German Ambitions in WWI

1
German Ambitions in WWI

• Mittleuropa
• Destroy French Power
• Exclude Britain from Continent
• Push Russia as Far East as Possible
• Create German Sphere of Influence in Central
  Europe.
  
• Annex French territory rich in iron ore
• Customs union with Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg,
  and others
  
• Use Europe as Base For Global Empire?

2
Lecture 4

• The Interwar Period

3
American War Aims

• Woodrow Wilsons 14 Points
• Freedom of the Seas (Point 2).
• National Self-determination (Points 7-13)
• Non-Discriminatory International Trade (Open
  Colonial Markets and Colonial Raw Materials to
  all nations on equal basis) (Point 3)
  
• Restructure the International System By Creating
  International Organizations (Point 14).

4
The War Outcome
Signing of the Versailles Treaty, June 28, 1919
in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
5
Impact of WWI on Power Structure

• British Power Severely Weakened
• United States Emerges from War as the Clearly
  Dominant Power
  
• Germany Defeated?
• U.S. Attempts to Restructure International
  System
  
• League of Nations
• National Self-determination
• Little Progress on Trade and Colonial Objectives

6
The League of Nations

• What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the
  consent of the governed, and sustained by the
  organized opinion of mankind.
  
• Woodrow Wilson

7
The Logic of Collective Security

• Commitment to Resist Aggression By Any Country
  Against Any Country at Any Time
  
• All Countries Must Promise to Send Troops.
• The Point is to Deter War
• If All Countries Always Resist Aggression,
  Aggressors Will Always Face Overwhelming
  Superiority.
  
• No Aggressor Will Ever Believe it Can Win a War
  Against All.
  
• No Country Will Initiate War.

8
Why No Peace?

• 1. Versailles Treaty Was Too Punitive to Have
  Legitimacy in Germany.
  
• --War Guilt Clause
• --Reparations 31 Billion, about 125 of German
  GNP
  
• --Territorial Losses
• --Military Disarmament
• --Treaty Handed to German Government as Fait
  Accompli.
  
• Peace Depends Upon Treaty Enforcement--Power

9

• 2. Treaty Not Enforced
• --Britain Thought its Terms were Too Harsh.
• --France Thought its Terms Not Harsh Enough.
• --United States Simply Not Interested.
• --League of Nations Without the U.S. Was Too
  Weak to Enforce Treaty.
  
• Germany Able To Undermine Critical Elements of
  Treaty

10
Germany The Hossbach Memorandum (November 1937)

• Lebensraum
• Autarky impossible
• Trade controlled by British Navy, thus no
  solution
  
• German Territorial Expansion Necessary

11
The Second World War Begins

• March 1938March 1939 Austria, Czechoslovakia
• September 1, 1939 Germany Invades Poland
• September 3, 1939 Britain, France Declare War on
  Germany.
  
• May 10, 1940 Germany Invades France
• June 14, 1940 Nazis Enter Paris.
• June 22, 1940 French Armistice.
• July 10, 1940 Battle of Britain Begins.

12
The U.S. The Atlantic Charter(August 14, 1941)

• National Self-Determination
• Free and Equal Access to World Markets and Raw
  Materials
  
• Freedom of the Seas
• Arms Control, Disarmament, International
  Organization

13
The Postwar American System

• Political Components
• Populate World with Democracies
  (De-Colonization)
  
• Create Rule of Law Based International System
  (The United Nations)
  
• Economic Components
• Eliminate Colonial-Based Trade System
  (Decolonization)
  
• Create Open, Non-discriminatory, Market-based
  international Economy (The GATT)
  
• Interaction of the Two Components

14
Power Transition

• Decline of British Power in Early 20th Century.
• Rising German and American Power Both are
  Dissatisfied Nations.
  
• WWI and WWII Were Systemic Wars Fought to Destroy
  British System and Create an Alternative in its
  Place.
  
• The International System in Which We Live
  Originates in these Wars.