Lecture: Date for exam: either 16 or 21, 23 doesn work because of people that are t taking pass/fail. Vote.

Review session? When?

The 14 points in context before WWII

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open covenants, openly arrived at a) a) a) a) secret treaty between Moscow and Germany Smoot Hawly tariff which accelerates depression problems Germany rearms US maintains troops until 1920. removal of trade barriers national armaments reductions evacuation of Russia and independent solution of Russia problems s Evacuation and restoration of all occupied French terrain to include Alsace and Lorraine. a) 6. a) b) French desire saar area self determination a sham. The German speaking people in Czech area (3 million) deliberately exclude from Germany. A union of now non-imperial Austria and Germany would have been a natural, but French block it in an attempt to keep Germany weak. What would have made sense? Autonomy for Austrian-Hungarian people.

c) 7.

Independence of Poland to include territories with predominance of Polish speakers. a) b) language a problem in that the distribution of languages did not correspond to geographic borders. Becomes a huge issue in Danzig corridor area.

8.

Formation of an association of nations ensuring liberty and territorial integrity. a) League of Nations, but most powerful nation ends up boycotting.

I.

WORLD WAR II IN CONTEXT A. World War II was the greatest war in world history. 1. 2. B. Some 35-60 million people died in this enormous global conflagration. Truly world-wide

World War II closely followed the most elaborate and hopeful effort ever made to design a peaceful world (the 1919 Versailles peace). Never before had world leaders sought so consciously to use their power to shape a peaceful world as they did in 1919. And never has the world seen such violence as it did in Versaillesaftermath. In contrast, the peace that emerged in 1945 was undesigned yet proved far more durable. What does this say of our capacity to engineer a more peaceful world? Versailles: 1. Treaty terms a) b) 100,00 men, This becomes an advantage though. The Germans realize that 100k is not enough to do much of anything so they develop a cadre force, with each man being able to do the jobs of those above him. Later when Hitler increases the size, the people are in place to do so. a fleet of more than 36 combatant vessels, or any submarines or military or naval aircraft, or to maintain fortifications or military installations within 50 kilometers of the east bank of the Rhine. In addition, the defeated states were to be required to pay large sums as reparations for damages that the victors had suffered during the war. France see reparations as a way to make some cash to pay for huge damages (remember, WWI was fought largely in France) and to keep Germany weak. France also wants the Saar region (across Rein from Alcase Lorraine, big industrial region which would compliment the coal and steel production in Alcase-Lorraine. Poland: In the 14 points, Wilson mentioned Polish access to the sea. Obvious place is Baltic port of Danzig, but here the problem mostly German speaking in this city. s This also cuts off East Prussia from the rest of Prussia.

C.

D.

c)

d)

e)

2.

Problems with treaty and signatories a)

This, combined with the ultranationlaism prior to WWI made for significant future troubles. b) c) d) Britain afraid that a very weak Germany may give rise to something worse in the future. Germans make a good effort to repay reparations. At Rapallo on April 16, 1922, they signed with the other outcast of Europe, the Bolshevik USSR, a treaty providing for mutual renunciation of claims and future economic cooperation. Meanwhile, French and British falling out. Squabbles in Mid-East lead many to think that next war will be between these two. US senate fails to ratify the Versailles treaty, US falls back into isolationism. By 1926 Germany admitted into League. France signs alliance pacts with Poland, Czech, Romania, Yugoslavia Collective action underpinning of league. Manchurian incident: (1) Japan, who monitored railroads in the area, used bombing as pretext to takeover Manchuria. League does nothing. America upset. US economy collapses in wake of 1929 stock crash. US investments held far and wide, US a growing market as well. US decline sends rest of world into economic decline. Most European nation owe huge debt to US as a result of rebuilding after WWI. Most unable to continue to meet debt payments. In 1931, Hoover allows a one-year deferral of payment, in 1932, as a result of public clamor, he calls debts in, all countries but Finland default, this serves embarrass other countries and intensifies US isolationist sentiments.

e)

f) 3.

From French perspective, peace to be maintained by: a) b) c)

4.

Breakdown of League: a)

b)

Economic depression. (1)

(2)

II.

NATIONAL POLICIES AND IDEAS

A.

