Responses to Military Aggression

1
Responses to Military Aggression
Colin Walker, Lawson Walker, Grady Castriota
Account for the responses of the European
democracies to the military aggression by Italy
and Germany in the 1930s.

• In the 1930s, European governments took actions
  to appease Hitler and Mussolini. The best way to
  sum up the policies and actions of the European
  governments is the word Appeasement. There are
  several reasons for governments actions of
  appeasement toward Hitler and Mussolini. These
  reasons are no country wanted a war, the Great
  Depression had devastating effects on each
  country, and there was a lot of political turmoil
  and chaos amongst the European governments.

2
We Dont Want Another War!

• In the aftermath of WWI
• 22.5 million KIA, WIA, or MIA
• Devastating effects on morale and view towards
  war
• Treaty of Versailles-harsh punishment of Germany,
  impossible demands on German economy, Germany
  could not have a large army
• French lived in fear of the day Germany would
  recover

• Because nobody wanted another world war, European
  democracies responded to German and Italian
  military aggression by attempts to appease Hitler
  and Mussolini

3
We Dont Want Another War!
Britain

• Afraid of huge loss of life on Western Front
  caused Britain to be afraid of another huge war
  and more lives lost
• Civilians scared of German bombing raids
• Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister after 1937,
  became chief architect of appeasement policy
• 1938-Munich Pact (gave Hitler permission to
  invade Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia)
• 1939-Britian said it would support Poland if
  Germany invaded-Germany invaded anyways

4
We Dont Want Another War!
France

• Passivism was growing in the west and it had
  roots in France
• Like Britain, a huge loss of life on the Western
  Front in WWI caused France to be afraid of
  another war and more casualties
• Political chaos, unstable government

5
The Economy Cant Handle a War!
Still Recovering From WWI

• Expenses of WWI by 1919 European nations were in
  debt to the U.S. by 10,000,000,000.
• Britain was depending on her colonies for
  essential war materials
• Germany finished paying off reparations of WWI
  and WWII in October 2010
• New taxes were created to boost the war effort
• Britain had a lot of money invested in American
  stocks in an effort to try and raise money to pay
  off post war expenses

6
The Economy Cant Handle a War!
Great Depression

• Britain was borrowing heavily on Wall Street
• October 29, 1929-Stock Market Crashes
• Overall GDP drastically drops across Europe
• Hyperinflation in Germany (4.2 trillion Marks to
  the dollar)
• Governments focused on raising taxes and cutting
  government expenditures
• The thought of trying to finance another war was
  too much for European nations to think about
  during the Great Depression

7
The Economy Cant Handle a War!

• More effects of the Great Depression

• Unemployment caused by the G.D. helped contribute
  to the rise of dictatorships across the world and
  gave way to leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini
  as they promised to lead their people out of the
  tough times
• 25 countries became dictatorships from 1929-1939
• Policies of European countries mainly focused on
  recovering their economies instead of keeping
  dictators like Hitler and Mussolini out of power
• Britain and France could not afford to go against
  Hitler or Mussolini-it was not in their best
  interests at the time

8
Turmoil in Politics!

• France
• From 1919 to 1940, France was governed by two
  main groupings. The right-center Bloc National
  (wanted revenge against Germany economic
  prosperity) and the left-center Cartel des
  Gauches (anti-clerical represented small
  business and lower middle class essentially
  Socialist)
• Street violence between the two groups were
  frequent

Édouard Herriot
Georges Clemenceau
9
Turmoil in Politics!

• France
• Governments came and went quickly
• General Strikes in 1936 in the working industry
• Any attempt to radically alter policy would
  almost certainly lead to the fall of the sitting
  government (as happened in September of 1939,
  when France declared war over the German invasion
  of Poland).

10
We Dont Want Another War! (Politics in Great
Britain)

• During the mid-to-late 1930s the UK (as well as
  other nations across the globe) attempted to
  bring a sense of national unity
• Before WWII, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
  led his Cabinet and a Conservative majority in
  the Commons
• Chamberlain promised peace by way of appeasement,
  despite Hitlers naked aggression throughout
  Europe

11
Turmoil in Politics!

• Civil Wars in Spain and China during the 1930s
  distracted Britain and France from Hitler
  (Germany) and Mussolini (Italy)
• Spain
• Experienced a Civil War from July 17, 1936 to
  April 1, 1939
• China
• April 1927 - December 1936

12
Our FINAL Words

• One Response Appeasement
• Appeasement avoiding war by making concessions
  to another power
• Avoidance of a second Great War
• Simply, people didnt believe war was a necessary
  element of diplomatic cooperation with the
  abundant amount of deaths in WWI
• Economy Great Depression
• Cost of rearmament and war was seen as too
  damaging to the economies of European nations
  during the 1930s (notably France and Great
  Britain)
• Politics were unstable throughout Europe during
  the 1930s
• Any attempt to radically alter policy would
  almost certainly lead to the fall of the sitting
  government

13
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