World War 2

World War 2 was a global war about 20 years after World War 1.

International Relations Antecedents

Failure of the League

Despite Wilson's advocacy for the League of Nations, the U.S. did not join.

In March 1933, a few months after an official censure from the league over the establishment of Manchukuo, Japan exited the league.

In October 1933, within the first year of Hitler's term as chancellor, Germany exited the league.

After Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, Selasse spoke in the league and led a condemnation of Italy; they exited the league as a direct response.

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles imposed harsh terms on Germany.

1. Germany was demilitarized.
2. Reparations payments in gold were extreme. Payments only completed in 2010.
3. Reparations payments in coal were unsustainable.

4. Italy annexed the southern half of Tyrol.

5. Poland annexed West Prussia, including the port city of Danzig.

More generally, Wilson's Fourteen Points failed to be realized in the peace process. Notable world leaders who advocated for relieving Germany of the peace terms include MacDonald.

Lack of Military Defeat

Germany did not suffer a complete military defeat in World War 1. Much of the navy had still been administering the occupation of Eastern Europe and, rather than allow its seizure, officers ordered it scuttled.

The leaders of the Weimar Republic came to be seen as traitors to the nation.

International Fallout of the Ruhr Crisis

Reparations payments in terms of coal were impossible to fulfill. Hyperinflation and general dissatisfaction led to strikes, which forced frequent defaults on the payments.

In January 1923, Poincaré ordered the invasion and occupation of the Ruhr Valley. 130 civilians were killed during the occupation. Internationally, France was recognized as the aggressor in this crisis. [MacDonald advocated for Germany in bilateral relations with Herriot.

The Dawes Plan was implemented as a solution.

European Remilitarization

The demilitarization of Germany made maintenance of other European militaries a lower priority. The Great Depression then provided an incentive to reduce them. This was contrary to the political aims of many other governments.

Baldwin bilaterally re-negotiated the naval demilitarization; the new limits were relative to the tonnage of the British navy.

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War became a proxy war of fascism.

Franco's victory demonstrated the viability of 'exporting fascism' through the German military-industrial complex.

Asia

Imperial Japan was largely excluded from peace negotiations, and as a result their representatives were unable to capture the benefits that European powers did.

German colonies in Asia were seized and divided.

Sudetan Crisis

Czechoslovakia was dismantled and partitioned between Germany, Hungary, and Poland in the course of just a few months. The Munich Betrayal was concluded in September 1938; the First Vienna Award followed in November. The Slovak State declared independence in March 1939, prompting Hitler to invade the remainder of Czechia and Hungary to invade the remainder of Carpathian Ruthenia.

Danzig Crisis

Hitler demanded the return of Danzig from Poland in 1939.

The subsequent invasion on September 1st is the direct start of World War 2.

Domestic Political and Socioeconomic Antecedents

Political Fallout of the Treaty of Versailles

The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles combined with the lack of complete military defeat led to the leaders of the Weimar Republic being labeled as traitors and criminals.

German nobility was tightly connected to the military officer corps. The imposition of demilitarization necessarily meant the exclusion of this politically powerful group. A cross-cutting social cleavage emerged from this powerful class, the veterans, and the military-industrial complex.

The hyperinflation created by reparations payments generally radicalized the German public.

Domestic Fallout of the Ruhr Crisis

Within Germany, radical parties seized on French occupation of the Ruhr as evidence that the Weimar Republic was led by traitors. In particular, Hitler led the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. While the coup failed, the act itself and the highly publicized trial that followed established Hitler as a heroic figure.

The Nazis became a mainstream political party and Hitler was released from prison after just 9 months.

Expansionism and Irredentism

Mussolini sought to recreate the Roman Empire around the Mediterranean Sea. He justified expansion with ideas like spazio vitale. The first target of Italian expansion was the Abyssinian Empire in 1935. This was followed by Albania and Greece in 1938.

Hitler justified expansion with ideas like liebensraum, Social Darwinism, and the existence of a master Aryan race. He also sought the anschluss of Germany with Austria, which eventually proceeded in 1938.

The Japanese military saw expansionary wars as an opportunity for continued political dominance. Pan-Asian ideas of 'Asia for the Asian' were used to justify expansion, primarily in negotiations with Western powers. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亜共栄圏, dai toua kyoueiken) was the most formal institutional expression of this.

German Remilitarization

Hitler remilitarized Germany in 1935, including the reestablishment of an offensive navy.

Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland in 1936.

International Relations of the Axis

The Axis alliance was initially negotiated around the Anti-Comintern Pact, of which the original signatories were Germany and Japan in 1936. Italy joined the next year on condition it was recognized as an original signatory. Hungary and Spain also joined in 1939.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact significantly shifted the balance of power. The Tripartite Pact became the new foundational treaty in 1940. Once again Germany, Italy, and Japan were the original signatories. Hungary and Romania quickly joined. Bulgaria and Yugoslavia joined the following year, though signing led to a coup in the latter, so Yugoslavia was invaded by the other signatories and partitioned between them.

Pacific Theater

China

Western Theater

Poland

Hitler launched the invasion of Poland on September 1st in a direct escalation from the Danzig Crisis.

Scandinavia

Neutral Sweden was the primary supplier of iron to Germany. As a result, maritime trade between the two was a target. To protect this industry, Germany forced Denmark to surrender and invaded Norway.

Benelux

Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in short succession.

France

Battle of Britain

Yugoslavia

On March 27th, 1941, King Peter II overthrew the regency of Paul and established a pro-British military government. Hitler ordered a land and air invasion; Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian forces soon joined. Completely encircled, Yugoslavia rapidly fell.

Many border regions (and the Dalmatian coast for Italy) were seized. The remainder was partitioned into:

• the Italian governorate of Montenegro, an Italian puppet;

• the Independent State of Croatia, fascist government led by Pavelić; and

• the Government of National Salvation in Serbia, a German puppet.

There were two resistance groups. The Chetniks, led by Mihailović, were royalists and the preferred client of the Allies. Eventually the Chetniks shifted strategies from resistance to playing the two sides of the war, and the Allies ceased cooperation.

Tito led the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia, generally known as the Yugoslav Partisans. The Partisans were far more effective as a military resistance and, when territory was reclaimed, rapidly developed a new Yugoslavian state to govern these territories.

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