Germany: 1. Germans practiced creative history. Weimar-era (1920 s) German schools & scholars told and believed lies about: a) b) The origins of WWI-The Entente powers encircled Germany and instigated the war! The causes and responsibility for Germany defeat (the s Jews and the socialists did it!-not Ludendorf and the superhawks. ) Germany blunders were not evaluated s (those scholars who did evaluate were persecuted. ) The harshness of the peace-Versailles was Draconian! Moral drawn by Germany: We need a bigger empire, to be safe from our rapacious neighbors! Instead of learning that a reach for lebensraum was dangerous, indeed suicidal, Germans learned that gaining lebensraum was essential! Germans first embraced Nazi-like ideas (1920s), then the Nazis themselves (1930s). (Was World War II really just a 1-man show-Hitler did it!?? He had many willing helping hands! German neo-conservative publishers, 1890-1930. German war-cult literature, 1920s. Who purveyed these Nazi-like ideas? For what reason? We don have a satisfactory answer: responsibility for this t crime remains hidden in the mists of history. In Mein Kampf he previews what his ideal world will look like (1926-7) In his book Mein Kampf (2 vols., 1925-1927) and in later speeches: abhorrence of equality and majority rule, his hatred of Jews, his belief that "Aryans were a "master race entitled to dominate others, state had a right to use any means to achieve its ends. expand in order to bring within it all Europeans of German nationality. German people needed Lebensraum (space for living), to be found in eastern Europe. Germany had to have a final active reckoning with France.

c) d)

e)

f) g) h)

2.

Rise of Hitler. a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i)

j)

By 1932 the national socialists are growing in power. Hitler is at the lead. In January 1933 Hitler is appointed Chancellor in a constitutionally valid way. But, Nazi s control small part of government. Then, Reichstag burns down. Using this as a pretext, Nazi make huge gains in s next election, coming up with 44% of vote (more than Clinton got in 1992). Then moves to consolidate. Germany is insecure, especially Germany can be strangled by cutting off food imports. An empire is the answer-Germany needs more territory because it needs an autarkic economy: hence security is in direct proportion to its territorial dimensions. Offense is easy. Bandwagoning-Hitler avalanche theory. s Contempt for the Soviet Union -- Germans built the USSR, but mere Jews run it now so We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down. This occurred late during 1939-1940-but Hitler seemed to foresee them, or their equivalent. Fundamentally new strategy, the Blitzkrieg. The German military buildup: Because they were barred from developing or training with certain weapons Germans build secret factories in Soviet Union to build chemical weapons and to train air force officers. during the late 1930s Germany spent a far larger share of its GNP on the military than did Britain and France (see attached Tables 30-32 from Paul Kennedy.) This gave Germany a large but temporary military advantage during 1938-1940.

3.

Nazi beliefs about international affairs: a) b)

c) d) e)

4.

The invention of Blitzkrieg and Manstein war plan s a) b) c) d)

e)

B.

Japan: 1. Militarism appears in Japan: a) 2. the military comes to dominate Japanese national ideas about foreign affairs, 1900-1941.

Ideas the Japanese military believed and/or purveyed:

a) b)

Japan is insecure, and an empire is the answer. Others are hostile. Japan embraced the myth of ABCD [American, British, Chinese, Dutch] encirclement. It spiraled with neighbors, unaware that it provoked the hostility it faced. These hostile powers could strangle Japan. Specifically, World War I shows that states can strangle each other by blockading their maritime trade-as the Entente strangled Germany. We could be next. Japan needs an empire to address this threat. Japanese believed that due to factors i and ii Japan needed an autarkic empire that could function without external trade. Japan can conquer an empire. Seizing an empire is a feasible proposition. With the Axis Alliance we can scare the US into accepting our expansion. America won resist: If we hit America hard it will not t fight all-out our empire is good for our fellow-Asians and we Japanese are not aggressive. After 1937 the Japanese press was forbidden to print articles that may give the impression that our foreign policy is aggressive. The US is so aggressive that they will destroy us unless we act; and so nice they will let us conquer Asia, and will not respond fully if we attack them. Control of economic/industrial resources is so decisive in war that we must gain such control-in a war against a state with 10 times Japan net economic resources! s In World War I blockades strangled states, hence we need an autarkic empire-even a seaborne empire. But WWI also showed that a seaborne empire could be strangled by an enemy with a superior navy (like the USA. )

c)

d)

e) 3.

Bandwagon dynamics allow it: a) b)

4.

A sugar-coated self-image a) b) c)

5.

Note the disintegrated character of Japanese ideas: a)

b)

c)

d)

Our economy requires empire to expand-even though Japan economy grew by leaps and bounds during 1871s 1929 without one.

C.

Italy-the land of blue smoke & mirrors. Mussolini government: s 1. Badly misperceived the realities of the late 1930s: a) b) 2. a) b) It believed gross overestimates of Italian military strength. It believed gross overestimates of the value of empire. We, the Italians, won WWI for the Entente! And we were cheated of our fair share of the spoils!

