Why war broke out in 1939 In 1939, Germany, after signing the German-Soviet Pact, attacked Poland. Much to Hitler’s surprise, Britain and France, who had both seemed unwilling to go to war responded to his actions by declaring war against Germany on the 3rd of September. The events leading to this war can be traced back to the end of World War I, or more specifically, the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was famous for it’s harshness and cruelty against Germany, forcing them to pay huge amounts of reparations and took away some of Germany lands, while demilitarizing some. It also severely restricted Germany’s military power.
Germany however was initially excluded from the league as they were blamed for being the cause of the war. The treaty said that Germany would have to give up land, is army was limited to 100,000 men and was forbidden from having an air force, they were forbidden from uniting with Austria to keep the economic potential to a minimum and they were to accept full responsibility for starting the war. Reluctant to give up their nation’s pride they were given two options, sign the treaty or be invaded. Incapable of restarting a war, they gave in. Another weakness was Article 48.
Why did Stalin sign the Nazi Soviet Pact (Aug 1939)? This was a deal between Germany and Russia that they would not attack each other for 10 years and that they secretly agreed to divide Poland and Baltic nations between them. • Stalin was aware of the threat to the SU once Hitler came to power as he had explicitly stated his intention of getting rid of Communism and Lebensraum. • Britain and France would not commit to any alliance with the SU • After joining the LON in 1934, he soon became disappointed at its inabilities to keep check on Fascist powers • He was suspicious of the true motives behind the policy of appeasement especially with regards to rearmament • Despite the Mutual Assistance Pact with France, he realized how weak France was after Rhineland • The Munich Agreement confirmed his fears and paranoia that Britain and France were unable to stop Hitler’s aggression which would spread to the rest of eastern Europe. He also believed that Britain actually wanted Hitler to expand eastwards • Britain didn’t help Czechoslovakia but did promise help to Poland, yet Poland was an enemy of the USSR.
But he is also highly criticized, especially for outwitting Congress and even his own Cabinet to get his programs through. He would constantly employ the use of radio and his now famous “fireside chats” to talk directly to the American people. By 1939, with the outbreak of war in Europe, Roosevelt was concentrating increasingly on foreign affairs. New Deal reform legislation diminished, and the ills of the Depression would not fully become less intense until the nation prepared for war. When Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939, Roosevelt stated that, although the nation was neutral, he did not expect America to remain inactive in the face of Nazi aggression.
Both events were a large threat to peace, The Sudetenland crisis began in 1938 Hitler demanded that Czechoslovakia handed over the Sudetenland so that he could achieve his foreign policy aim to unite German speaking people. This incident threatened peace because Hitler threatened war unless Czechoslovakia handed over Sudetenland and because Czechoslovakia had defence agreements with Russia and France they would have gotten involved also this was a threat to peace because people living in the Sudetenland wanted to be a part of Germany so this could have protests and riots as Czechoslovakia didn’t want to hand over the Sudetenland. This would have been dangerous as most of Czechoslovakia’s military industries were in the Sudetenland so they would not have been able to defend themselves. However this crisis was resolved as the Munich agreement was organised to bring peace. The Nazi soviet pact which was signed on the 23rd of august 1939 as a non-aggression pact although was also a threat to peace, after the invasion of Czechoslovakia Hitler signed this pact with Stalin in which they agreed not to go to war with each other, within the pact they also secretly agreed to invade Poland and divide it.
Now it was clear that Hitler could not be trusted and unlike Studenland, the rest of Czech was never part of Germany before thee war, so this was clearly an invasion. Britain and France told Hitler they would declare war on him if he invaded Poland. * Stalin had been worried about Germany all along cause he read about Hitler’s plans about taking over the east of Europe, he also knew Britain and France would not stand in his way cause they supported his idea of anti communism. So instead he went to Hitler and they agreed on ‘The Nazi Soviet pact’ which was that Hitler would not invade Russia and Poland can be divided in 2 between them. Stalin wanted the east, to take over the Baltic states and he knew that Hitler would not keep his word but he had hoped that the agreement would give him time to build up his forces.
Weltpolitik caused tensions and led to a naval race between Germany and Britain and created a naval scare in the world. The historian Fritz Fischer arguments that Germany was to blame for causing WW1, with presenting the ‘September Programme’ where Germany’s aims for the Domination of Europe is set, like their Weltpolitik was also about. The July crisis was the crisis, which pushed Europe in to war. Germany urged Austria-Hungary on to attack Serbia with the ‘’blank check’’, which also assured a full back up from Germany. Germany interpreted Russia’s mobilization as virtual equivalent to declaring war, and that meant that in order for the Schlieffen plan to succeed, Germanys army had to attack and defeat France before moving eastwards to fight Russian forces.
Kyle 1 Mr. CHC 2D1/2D2 Tuesday June 10, 2014 Force’s with Bad Luck During world war two, Germany’s leader, Adolf Hitler, decides to break his pact with the Soviet Union and invade. This is one of the major decisions, which in time, helped Germany loose the war. It was also a factor in helping convince the Soviet Union to join the war and fight for the allies. In June 1941 after Germany had taken over most of Europe, Adolf Hitler decides to become greedy. How did Hitler invade the soviet Union, why did he invade the Soviet Union, and how does the novel “Soldier X” by Don Wulffson, describe war to what war was really like.
Economically, Germany’s desire to build a central European customs association was at odds with France, Russia and Britain’s economic aspirations. The rise of Hindenburg and Ludendorff as leaders of the third Supreme Command placed huge power with the military in Germany and further prevented diplomatic negotiation. Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg’s programme of 9 September 1914 defined Germany’s general aim of the war as ‘security for the German Reich in west and east for all imaginable time.’[2] Essential to this aim was the weakening of France so ‘as to make her revival as a Great Power impossible for all time.’[3] Bethmann’s programme had unpalatable territorial, economic and political implications for France. Such a direct, provocative aim forced France’s hand. Prolonged warfare with Germany was more appealing than surrender and facing being controlled by a German state.
In an effort to promote such reconciliation, President Woodrow Wilson called for the creation of the League of Nations which would serve as an international peacekeeping organization. Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles under protest and eventually sought revisions to the sanctions outlined in it while, at the same time, “the US Senate rejected the Versailles settlement and vetoed U.S. membership of the League of Nations”. The peace that was sought by crafting the Versailles Treaty had failed to materialize and it was this very treaty that became a contributing factor to World War II. German Reaction to the Treaty of Versailles The German people began to