AP EH CH. 27---THE DEEPENING OF THE EUROPEAN CRISIS: WW II
I. PRELUDE TO WAR (1933-1939)
---the efforts at collective security in the 1920s---the League of Nations, the attempts at disarmament, the pacts and the treaties---all proved meaningless in view of the growth of Nazi Germany and its deliberate scrapping of the postwar settlement in the 1930s
---World War II was largely made possible by the failure of Britain and France to oppose strongly flagrant German violations of the Treaty of Versailles
A. The Role of Hitler
1. WW II in Europe had its beginnings in the ideas of Adolf Hitler, who believed that only Aryans were capable of building a great civilization
2. Hitler was a firm believer in the doctrine of Lebensraum which stated that a nation’s power depended on the amount and kind of land it occupied
3. Hitler thought that the Russian Revolution created conditions for Germany’s acquisition of land to its “racially inferior Slavic” east (Mein Kampf spelled out Hitler’s desire to expand eastward and to prepare for the inevitable war with the “Bolshevik Jew-led” Soviet Union)
4. Hitler always returned to his basic ideological plans for racial supremacy and empire as keys to the blueprint for achieving his goals
5. Hitler’s desire to create an Aryan empire led to slave labor and even mass extermination on a scale that would have been incomprehensible to previous generations of Germans (or anybody else outside of Uncle Joe’s reach)
B. The “Diplomatic Revolution” (1933-1936)
1. between 1933 and 1936, Hitler and Nazi Germany achieved a diplomatic revolution in Europe
2. For Hitler, it was most important that Germany build a large army and seek to expand its territory
a. Obstacles to Hitler
1. Treaty of Versailles created a demilitarized zone on Germany’s western border that would allow the French to move into the heavily industrialized parts of Germany in the event of a war
2. Treaty of Versailles also limited Germany to a 100,000 man army with no air force and limited naval capabilities
3. Poland and Czechoslovakia had defensive treaties with France
b. Advantages of Hitler
1. Germany had the 2nd largest population in Europe
2. Germany still possessed a great industrial capacity
3. Hitler was aware that Great Britain and France, dismayed by the costs and losses of WW I, wanted to avoid another war
c. In order for Hitler to achieve his goals, he had to convince the rest of Europe that his intentions were peaceful
3. during his first two years in office, Hitler pursued a prudent foreign policy without unnecessary risks
4. Hitler emphasized that Germany wished only to revise the unfair provisions of Versailles by peaceful means and achieve Germany’s rightful place among the European states
5. Hitler’s first dramatic acts as head of the German state were withdrawal of Germany from the Geneva Disarmament Conference and withdrawal from the League of Nations
6. by the beginning of 1935, Hitler became convinced that Germany could break some of the provisions of the Versailles Treaty without serious opposition from the French or British
7. on March 9, 1935, Hitler announced the creation of a new air force and, one week later, the introduction of a military draft that would expand the army from 100,000 to 550,000 troops (actions brought swift verbal rebukes from the French, British, and Italians but nothing else)
8. on March 7, 1936, Hitler made his first act of aggression when he sent troops into the demilitarized Rhineland
9. France would not respond to German troops being sent into the Rhineland without British support and the London Times summed up British sentiments when it noted that the Germans were only “going into their own back garden.”
