InNo+13+Sean2013+1.11.2011

Original:

A story-outline of the events leading to world war 2. It includes the Great Depression, Manchuria occupation and Germany re-armament

Found: A picture of free breakfast offered to people that were unemployed. The Great Depression caused many job losses, therefore jobless workers found it hard to put food on the table seeked free meals when they had the chance.



Japanese troops storming Manchuria after blaming the Chinese for blowing up the Manchuria railway. After capturing Manchuria, they renamed it Manchukuo and ran it like a small country.

Part One - An uneasy peace, 1929-35 Chapter 1 – The ‘New Era’: Hopes for Peace in 1929 In 1929 people believed there was going to be long peace
 * Locarno and the ‘New Era’ **
 * 1925 leading European statesmen met for peace discussion post-Great war.
 * Germany and France problems not settled, on bad terms
 * 1923 French & Belgium armies occupied Germany’s Ruhr Valley after refusing to pay for damages
 * Locarno treaties – between France, Germany, and Belgium agreed they would respect each other borders, Britain and Italy agreed to protect terms

Chapter 2 – The Great Depression
 * Friendship between nations **
 * New era of peace
 * Kellog-Briand Pac t – Not to use war to settle disputes, number of pacts signed
 * The League of Nations **
 * 10th year anniversary for League of Nations
 * Peace by countries that joined the league would have protection
 * Collective security – Protect LoN allies and cannot attack LoN members
 * Only three peace-keeping actions LoN could do
 * 1) Deal with dispute by legal means
 * 2) Economic sanctions to attacker, refuse to trade
 * 3) Military sanctions, forming LoN army
 * League of Nations dealt with 9 disputes in 10 years.
 * Only 2 disputes was settled without using sanctions
 * Departments doing special work to improve international relations
 * Disarmament Comissions – persuaded number of nations to reduce weapon stocks and encourage defense
 * Sixty nations meet in Geneva in 1932 for world’s first ever disarmament conference
 * The limitations of the League **
 * The league had serious limitations
 * 1) Not every nation was in the league, USA not a member, because it did not want to deal with foreign affairs, Russia was communist and thought of LoN as capitalists that opposed communism
 * 2) Members lacked enthusiasm for the League, Germany excluded until 1926 looked upon as a club of victors
 * 3) The League has never been tested by trying to solve disputes between powerful countries
 * A series of events in the year 1929 made the ‘new era’ unlikely to last
 * The Great Depression **
 * In 1929 there was an economic crisis known as the Great Depression till 1933
 * American firms went bankrupt, Wall Street stocks were all-time low, biggest economic slump in history.
 * After crisis in America, it spread across other countries, millions of jobs were lost, factories closed, trade dwindled and profits fell.
 * How did this affect prospect of world peace
 * 1) Protectionism, to help create jobs where they cut off trade and depend on themselves, which was selfish, and ignored ideas of world co-operation laid by the LoN
 * 2) Unrest among the people, from mass unemployment many people across the world were unemployed and factories were kept on idle
 * 3) People blamed their governments for the economic crisis, this led people to vote for extreme political groups that promised support which led to democratic governments to collapse, these powers acted aggressively in an attempt to improve their own country.
 * The problem of empires **
 * A problem the Great Depression added was the division of the world into powers which owned large empires and those which did not
 * Countries envied French and British wealth, such as Italy and Japan who were victors
 * Italians, Japanese and German politicians were thinking to steal colonies to improve their economy.
 * Their colonies demanded independence; Britain couldn’t help achieve world peace.

Chapter 3 – Japan, Manchuria and the League 1931-33
 * Viscount Cecil, chief British representative of LoN thought the world was entering new era of peace.
 * Japan, a member of LoN, invaded Manchuria and other SEA countries
 * The attraction of Manchuria **
 * Japan took over four areas in and around China – Formosa, Korea, Liaodong and Kiaochow.
 * Japan wanted Manchuria the most because:
 * 1) It had an area of 192,000 square kilometers, population: 28 million
 * 2) 3x the size of Japan
 * 3) Rich in agriculture and mineral products
 * 4) Railways
 * In 1931 Japan controlled most of Manchuria’s economy, controlled mines, railways, factories, ports
 * Great Depression caused unrest in Japan, therefore Japanese soldiers wanted to conquer Asia in order to escape depression.
 * Japan invades Manchuria **
 * Acted against government, Kwantung army took over Manchuria.
 * 18 September 1931, bombed the Manchuria railway and blamed the Chinese
 * China asked LoN for help, but claimed the attack was work of military hot heads
 * Occupied entire Manchuria and named it Manchukuo
 * The League and Manchuria **
 * Other countries did not want to use sanctions against Japan because they’re economy was failing
 * Japan resigned from the league and went to occupy Chinese province of Jehol.
 * Manchuria affairs damaged reputation of the league.

Chapter 4 – The Revival of Germany
 * Between 1930-32 extreme right wing Nazi Party got the most votes, their leader Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933
 * Hitler’s foreign policy aims **
 * Nazis strong patriots, blaming loss in WW1 on cowardice ministers, and angered with the Treaty of Versailles.
 * Germans thought the treaty of unfair, allowing the Poles and Czechs to form their own nation, not allowing Austria to unite with Germany and many Germans are living under foreign rule.
 * Hitler had 3 aims of foreign policy
 * 1) Tear up the Treaty of Versailles
 * 2) Unite all German-speaking people in one country
 * 3) Give Germans lebensraum, living space because Germany was overcrowded and didn’t have enough food and materials


 * Re-armament **
 * To conquer Europe, Hitler needed a big armed force
 * Since the Treaty did not let them, they had to re-arm in secret
 * In 1933 plans of increasing army to 300,000 and built aircraft units and barracks etc
 * Later in 1933 Hitler withdrew from LoN
 * In 1935 he announced his re-armament and encouraged people to join the army
 * Reactions to German re-armament **
 * No countries tried to stop Germany
 * Britain’s empire had its own problems therefore didn’t want to deal with foreign affairs
 * France created a defense with the Meginot Line, a wall between the French/German boarders.
 * Italy was the only one who tried to do something, when Nazis in Austria overthrew the Austrian government and killing Austrian leader, people thought Germany would try and unite the two, Italy put soldiers between Italy and Austria, warning Hitler, Hitler withdrew their plans.
 * Hitler announces compulsory military service in 1935 alarmed powers
 * France, Italy and Britain formed Stresa Front, protest against Hitler’s armament plans, though took no action
 * April 1935 uneasy peace

Summary Right when people thought there was going to be lasting peace after the Great War, the Great Depression hit. Then Hitler became leader of Germany and started an re-armament at the same time Japan attacked Manchuria and the League of Nations unable to stop them.

Questions 1.How did the Great Depression effect each European country? 2. Why didn't any country stop Germany's re-armament? 3. What were Hitler's foreign policy aims? and why did he have them? 4. What were some of the limitations of the League of Nations? How did this play out during the 1933s? 5. What were some achievements of the League of Nations? How did they achieve their success?

Work Cited:

1. "What Was the Cause of the Great Depression?" //Zunal//. 6 Feb. 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. . //2. Japanese Attack Manchuria//. Digital image. //Historycentral.com//. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .