Chapter ThreeThe Collapse of International Order in the 1930sFactors Leading to the Collapse of International Peace· Hitler’s Aggressive Foreign Policy· Mussolini’s Aggressive Foreign Policy· Rise of Militarism in Japan
1.Hitler’s Aggressive foreign policy
v Hitler aimed to make Germany a great power and
this he hoped to achieve by destroying the hated Versailles treaty. He aimed
to:
·
To
bring back all German speaking population under one government.
·
Revision
of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
·
Lebensraum
(living space) to provide food for the Germans and area for German’s growing
population
·
Destroy
invincible communism.
Whatever the truth about his long term intensions (to make Germany
a great power), Hitler began with a series of brilliant success in the
beginning.
1.
Boycotted
world Disarmament conference (1932) held at Geneva
Hitler considered Germany’s membership of the league council as
the chief/major obstacle to his foreign policy. Germany withdrew from the World
Disarmament conference and the League of Nations on the ground that France did
not have equality of armaments with Germany. After that, Hitler violated the
clauses of the Treaty of Versailles which restricted her arm strength.
2.
German
Polish Pact-1934
The second phase of Germany’s aggressive policy was the
Non-aggression pact with Poland. Under the treaty of Versailles, Poland was
given a large share of German territories (Danzig, Silesia, Posen, etc.).
Hitler on the other hand wanted to include all Germans in a greater German
State. Hitler’s rise to power naturally caused alarm in Poland. But Hitler
wisely signed/entered into a ten years non-aggression pact with Poland in 1934.
Reason for signing the pact
ü To make
Poland a neutral buffer state between Russia and Germany
ü Poland
would be less dependent on France for her security
ü The
real motive was to weaken Poland in future
This intention of Hitler clearly revealed that
Hitler would invade Poland in the future
3.
Reunion
of SAAR with Germany (Plebiscite in 1935)
Treaty
of Versailles detached the Saar region from Germany and was exploited by France
for long fifteen years. However, as per the Treaty, it was stated that a
plebiscite would be held after January, 1935. Accordingly plebiscite was held
resulting in a 90% of vote in favor of reunion with Germany.
4.
German
Intervention in Spanish Civil War (1936)
General Franco in
Spain organized a revolt to save the country from Communists. This led to a
terrible civil war between Pro-Communists Republican Government and the
Pro-Fascists Franco armies. This was a struggle between the ideologies of
Democracy and Dictatorship. Hitler took up the causes of Franco and ultimately,
the struggle ended in a victory for Franco. (Mussolini also helped General
Franco). Thus, Hitler’s intervention in the Spanish Civil war became a dress
rehearsal for a greater drama to be played soon on a bigger stage. Spain was
used as a testing field and also this incident brought Germany and Italy closer
to each other.
5.
Capture
of Rhineland (1936)
Encouraged by
success, Hitler took the calculated risk of sending troops into the
demilitarized zone of Rhineland in 1936. This was a breach of both Versailles
and Locarno. No resistance was offered beyond the usual protest. *This was the
first phase of Hitler’s aggressive designs because from their Germany began her
war preparation. Britain and France protested but no action was taken to expel
Germany from Rhineland.
6.
Rome
Berlin Tokyo Axis (1937)
In 1936, Hitler
signed a pact with Japan known as Anti-Comintern Pact to go against Russian
Communism. In 1937, when Italy joined this pact, the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
came into being. This was directed to balance the power against Britain, France
and Russia.
7.
Annexation
of Austria (1938)
The Anschluss with
Austria was Hitler’s greatest Success. Matters came to a hand, when the
Austrian Nazis staged a huge demonstration in Vienna. Hitler moved his German
troops into Austria and became part of the third Reich. It clearly revealed the
weaknesses of Britain and France, who did no more than protest. The annexation
of Austria was a prelude to the annexation of Czechoslovakia in near future.
8.
German
Intervention in Czechoslovakia (1939)
Now, Hitler decided
to destroy Czechoslovakia because he hated the Czech their democracy and their
State being set up by the hated Versailles Treaty. He demanded that the German
speaking areas of Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia should be handed over to
Germany. Otherwise, he threatened for a possible German invasion of
Czechoslovakia. British Prime Minister Chamberlain and French Prime Minister
Daladier in order to avoid war put tremendous pressure over Czechoslovakia to
give away Sudetenland. When war was inevitable, Hitler invited Chamberlain and
Daladier to a four power conference at Munich in 1938. The British PM
Chamberlain felt that the only way to avoid general European war was to accept
the German demand.