10. as Hitler’s popularity grew with each success, Germany, who had become closer to Italy after their joint effort in the Spanish Civil War, signed treaties with both Italy and later Japan
11. as Germany grew stronger by the end of 1936, Hitler decided to initiate an even more aggressive foreign policy
C. The Path to War (1937-1939)
1. at a secret conference with his military leaders on November 5, 1937, Hitler stated that Germany’s ultimate goal must be the conquest of living space in the east
2. Neville Chamberlain becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain in May of 1936 pleased Hitler to no end
a. the new prime minister advocated a policy of appeasement and believed the survival of the British Empire depended upon an accommodation of Germany (believed the policy would maintain peace and stability)
b. Chamberlain made it known to Hitler in November of 1937 that he would not oppose changes in central Europe, provided they were carried out peacefully
3. through coercion, Hitler forcibly annexed Austria on March 13, 1938
4. Hitler next turned his attention to Czechoslovakia
a. initially, Hitler demanded that the Czechs make its formerly German Sudetenland region, which was home to 3 million ethnic Germans, autonomous
b. on September 15, 1938, Hitler threatened war if the Sudetenland was not ceded to Germany outright
c. Czechoslovakia was formidable due to its extensive frontier defenses along its mountainous border with Germany and Czech defensive treaties with both France and the Soviet Union
d. on September 29, 1938, the hastily arranged Munich Conference met in an effort to avoid war
1. the conference was attended by the British, French, Germans, and Italians (Russians and Czechs were not invited)
2. the conference essentially gave in to Hitler on all of his demands in return for his promise that he had made his last territorial demand
3. Chamberlain, at the conference’s conclusion, stated that the agreement meant “peace for our time” (the agreement was criticized by Winston Churchill as the tragic outcome of appeasement since weak western powers abandoned their former Czech ally in the face of vicious Nazi aggression)
4. Munich convinced Hitler once and for all that the western democracies were weak and would not fight
e. using internal disorder that he helped orchestrate as a pretext, Hitler seized the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia in March, 1939
5. when Hitler began demanding the return of Danzig from Poland later in 1939, England and France finally recognized Germany’s lust for territory as a threat and gave assurances to Poland that they would come to its aid if attacked
6. fearing the consequences of a two-front war, Hitler signed a “Non-Aggression Pact” with its longtime nemesis the Soviet Union on August 23, 1939
7. the Soviets, who previously had tried to make an alliance with the west against Hitler, agreed to a secret protocol with the Germans that would divide Eastern Europe into spheres of influence
a. Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and eastern Poland would go to the Soviets
b. Germany would receive western Poland and the freedom to attack Poland
8. on September 1, 1939, World War II began when German forces attacked Poland
9. on September 3, 1939, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany
II. THE COURSE OF WORLD WAR II
A. Victory and Stalemate
1. in a little under one month’s time, Hitler took Poland using the new Blitzkrieg or “lightning war” tactics (Panzer [tank ]divisions supported by the Luftwaffe [air force] with the Wehrmacht [army] securing the ground seized) and with the active support from Russian tyrant Joseph Stalin’s Red Army which moved into eastern Poland on September 17
2. despite declaring war on Germany, England and France refused to go on the offensive against Germany in 1939, remaining relatively inactive, as they prepared to fight a defensive WW I-style war.
3. the French were content to wait for the Germans to attack France’s sophisticated line of eastern defenses known as the Maginot Line
4. during the winter that followed the September conquest of Poland, there was little activity on either the German or Franco-British sides (part of the war often referred to as the “phony war” or “sitzkrieg”)
5. in April of 1940, sitzkrieg became blitzkrieg as Germany successfully invaded Denmark then Norway
6. German victories in Denmark and Norway coincided with a change of government in Great Britain (Chamberlain was replaced by Winston Churchill as Prime Minister)
7. on May 10, 1940, Hitler launched an attack which cut through the Netherlands, Belgium, and eventually France (German entrance into France via the Ardennes caught the French and British by surprise)
8. German panzer divisions broke through the weak French defensive positions there outflanking the Maginot Line (German advance encircled French troops in Northeastern France and trapped the entire British army on the beaches of Dunkirk, France)
9. at Dunkirk, the British used any seaworthy vessel it could get its hands on to evacuate the British Army; 336,000 soldiers were safely evacuated but they were forced to leave much of their military equipment behind (bad defeat for Allies but could have been much worse)