Believed false images of the past:

D.

Britain: 1. Was generally isolationist. a) b) c) 2. Was further weakened by WWI. Was late to rearm in the 1930s. Embraced an aerial cult of the offensive-the bomber will always get through.

Adopted a strategy of appeasement toward Germany. Why? Three explanations are common: a) Craven cowardice. The British public and government were sniveling wimps who cowered before German belligerence. (But if this is true, why did Britain declare war on Germany in 1939 and fight on alone against Germany in 1940?) Dilemmas of multiple contingencies. Some argue that Britain felt overextended, and had to appease one of its adversaries-Japan, Italy, or Germany. Germany got the nod, purely for reasons of resource limitation. British belief that Germany was appeasable, due to false historical understanding. (1) (2) (3) Too many Britons read and believed German propaganda, concluding: We encircled and provoked the Germans; lets not do it again! and we were too mean at Versailles-German demands to revise it are legitimate

b)

c)

3.

After WWII a deterrence model myth arose around Munich, but...

4. 5. 6.

After WWI a spiral model myth arose around the July crisis of 1914. And meanwhile, too few Britons read Ewald Banse and Mein Kampf. Puzzling questions: a) b) c) What if Britain had gone to war without attempting appeasement, over issues of cloudy legitimacy? What if, therefore, the war had broken out in a way that failed to clearly illuminate German responsibility? How could a stable peace have then been made?

E.

The United States: 1. 2. 3. Embraced isolationism. Adopted a mobilization military strategy that included no large standing forces. Had no clear national grand strategy; hence America could not predict its own behavior; hence others (Germany, Japan) couldn t predict it either. unready for war. indifferent to (even helpful toward) the rise of Nazis in Germany in the early 1930s; Another purge of officers in 1937 (1/2 killed off, again). Later, suspicious of all capitalists. Confident that a war among western states would be a long stalemate, hence it did not fear that such a war would end quickly, leaving the USSR facing a hegemonic Germany alone. Military cult of the defensive gained currency. National elites assumed that offense would be as difficult in the next war as it was during 1914-1918.

F. G.

France: 1. 1. 2. 3. 4. The Soviet Union:

H.

Everywhere except Germany: 1. 2.

III.

HOW THE STORM GATHERED: EVENTS IN EUROPE

A. Immediately post-Versailles, 1. Germany suffers through terrible financial times.

2. 3.

Hyper-inflation wipes out what little money people have left. Result from expansion of economy to help pay of debts. When the stock crash comes it proves particularly devastating in that people had just gotten their act together again. First war, then economic disaster, then economic disaster again! This time in large part as a result of the US.

B. C.

Withdrawal of the USA, Britain, and USSR from central European affairs. German rearmament 1. 2. giving Germany an offensive capability and a fleeting superiority. (Why didn the allies prevent German rearmament?) t Germany opens a window: a) b) since they had rearmed last, they had the highest tech weapons. Hitler realized, by 1937, as France and Britain begin to rearm, that his advantage will last 4-6 years.

D.

Hitler wins without a war: appeasement and peaceful German expansion. 1. Hitler recoveries & conquests: s a) - The Rhineland 1936: this was an area that the Germans were prohibited from moving troops into. League of Nations was to enforce the rule. Hitler argues that France had violated Lacarno treaty which had allowed Germany back into league. Franco-Soviet pact said that France would aid Soviet, but Lacarno said France would only fight Germany as part of league action. Hitler then says provisions that constrain Germany void. Big shocker. As if Hussein remilitarize the border of Kuwait. Britain and Poland fail to back France...Versailles is on its deathbed. - Austria 1938: Hitler order Austrians to place Nazi in s strong positions. When they balk, Dr. Arthur SeyssInquart, Austrian Nazi minister of the interior, proclaims himself head of a provisional government and invites German intervention. Germans walk in, France and Britain again do nothing. - Sudetenland 1938 (filled with German minorities: see Mein Kampf). British PM Chamberlain feels that Germans have reasonable grievances, works out a deal to give the Sudetenland to Germans (Czechs not happy). Hitler than expands demands, leads to Munich conference

b)

c)

d)

Berlin writes up a plan, has Mussolini deliver it. Dominated by the Germans, commission awards to Germany all the border area that had been shown as German in the AustroHungarian census of 1910. This included approximately 10,000 square miles and 3,500,000 persons. 3 weeks later Hitler tells his general the rest of Czech is next. - The Czech rump, 1939: Czech president, Emil Hacha, asked to see the fuhrer. He was invited to Berlin and given an audience in the early morning hours of March 15. An almost incredible scene ensued. Hitler told Hacha that there were only two choices: Czechoslovakia could ask to be occupied peacefully, or it could be invaded and its people made to suffer. The fuhrer's deputies literally chased Hacha around a table, trying to force him to sign a proclamation requesting establishment of a German protectorate. When the aged Czech fainted, he was revived with injections. Finally he signed. - Memel 1939: port near Lithuania, lost as part of 1919 treaty. Hitler asks Poles to deal, they refuses, he seizes Memal. Poland next: Hitler stated that he intended to move against Poland before the end of the month, and that he was confident that Britain and France would not intervene, but prepared to run risk if that were the case. Hitler pushes Poland into a corner, demanding the Danzig corridor. Chamberlain again pushes for negotiations and presses Poles to deal. Pole refuse and mobilize. Using SS troops in Polish uniforms, Hitler attacks and occupies a radio station (German) near the border using his own troops, but claims that he has to invade Poland to recover. France Norway Denmark Holland (Should Britain and France have launched a preventive war while it was being assembled? Gains from conquest: alternate views

e)

f)

g)

2.

This leads to declaration of war by Britain and France a) b) c) d)

3.

Quite a nice empire! a)

4.

Was the empire really valuable? a)

10

(1)

What does it mean if the world is characterized by societies which can be transferred from one state to another?

b)

Realists assume the gains from empire to be freely transferable. (1) (2) (3) (4) Modernization facilitates conquest: stability of state is key, not who the leader is Resistance is reduced through coercion in the absence of state, groups fall apart and individual; rationality replaces collective action repression does not affect productivity as long as incentives remain. Why not? Adam Smith to Paul Kennedy argue that empires drain the home economy Modern economists claim that the surplus which accrues to modern societies is not available to conquerors. (a) (b) (c) (d) Property rights. Nationalism Loyalty necessary for intellectual property. Coercion requires repression which reduces willingness to participate.

c)

Empires do not work. (1) (2) (3)

5.

Examples of successful German conquest: a) Germany had two policies: (1) W. Europe: French and Danes allowed to continue to function, and they did in grand style for Germans. (a) By 1940, 220,000 workers volunteered to move to Germany from France and elsewhere to work for Germans By 1944 7.1 million foreign workers worked in Germany, what would have happened if they had resisted (20% of work force). Even at such high rate labor productivity ROSE 15% between 1940-1944.

(b)

11

(c)

Foreign workers were 80% as productive (according to German records) as German workers). Simply paid accordingly.. Occupied W Europe paid an average of 18.2 billion marks a year to Germany. Majority of war material captured due to blitz and used later:

(d) (e) (2) 6.

Eastern Europe, because of racists beliefs, simply looted and repressed.

Costs of control: a) Security (1) b) c) Occupation forces ranged from 8/1000 (Holland) to 150/1000 (Norway) 15,000 total administrators for all of w Europe. Dutch 1,200 French 400,000 (but most join up just before the end).

Administration (1) (1) (2) Resistance? Minimal.

7.

European 5th columns? a) In Vichey France: PM Laval Victory for Germany will save civilization from sinking into communism. Victory for the Americans would be a triumph for Jewry and communism...I, for my part, have made my choice. W Europeans donned SS uniforms and volunteered to fight for the Germans.

b) 8. E. 1. 2. 3. 4. F. 1. 2.

Was appeasement dumb (in a Clausewitzian sense)? Growth of German power. Destruction of allied and German credibility. The failure of a strong anti-German defensive alliance to emerge. Hitler attacks Poland, Sept. 1 1939, launching World War II. Spanish civil war: not THE match but served to raise tensions. Sino-Japanese war: 1936 JPN declares that it destiny is to be the s dominant force in all of east Asia.
12

Results of German conquests:

Other Events that contributed to overall tensions

3. 4.

Soviets very nervous by this. JPN invades China, League does nothing. Lawlessness breaking out! By 1938, they control all the wealthy areas and the population. Communists and nationalist govt. struggle to survive in center of country and plan to fight it out as they do of next 8 years. Why did deterrence fail, Sept. 1, 1939, 6 explanations: a) b) British Non-strategy. Growth of German power, 1932-39. (1) (2) When aggressors are stronger than status quo powers, we get war. This is particularly true when the aggressor advantage is fleeting-this spurs preventive war by the aggressor.

G.

Questions: 1.

c) d)

Appeasement destroyed British & French credibility. Hitler bandwagon beliefs destroyed British & French s credibility: (1) Hitler assumed that Britain and France would shrink from war if the USSR agreed to stay neutral, as it did on August 25, 1939 (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.) Some say Britain should have written off Poland, and only warned Germany not to invade the USSR a threat that Britain had more capacity to carry out, and which therefore would have been more credible.

e)

Britain made the wrong threat to Germany? (1)

f) 2. 3.

Lack of allied offensive capability against Germany?

Alternatives to appeasement? Could Hitler policy of peaceful expansion have worked in a s Europe of nuclear-armed powers? a) What does this say about the role of nuclear weapons today?

IV.

HOW THE STORM GATHERED: EVENTS IN ASIA

A. The Japanese reach for empire: Back to 1905 1. 2. Taiwan (1895) Korea (1905): tell Rooselvelt story about Russo-Jaopanese war. Nobel prize winner.
13

3.

Manchuria (1931) a) b) c) In each case the JPNese take over a rural agrarina society and build industry which they then extract the suprlus from. In Taiwan and Korea, able to pacify populace In China, an endless bog, sought not to industrialize but to strip of agricultural surplus (of which there was little). Led to large scale guerrilla attacks against Japanese troops, required ever invreasing resources to pcify throughout the war.

B. C.

The Axis Alliance, 1940. 1. 1. 2. Know the importance of from Lee book. What were American motives? Why did the US goals expand? a) b) c) 3. Intially, stop expansion into greater southeast Asia. Later, evacuation of China Specifically, why did the U.S. begin demanding Japanese withdrawal from China as the price of peace in July 1941? The China Market beckons. Sell every Chinaman a shirt and we all get rich. ll The strategic importance of British colonies in Asia to the British war effort in Europe-a myth the British helped promote. The illusion of the Axis monolith: Japan is Germany loyal s and obedient ally; hence Japan gains accrue to Germany. s An Asian war can be a back door to a European war. (But might it not also be a trap door to an Asian morass that diverts the U. S. from Europe?) Note: the China Lobby and the British government promoted some of these ideas. - Why did the US embargo Japanese oil, July 1941? Utley v. Heinrichs interpretations. The progressive hardening American policy, 1931-1941

Ideas that helped motivate the U.S. hard-line position include: a) b)

c) d)

e)

D.

Japan decision to attack Pearl Harbor s 1. 2. Was this smart? Why not just bypass the Philippines?

14

E.

Lessons of Munich: Pearl Harbor 1. 2. Munich in reverse? 1941 is 3 years later...lessons learned? Japan wasn appeased-and it still went to war! t

V.

WHAT CAUSED WWII?

A. German Expansionism-but what caused that? 1. Dubious explanations: a) b) German national character? (1) (1) c) d) But look at today peaceful Germans... s But it wasn harsh-and 1945 was far harsher, but t produced peace! But wasn German society primed to accept Hitler? t But the Weimar German military, while hardly benign, wasn the main purveyor of Nazi ideas. t Versailles-a harsh peace?

Hitler? The great man theory? (1) (1) Militarism?

2.

Problematic explanations: a) The Great Depression (US is to blame), 1929-39-it brought the Nazis to power. (1) b) But the depression was worldwide. Why did it make only Germany crazy?

War War: Was 1914-1945 one great, single war? Germans were steeped in the propaganda of WWI, and it s effects lived on later. (1) (2) But why didn WWI propaganda have the same t effects in Britain, France, and the USA? And why didn WWII later have the same effects as t WWI?

3.

Other explanations: a) b) c) After-echoes of the militarism & hyper-nationalism of 18901914? Was German national thought transformed by this earlier militarist/nationalist inculcation? Nationalist mythmaking? (1) We saw plenty after 1918.

15

d)

A disease of a young democracy? (1) We know that emerging democracies are typically less stable than autocratic regimes. of the German policies of 1890-1918 during 191932; and of Hitler ideas, 1932-1941. s (a) Another disease of a young democracy?

e)

Non-evaluation of policies in historical context: (1) (2)

f) g) h) VI. A. B. C. D. VII. VIII.

Allied diplomacy. Could the allies have deterred Germany? Japanese Expansionism. Military factors: the security dilemma and its offspring.

ESCALATION OF WWII: US, Britain, and Soviet Union into the War US Grand strategy Firebombing The Decision to Drop the Bomb

HITLER OTHER WARS: THE HOLOCAUST AND HITLER OTHER S S MASS MURDERS AFTERMATH OF WWII: A STABLE PEACE (WHY?)

16