Finally, England,
France, Germany and Italy signed the Munich Pact of September, 1938. By this
pact of Munich Hitler was allowed to capture the Sudetenland and other areas of
mixed but predominantly German population. The Munich Pact was thus the
culmination of appeasement and the warrant death of Democracy which was
established after the First World War.
9.
German
Attack on Poland (Sep, 1939) The immediate cause of the WWII
Since Munich pact became the culmination of appeasement, Hitler
was inspired to turn his attention towards Poland and demanded the city of
Danzig and to build a German highway across the Polish Corridor. Polish
government refused to consider the German demand on the basis of Anglo-French
assurance to protect Poland. The British PM Chamberlain gave up his policy of
appeasement and declared that Britain would help Poland in case of German
invasion. Meanwhile, Germany and Russia signed a Non-Aggression Pact (23
August, 1939) for ten years and agreed to partition Poland between the two.
When the Polish government invited Hitler for a discussion, he flatly refused.
Hitler having got the support from Russia, Hitler invaded Poland on 1st
September 1939.
Chamberlain had still not completely abandon appeasement and
suggested that if German troops were withdrawn, a conference could be held.
When there was no response from Hitler, Chamberlain sent an ultimatum to
Germany. When the ultimatum expired at 11am on 3rd September,
Britain declared war on Germany. France too had joined the war on the side of
Britain and thus, the inevitable destructive Second World War broke out.
2. Rise of militarism in Japan (Predominance of aggressive Nationalism)
Japan
was known as the land of rising sun (Nippon). Japan lived a life of isolation
till the middle of the 19th century. Gradually, Japan adopted
western method and set up a strong centralized government.
Impact of Great Economic Depression of 1929 on the Japanese Economy
·
The Nippon, the land of the rising sun
remained isolated in the middle of the 19th century but the American
Commodore Perry had opened the doors of japan to the outside world
·
During the WWI, when the world was busy
fighting , Japan was busy making money by exporting silk to America.
·
But unfortunately, when America reduced import
of silk due to the Great Depression of 1929, unemployment and poverty started
in Japan and the government was not able to solve the problems.
·
The only solution to improve the economic
conditions was to capture Manchuria which was rich in coal, gold iron and
timber.
Factors responsible for the rise of militarism in Japan
Rise of Militarism in Japan
·
The Japanese armies were affected since most
of them were from villages and they were really influenced by the idea of
fascism and Nazism.
·
Thus, there was a shift of power to military
leadership and their eyes were on Manchuria.
Annexation
of Manchuria
·
Japan captured Manchuria in 1931 and this
incident was known as Mukden Incident and they setup a puppet state called
Manchukuo and this matter was reported to the league by the Chinese government.
·
The league appointed Lytton Commission under
the leadership of Lord Lytton to investigate the case and the commission
suggested that Manchuria to be made as independent state under the protection
of China.
·
Japan opposed the suggestion and withdrew its
membership from the League of Nations in 1932.
·
American and Britain followed the policy of
appeasement because of their good trade relation with Japan and did not take
any action against japan which further encouraged japan.
The Impacts of Japan’s invasion of Manchuria
·
Japan became more aggressive and closed all
the doors to the Europeans na Americans which was termed as Japan’s Monroe
Doctrine in 1934.
·
To avoid the threat from Russia and china,
Japan signed Anti-Comintern Pact and Rome Berlin Tokyo Axis which became a
balance of power against Britain, France and Russia.
·
After signing these two pacts, japan wanted to
be the most powerful country in Asia and thus, captured the colonies of
America, France and Britain like Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine’s and
Indonesia.
·
As a result, America stopped the supply of oil
to Japan and japan got angry and dropped the bombs at Pearl Harbor, the naval
base of America in Hawaii Island in Pacific on 7th December, 1941
and Pearl Harbor incident forced America to join the WWII
·
America declared war against Japan and
Sino-Japanese war ultimately merged in to WWII
Anglo Appeasement Policy
·
The policy followed by Britain and France in
order to please the aggressive countries like Germany, Italy and Japan by
fulfilling their demands is known as Policy of Appeasement
·
This policy of appeasement was one of the
factors for the outbreak of WWII because:
·
The Munich Pact of 1938 gave Sudetenland to
Hitler but it further encouraged Hitler to capture Czechoslovakia and Poland
·
Italy captured Abyssinia in 1938 followed by
Rome berlin Tokyo Axis, Albania and steel pact of 1939
·
Japan captured Manchuria followed by Japan’s
Monroe Doctrine, Anti-Comintern Pact, Rome Berlin Tokyo Axis, Captured whole of
South East Asia and dropped bombs on American naval base.
Criticism of Appeasement Policy
·
The war could have been averted if Britain and
France have not followed the appeasement policy
·
They could have taught lesson to Hitler and
Mussolini in 1936 when they intervened in the Spanish Civil War
·
They didn’t react when japan attacked
Manchuria and Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia
·
Many victimized countries appealed to the
League of Nations to take collective actions against Japan, Italy and Germany
but the powerful western countries didn’t due to the fear of another war.
·
These further pampered and encouraged the
Nazi’s and Fascist which made them more ambitious and their ambition were
disturbing the world peace and dragged the world towards another war-WWII
3. Mussolini’s Foreign Policy
According
to the Fascist Faith
a. Italy’s
prestige should be raised in the eyes of the foreign nations
b. Fascist
believed in imperialism and territorial expansion
c. As per
Mussolini’s promise he aimed to re-instate post war Italy
Therefore,
Mussolini followed or adopted an aggressive foreign policy in 1930s with two
objectives
a. Acquiring
colonies and provide raw materials to industrial development
b. Enhancing
Italian prestige and influence in international affairs
In the
beginning Mussolini met with success in his foreign policy but afterwards
became more cautious because of the political situation in Europe. Historians
therefore, divided Mussolini’s foreign policy into two important parts
a. His
foreign policy from 1923-1934 (Anti-Germany)
b. His
foreign policy from 1934 till the outbreak of the second world war in 1939
CORFU INCIDENT (1923)
The first incident which enhanced Italy’s prestige was the Corfu
Incident of 1923, which was Mussolini’s first military glory and excitement of
war. Precursor of this incident; three Italian members of the commission were
killed by Greek bandits on 27 August, 1923. Mussolini now blamed the Greeks and
demanded huge compensation from Greece and occupied the Corfu Island. This
incident clearly exposed the weakness of the League.
ACQUISITION OF FIUME (1924)
The next important incident was the acquisition of Fiume which
Italy claimed at the Peace Conference. Gabriel D’ Annunzio, a famous romantic
poet, occupied Fiume with a few hundred supporters before Yugoslavia had to
take it. Fiume was to be jointly used by Italy and Yugoslavia. In 1924, an
agreement was signed between Italy and Yugoslavia in which greater part of
Fiume was incorporated in Italy.
ANNEXATION OF ALBANIA (1939)
Albania was already an Italian protectorate through utmost support
rendered in terms of finance by the Italian Government. Taking advantages of
chaos situation in Albania, Italy hurriedly invaded Albania in 1939 and annexed
the country to the Italian empire.
ANNEXATION OF ABYSSINIA (1935)
There are many reasons as to why Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935:
a)
Mainly
for the commercial interest. At the Paris Peace conference, the Allied Powers
had neglected Italy in the distribution of Colonies. Most of the Colonies of
Italy in East Africa were not profitable for her. Thus, Italy found resources
of Abyssinia more profitable and attractive for her industries and had good
export market for Italy.
b)
Mussolini
wanted to wipe off the humiliation of the Italian defeated at Adowa in 1896 (to
revive Italian prestige)
c)
The
real cause was that Italy needed colonies to find more food and rooms for her
growing population.
Mussolini took advantage of the armed clash between Italy and
Abyssinia, a border incident at WAL-WAL war, Italy invaded the unprepared
Abyssinia. The Emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selaisie, strongly protested to
avoid falling under Italian Economic domination but their faith was decided by
Italy and King Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed as the emperor of Ethiopia in the
year 1936.
RESULTS/CONSEQUENCES/IMPACTS OF ABYSSIANIAN INVASION
·
It
demonstrated the weakness/ineffectiveness of collective security- i.e League of
Nations
·
The
League condemned Italy as an aggressor and applied Economic Sanctions, but
these were useless because they did not include preventing sales of oil and
coal to Italy, even though the result in oil shortage would have seriously
hampered the Italian war effort.
·
England
and France were economically and militarily unprepared for war against Italy.
They were anxious to avoid any sanction which might provoke Mussolini into
declaring war on to them. But unfortunately the results were quite disastrous.
·
Mussolini
was annoyed by the economic sanctions and it forced Italy closer to Germany.
Hitler forwarded to give him full support of his invasion on Abyssinia. In
return for his support, Mussolini dropped his objections to a German take-over
of Austria.
·
Anglo-French
Appeasement – the League’s prestige suffered a further blow when British
foreign Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, had made a secret deal with Laval, the
French PM to handover a large section of Abyssinia to Italy. (because they were
unprepared for the war)
·
Finally
after seven months of fighting, the Italian army entered Addis Ababa, the
capital city of Ethiopia in May 1936. Haile Selassie (King) fled to Europe, and
Italy annexed Abyssinia in 1936. Germany become more encouraged and sent German
troops to the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland in March 1936.
·
Germany
violated the Locarno pact and the relation between Italy and Germany widen and
formed Rome-Berlin Axis. So, in the Second World War, Mussolini joined Germany
and declared war on Britain and France in 1940.
·
In
1937, Italy joined with Germany and Japan to sign the Anti-Comintern Pact (to
fight against Communism)
·
When
Germany occupied Austria in 1938, Mussolini accepted it without any protest.
[Italians in general were not happy with Mussolini’s relation with Hitler]
·
In May
1939, Mussolini signed a full treaty with Germany ‘The Pact of Steel’ in which
Italy promised full military support to Germany if war arises. Thus, when
Hitler announced the invasion of Poland in 1939, Mussolini was perturbed as he
was not at all prepared for the Great War like WWII. As a result, the Italian
army suffered a humiliating defeat and led to its downfall by joining with
Germany in the Second World War.
INTERVENTION IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR (1936)
CAUSES OF SPANISH CIVIL WAR
·
WEAKNESS OF CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
King Alfonso of Spain was not efficient and his power was seized
by General Rivera in a bloodless coup. He was made to resign during the
Corporation Election of 1931. The people supported the Socialist Republic Party
for the fear of the Bolshevik revolution/spread of Communism.
·
FAILURE OF SOCIALIST REPUBLIC PARTY
This party failed to solve the economic problems of the country
due to Great Economic Depression. As such in the next general Election of 1933,
the Rightist party got Majority of seats and formed the government but the
socialists opposed the government.
In 1936, the Parliament was
dissolved and in the next election, a popular Front of the Republic,
Socialists and the Communist come to power.
The Spanish Civil War of 1936 might not in other circumstance have
been an international event. The cause which made it one was of two kinds,
which are as follow:-
I.
Italy
who was fresh from her recent Ethiopian victory welcomed an opportunity to
strengthen her position in Western Mediterranean regions.
II.
Secondly,
the nation had grown up since the WWI that a country whose internal
organization was based on certain political theory was likely to encourage the
success of the theory in other countries. i.e spread of Fascism. So, in 1936,
when the Spanish Civil war Broke out, both Italy and Germany treated the
Spanish War as a struggle between Communism and Fascism. (it was a question of
“ism”)
MOTIVES BEHIND THE INTERVENTION OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
I.
In
order to make Spain another Fascist State in Europe
II.
To
established Italy’s influence in the Western Mediterranean sea in order to
block against Britain
III.
To get
naval bases in Spain from which he could threaten France (from Spain the French
industries in Marseilles could be easily bombed)
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
·
Italy,
Germany and Russia continued their help for the rival partners
·
The
Spanish civil war paved the way to the Second World War
·
27
European states formed the non-international committee in order not to give any
kind of help to either party in the Spanish civil war. (Rivalry between popular
fronts and the Rightists- war is ‘Ism’)
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