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Hello, once again! I am very excited to be sharing three articles on one of my favorite topics in history: World War II. I believe that this era greatly influenced our modern day and redefined history in general.
President Woodrow Wilson called World War 1 "the war to end all wars." The world really thought that peace had finally come. After all, the League of Nations was a "general association of all nations [and promised] international cooperation ... international peace and security (Combee & Thompson, 2010)." Obviously looking back on history, none of these plans would come to fruition.
While most of the world was celebrating the end of the war, three countries in particular grumbled over the results of the war: Germany, Japan, and Italy. Germany was placed under a thirty-three billion dollar debt as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Not knowing that printing paper money causes inflation, they continued the disastrous practice. Although Japan and Italy were on the winning side, they bother experience heavy casualties and gained nothing else from the war. These disappointments led to the establishment of new governments in each of these countries.
1. Germany
Adolf Hitler, an Austrian (he moved to Germany when he was three) newspaper artist, was injured by mustard gas during a battle against Great Britain on October 14, 1918. While recovering in a hospital, he heard of Germany's defeat; he said, "I staggered and stumbled back to my ward and buried my aching head between the blankets and pillow (History.com)." He made his way from a common laborer to revolutionary (he wrote his autobiography and the Nazi game plan, Mein Kamf, in prison) to chancellor of Germany under President Paul von Hindenburg. After Hindenburg's death, Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party (the Nazis) established the Third Reich and disbanded the Reichstag, a major facet of the German government. His goal was to destroy the Jews and create a master race of Germans with blonde hair and blue eyes. Three reasons for this are: (1) the Jews denied him a job at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, (2) he heard from the Nazis that some Jews attacked Scandinavia (this may or may not be true although it could explain the intense anti-Semitism in Scandinavia nowadays), and thus (3) he blamed the Jews for Germany's defeat in World War 1. He also wanted to remove all forms of capitalism and Communism.
2. Japan
When General Hideki Tojo became prime minister and chief of the army in Japan, he set himself up as a military emperor. Although Emperor Hirohito was technically in charge, Tojo, a militarist, did most of the work and represented Japan.
3. Italy
Fascist Benito Mussolini became the dictator of Italy after he was elected prime minister. He assured the people that he as Caesar would start a rebirth of the Roman Empire.
I did not include Joseph Stalin in the group above because Communism was already implemented in Russia by mid-World War I.
Many of the events in World War II were influenced by the League of Nations. Beginning in the 20's, the League of Nations began to limit the amount of weapons that its members possessed, and France was one of those countries. France was terrified at the prospect of an invasion from Germany, but it had no choice. Although the Treaty of Versailles put limits on the size of Germany's army, Hitler ignored the rules. The chart below shows the size of Germany's army versus France's army. Germany's army grew mostly because of Hitler Youth, and the rule established that forced many German men to join the military.
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| Credits: (The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill) |
I will now discuss the invasions that led to World War II. Hitler invaded the Rhineland in 1933 and Austria in 1938. Although Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia, asked the League of Nations for help against the Italian invasion in 1935, he received no help and was conquered in 1936. By 1938, Japan invaded most of Eastern China; this began with the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. General Douglas MacArthur was send to the Philippines in 1936 in order to secure the military bases there, and General Claire Chennault and his team "Flying Tigers" volunteered to aid Nationalist Chinese Generalissimo Chaing Kai-shek against the Japanese.
In 1938, Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain and Premier Edouard Daladier of France signed the Munich Pact with Hitler. This ceded Hitler the Sudetenland in the process of appeasement, giving into an aggressor's demands. After this meeting, Neville Chamberlain told the British people: "My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time. Now I recommend you to go home and sleep guietly in your beds (Klein)." And while they slept, Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Seeing that no action was taken after this attack, Mussolini conquered Albania in 1939. Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler signed the Nazi-Soviet (Nonaggression) Pact agreeing to divide Poland. With dive bombers, tanks, and the strategy of blitzkrieg (lightning war), Poland was attacked on September 1, 1939. Great Britain and France declared war on the Axis Powers (formed by the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis agreement) two days later. Nevile Chamberlain said this to his country:
"I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany. You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful... Now may God bless you all. May He defend the right. It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against - brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution - and against them I am certain that the right will prevail (BBC Archives)."
Works Cited
Churchill, W. (1948). The Gathering Storm. Toronto, Canada: HoughtonMifflin Company.
Combee, J., & Thompson, G. (2010). World
History and Cultures. Pensacola, Florida: Abeka Books.
Klein, C. (2013). Chamberlain Declares “Peace for
Our Time,” 75 Years Ago. Retrieved from History.com:
http://www.history.com/news/chamberlain-declares-peace-for-our-time-75-years-ago
Staff, H. (2009). Adolf Hitler wounded in British
gas attack. Retrieved from History.com: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-wounded-in-british-gas-attack
The Transcript of Neville Chamberlain's Declaration
of war. (n.d.). Retrieved from BBC
Archives: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/ww2outbreak/7957.shtml?page=txt
- Triniti, Anna, and Jessica
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