Steps to war

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Steps to war
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The League of Nations

• Purpose to make the First World War truly the
  War to End All Wars
• Inability to prevent another war can be traced to
  the failure of the League
• Idea to maintain collective security through
  discussion and diplomacy
• No chance of success US refused to join and
  other nations gave little support

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The Manchurian Crisis - 1931

• Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria
• China appealed to the League for help no one
  was prepared to act
• Most nations firmly in grip of Great Depression

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Invasion of Abyssinia - 1935

• Mussolini of Italy had noted the Leagues
  unwillingness to act
• War involved Italian tanks against Abyssinian
  spears
• World-wide public outrage, but no intervention
• Boycott on some goods, not oil

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Formation of the Axis Powers - 1937

• For protection against Soviet forces in
  Manchuria, Japan signed the anti-Comintern
  (world-wide Communist movement lead by the USSR)
  Pact with Germany
• In 1937, Italy joined creating the
  Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis

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Lebensraum

• Living space for the German people
• Hitler demanded Anschluss (unification of Austria
  and other German speaking territories with
  Germany)
• Occupation of the Saar Valley, Remilitarization
  of the Rhineland, annexation of Austria
• Neither of the Allies responded

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Munich Pact and Appeasement -1938

• Appeasement policy of satisfying Hitlers
  demands
• Favoured by British prime minister Neville
  Chamberlain and Canadian prime minister King
• At the Munich Conference, Chamberlain agreed to
  German occupation of the Sudetenland if Hitler
  promised to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia

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Neville Chamberlain

• I Believe it is Peace for Our Time

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William Lyon Mackenzie King

• "He smiled very pleasantly, and indeed had a sort
  of appealing and affectionate look in his eyes.
  My sizing up of the man as I sat and talked with
  him was that he is really one who truly loves his
  fellow man and his country ... his eyes impressed
  me most of all. There was a liquid quality about
  them which indicated keen perception and profound
  sympathy (calm, composed) - and one could see how
  particularly humble folk would come to have a
  profound love for the man."

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Munich Pact and Appeasement 1938

• Chamberlain was later strongly criticized as
  being weak
• Optimism was short lived
• Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia by
  March 1939

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Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact 1939

• Removed the threat of war for Germany in the East
• Included an agreement to partition (split-up)
  Poland
• Allowed Hitler to fight in the West without
  having to worry about an Eastern Front

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Four General Causes of the War

• The Treaty of Versailles
• The Great Depression
• Appeasement The failure of the League of Nations
  to Act
• Adolf Hitlers racial theories and
• territorial ambitions