italy declared it would not oppose Anschluss.

7. By the late 1930s, DE came up on top and made the decisions in the agreement.

1. Italy supported Franco in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. Mussolini hoped France could get involved so he could get Corsica but France never got involved.

2. Albania was a new country. During WWI, ITA seized Albania as a way to supply Serbia but Austro-Hungarian forces quickly kicked them out.

3. After the war, tensions over Albania’s borders appeared between Italy and Greece. The Korfu Incident happened.

4. Italy established a protectorate over Albania, whose president signed an alliance with ITA in 1926. The state changed from a republic to a monarchy in 1928.

1. Back in 1931, Mussolini attempted to gain control of Albania’s economy and demanded land.

2. ITA military advisors were forced out of Albania and Albania closed Italian-operated schools.

3. Mussolini suspended laws to Albania.

4. Albania tried to get help from France, but they wanted even more land than ITA, so King Zog began negotiations with ITA again.

5. In June 1934, Italian troops landed in Albania.

6. Albania wasn’t allowed alliances except with ITA.

7. Restrictions on trade with ITA ended.

8. Italy’s navy could use Durres as a naval base.

9. In 1939, Mussolini demanded almost complete control of Albania which King Zog didn’t want to do.

10. In April 1939, Italian troops landed in Durres. All of the country was soon occupied. Mussolini annexed Albania and declared Italy’s king to be the new king of Albania.

1. LON didn’t do anything.

2. UK and FR didn’t do anything either.

3. Basically no one did anything, except the USRR who protested.

• May 1939

• Italy and Germany sign the Pact of Steel. They agreed to support each other in case of war and to cooperate in the economics and military.

• Germany didn’t abide by the terms of the Pact of Steel as it didn’t inform Italy of its plans to invade Poland until August 1939.

• Italy wasn’t ready for war so they somehow agreed that Italy could stay in the alliance without fighting if they supported Germany diplomatically and politically.

1. Hitler became chancellor in Jan 1933. By 1938 he had total power.

2. Gleichschaltung - policy of ‘making the same’ which meant merging the party with the government.

   1. abolishing labor unions

   2. banning other parties

   3. government officials = Nazi officials

   4. giving all police power to SS

3. In 1934, Hitler executed rivals.

4. By 1938, he controlled the army so… everything.

The New Plan, 1934

• Introduced by Hjalmar Schacht.

• DE only traded with countries if their exports>= their imports

• food became cheaper

• more money became available for rearmament

• increased trade with eastern and central eu made it rely economically and politically on Germany

The Four Year Plan, 1936-9

• led by Hermann Goering.

• supposed to increase autarky and support rearmament.

• Military production increased but with it, inflation did too.

• supposedly was supposed to prepare DE for war in the 1940s.

1. Following 1919, France formed alliances with Poland and The Little Entente with CZSL, RO and Yugoslavia. Germany felt trapped.

2. World Disarmament Conference 1932 - the goal was to decrease size of armies. FR didn’t want to do It unless USA and UK would guarantee security, but they didn’t want to. So DE wanted to increase its army too. It left the conference and soon LON too.

3. In 1935, rearmament began, against TOV:

   1. conscription began

   2. establishing a large air force

   3. expanding the navy

4. By 1939, Germany’s military was very large, compared to the other countries who limited its size due to the Great Depression.

1. In April 1935, the Stresa Front with UK, FR and ITA was created in response to German rearmament.

2. In May 1935, France signed the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assurance. They agreed to work through the LON for peace and aid each other in case of conflict.

3. Britain began rearmament on a large scale, its military production rose by 600% from 1935 to 1939.

Nazi philosophy and beliefs influenced German foreign policy:

1. revising the TOV

2. pan-Germanism, all Germans should live in Germany

3. anti-communism

4. lebensraum

5. Aryan race superiority

6. democracy made weak states

7. Germany needed strong leadership.

• Germany and Poland agreed not to attack each other for a period of 10 years.

• Poland had a large army, had an alliance with FR and feared USRR more so they didn’t think DE was a problem.

• Germany benefited because:

  • could rearm without fear about PL

  • had weakened the PL-FR alliance

  • they got to trade with Poland more.

• France was mad, its alliance with PL was weakened.

• In 1922, The Rapallo Treaty established good relations between USRR and DE so they cooperated. The PL-DE pact ended that. USSR joined LON.

• Hitler wanted Austria due to pan-Germanism. Also he was Austrian.

• In June 1934, Hitler and Mussolini discussed making Austria Germany’s satellite state. Mussolini rejected this idea, so Hitler encouraged the Austrian Nazi Party to stage a coup but this only led to the Stresa Front.

• The Saar was iron and coal rich.

• It was a region administered by LON.

• In 1935 a plebiscite showed that 90% of Saar residents wanted to join Germany.

• This limited Germany’s navy to 35% of UK’s navy.

• The Stresa Front was weakened by this treaty as FR and ITA thought it encouraged DE rearmament.

• The Stresa Front completely collapsed following Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935.

• DE benefited from favorable conditions in EU at the time such as FR and UK not knowing what to do about them, nobody wanting to work with the USRR.

• In March 1936, Hitler used the Abyssinian Crisis as a chance to act and reoccupied the Rhineland.

• He argued that the Franco-Soviet Treaty altered the Locarno Treaties (guaranteeing peace in Western Europe) so he could change more.

• France never responded as DE didn’t violate its border and FR didn’t want to fight DE alone. It increased military spending.

• The UK told FR it would help if DE invaded.

• Treaty of Versailles seemed possible to alter, showing Germany’s growing power.

• Both countries were isolated diplomatically so they decided to work together.

• Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936. Italy joined the pact a year later.

• This agreement was rather symbolic, made to show that neither country was politically isolated.

• in the Rome-Berlin axis, Mussolini decided he was ok with DE annexing Austria.

• Besides pan-Germanism, Austria offered Germany large industrial development, many skilled workers, gold reserves and vital natural resources.

• The Austrian government tried to stop Hitler but Hitler made the chancellor resign and appointed an Austrian Nazi as the new chancellor, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who invited German troops to Austria to “stop riots”.

• On March 12th, DE troops entered Austria. The next day, Austria merged with DE, breaking TOV. Over 99% of Austrians voted in favor.

• LON did nothing because Austria invited Germany and the result of the plebiscite was teling.

• Neither UK nor FR objected to Anschluss because they had no resources, needed Germany to fight commies with them and also the plebiscite was a thing.

• USRR protested Anschluss but that meant nothing. Then they organized purges, further pushing FR and UK away.

• the policy of negotiating by UK and FR to address Germany’s grievances with TOV.

• Many believed it encouraged Hitler to be more aggressive because it showed other countries as weak, but many believe it to be more complex.

• following Anschluss, Germans in Sudetenland demanded to become part of DE.

• After meeting with Hitler, Konrad Henlein (head of the Sudeten German Party) issued a list of demands called the Karlsbad Programme. Main demand was autonomy for Germans in CZSL. CZSL rejected it but offered greater rights.

• Sudetenland was important because it:

  • contained metals and mines.

  • bordered DE and contained vital Czech defences.

• Czechoslovakia mobilized its army in May 1938, showing DE that it would fight.

• Countries responded because CZSL had alliances and had only a minor German population.

• France had a military alliance with CZSL but wanted to avoid confrontation with DE.

• the UK put pressure on CZSL to agree to DE demands. They didn’t want to fight.

• Germany sent a large military force to the border with CZSL.

• Hitler ordered Henlein to prevent any internal, CZSL agreement of the crisis which Henlein created.

• Hitler declared that CZSL was planning to exterminate its German minority so it needs to be dismantled.

• On 13th September 1938, Chamberlain and Daladier met with Hitler and told CZSL they need to give their most German areas to DE. CZSL eventually accepted to prevent war.

• Hitler demanded Sudetenland, no one agreed to it, he ordered an invasion for October 1st.

• Mussolini didn’t want war so he called for a meeting, to which leaders of CZSL and USSR weren’t invited.

• The terms of the Munich agreement:

  • The Sudeten would become part of Germany

  • German troops would occupy the Sudeten in stages.

  • A plebiscite would be conducted to determine the residents’ chosen country.

  • Germans would be released from the CZSL military service.

• FR UK said they won’t fight DE if CZSL didn’t agree to these terms so it had to.

• 30th Sep - Anglo-German Declaration, pledged no war and consultation on conflicts.