10. on June 5, 1940, the Germans launched a new offensive into the French interior; by June 22, the overwhelmed French were forced to surrender (Vichy government under Marshal Petain was set up as a puppet state collaborating in German war crimes)
11. Hitler’s hope that Great Britain could be persuaded to make peace went unfulfilled with the stubbornly determined Churchill in charge of Great Britain
12. Hitler and his generals devised Operation Sea Lion to invade and conquer Great Britain (plan relied the Luftwaffe gaining control of the skies)
13. in August 1940, the German Luftwaffe had done extensive damage to Great Britain’s military capabilities
14. in September 1940, Hitler made a huge mistake by no longer targeting military installations but British cities instead (wanted to break British morale and retaliate for a British bombing mission on Berlin)
15. this fateful change in strategy along with the development of British radar allowed the British to successfully end the threat of German invasion by the end of September, 1940
16. at this point, Hitler pursued the possibility of a Mediterranean strategy, which would involve capturing Egypt and the Suez Canal and closing the Mediterranean to British ships, thereby cutting Britain off from its oil supply (Hitler’s commitment to the Mediterranean strategy was never wholehearted)
17. in the Spring of 1941, the Germans made a swing through southeastern Europe in an effort to pacify the region since the Italians were not up to the task (delayed the planned Spring offensive against Russia)
18. on June 22, 1941, Germany launched a massive attack along an 1,800 mile front on the Soviet Union called Operation Barbarossa
19. Stalin and Russia were caught by surprise (Stalin was in complete seclusion for over a day after the attack and 2 million Russian soldiers were captured in a matter of days)
20. by November, one German army group had swept through the Ukraine toward the Caucasian oil fields, another German army had laid siege to Leningrad (formerly St. Petersburg), and a third German army moved within 25 miles of Moscow
21. an early Russian winter and hardening Russian resistance brought a halt to the German advance
22. War in Asia
a. the war in Asia arose from the ambitions of Japan, whose rise to the status of world power had been swift
b. by 1933, the Japanese Empire included Korea, Manchuria, Formosa (Taiwan), and the Marshall, Caroline, and Mariana Islands in the Pacific (supplied Japan with natural resources)
c. much of Japan’s ability to feed its ever-growing population (more than doubled to 80 million in less than 70 years) and to pay for industrial raw materials depended upon the manufacture of heavy industrial goods and textiles
d. Western protective tariffs of the 1930s designed to protect their own economies devastated the Japanese economy
e. the need for more resources sparked Japan’s invasion of Northern China in July of 1937
f. Japan moved aggressively against India, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia
g. responding to the US cutting off sales of vital scrap iron and oil to Japan in response to Japanese aggression, Japan attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 (surprise attack killed 2,300 Americans; disabled 8 battleships [sinking the Arizona and Oklahoma outright]) Mention: Adm. Husband Kimmel/aircraft carriers
h. US declared war on Japan the next day; Germany declared war on the US three days later.
B. The Turning Point of the War (1942-1943)
1. Allied Powers
a. the entry of the US into the war created a coalition called the Grand Alliance or also called the Allied Powers which consisted primarily of Great Britain, Soviet Union, and United States
b. agreed to put aside political differences and concentrate on military operations
c. even after Pearl Harbor, agreed that the first objective was to defeat Germany then defeat Japan
d. agreed to fight until the Axis Powers surrendered unconditionally (cemented the bond of the Allied Powers; made it almost impossible for Hitler to divide his foes)
2. Axis Powers
a. consisted primarily of Germany, Japan, Italy
b. despite Hitler’s fatal mistake of declaring war on the US, he still had reason for optimism early in 1942
1. in North Africa, Gen. Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps was advancing steadily across northern Africa and appeared poised to seize Egypt and the Suez Canal
2. in the North Atlantic, German submarines were extremely successful at harassing Allied supply lines crossing the Atlantic
3. in Russia, the German Wehrmacht began a spring offensive which led to the capturing of the entire Crimea which opened up all of South Asia to possible Nazi invasion
c. the tide turns
1. Battle of El Alamein (1942)
a. in the summer of 1942, Gen. Bernard Montgomery and his British 8th Army turned back Rommel at El Alamein just west of Cairo
b. from this point on, Rommel’s Afrika Korps was on the defensive and in retreat
2. combined with US forces under the command of Gen. George S. Patton, the British under Montgomery were able to vanquish the Germans and Italians from North Africa by May of 1943
3. Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943)
a. Hitler’s generals wanted to focus on the Caucasus region and its oil fields, but Hitler ordered the capture of the city of Stalingrad, a major industrial center