• Munich agreement was popular in France, but it increased rearmament as it weakened an ally (+ damaged relations with USRR) and UK still didn’t want to guarantee anything. They signed the Franco-German Declaration in Dec.

• Munich agreement was also popular in UK, but they had no reliable ally and saw that DE threatened war as a way to get what they want. UK increased rearmament.

• USRR was isolated, didn’t believe in FR or UK.

• In DE, there was a plan to assassinate Hitler but the Munich Agreement made him insanely popular. In November, Czechoslovakia was dismantled and in March 1939 Hitler took a lot of Czechia too. Slovakia was separated and became a separate country and a German ally. So essentially the Munich Agreement stopped nothing.

1. After the occupation of the Sudeten, Germany to talk to Poland to:

   1. build transportation links with East Prussia

   2. enter a 25-year non-aggression pact with Poland

   3. help Poland get territory elsewhere.

   4. In October 38, Hitler wanted Gdańsk to be returned, as it was German before 1918 and its government was dominated by Nazis.

2. In the UK and FR, these demands were met with outrage. In February 1939, Britain announced military support for France.

• Poland had no interest in negotiating and told LON it would go to war if Germany would try to get Gdańsk.

• On 31 March 1939, FR UK guaranteed Poland’s borders, which gave PL more confidence.

• Britain began creating an anti-fascist network of alliances. It signed mutual assistance agreements with Greece, Romania, Albania and Turkey.

• Despite all this, FR UK refused to give PL military and financial assistance.

• FR UK wanted USRR to propose their anti-fascist coalition so PL could be protected.

• FR UK pledged to maintain the current borders of Eastern Europe.

• The USRR wanted a lot of these territories returned to them.

• PL didn’t want to let USRR into the country.

• The USRR didn’t like this as they couldn’t fight Germany that way. Also, FR UK sent low level diplomats to the talks with the USRR, showing them they weren’t legitimate allies, only tools.

• Hitler didn’t believe that FR UK wouldn’t fight for Poland. On April 28th, DE withdrew from the Polish-German Non-Aggression Pact and started planning an invasion of Poland, called Case White.

• alliance between Germany and Italy.

  • closer co-ordination of foreign policies, the press and propaganda.

  • supporting each other in war

  • developing war plans together

• AJP Taylor argued that DE never wanted to do these things but needed something to put pressure on FR & UK.

• Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union

• They agreed:

  • not to fight one another

  • to give Germany freedom in diplomacy

  • areas of Poland that once belonged to Russia would be reabsorbed into the USRR.

• Germany no longer had to fear Soviet intervention in Poland.

• Poland didn’t cave into Germany’s demands, FR UK supported them.

1. Mobilization, 21st August 1939

   1. military mobilized, Case White (invasion) scheduled for 26th August.

2. Invasion delayed, 25th August 1939 -

   1. Hitler delayed the invasion because UK PL announced a military alliance and Mussolini said he wasn’t ready for war and wouldn’t abide by the Pact of Steel. The Pact of Steel was modified. On 25, 26 August FR UK DE failed to reach an agreement.

   2. On 28th August, UK issued a formal warning to DE not to violate Poland’s borders. Britain also ordered British ships in the Baltic and Mediterranean to leave their paces in case of an attack and implementation of emergency rationing of food and supplied in UK.

   3. On 31st August, Hitler met the Polish ambassador in Berlin and demanded the return of Gdańsk and the Polish corridor. The Polish ambassador didn’t have the authority to sign a treaty so DE announced Poland rejected negotiations.

3. Invasion, 1st September 1939 - over 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland.

• FR UK declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939.

• AJP Taylor thought blaming Hitler was too simplistic as his foreign policy was simply an extension of previous German foreign policies. Taylor claimed Hitler was blamed because he was German and dead.

• Other historians however thought Hitler had a clear personal involvement in his foreign policy decisions.

Some historians place blame on Poland for refusing negotiations, as areas Hitler wanted had a lot of German citizens who were discriminated. Hitler was under a lot of pressure to get them back.

Richard Overy blames UK and FR.

• they used appeasement to preserve their status as world powers.

• PMH Bell places some responsibility on UK for guaranteeing Poland’s borders because that might have triggered Hitler.