This therefore led to him signing the Nazi-Soviet pact. The Nazi-Soviet pact was signed between Hitler and Stalin on the 23rd August 1939. Stalin wanted the pact for three reasons, firstly, time. Stalin said, ‘we got peace for our country for eighteen months, which let us make military preparations.’ Secondly, his hope to gain. He believed the only way Russia could gain from the war was if it lasted for a long time and France, Britain and Germany exhausted themselves.
"We have seen the last of neutrality in these circumstances... the world must be made safe for democracy..." This was said by President Woodrow Wilson in his speech to the U.S. Senate on January 22, 1917. He said these words to show his change of opinion regarding the United States' involvement in World War One. There were several events that occurred which changed America's view on neutrality.The first reason that forced the United States to reconsider their foreign policy neutrality at the start of World War One was the sinking of the Lusitania. The Lusitania was a British steamship that was torpedoed on May 7, 1915. "The fact that more than one hundred American citizens were among those who died made it the duty of the Government of the United States to speak of these things once more, with sincere emphasis to call the attention of the German Government to the fact that they were responsible for the action."
The pact was the final cause of war as Hitler could now invade Poland without any interference from Stalin. Britain and France had declared war on Germany as they guaranteed Poland’s independence. However, the policy of appeasement in the 1930’s also played a big role in causing the Second World War. Appeasement had led Hitler to believe that Britain and France were weak. Britain and France gave Germany the Rhineland, the Sudetenland and they were allowed to have an Anschluss with Austria.
On October 5, 1918 the German Government responded to this fourteen points and requested peace negotiations, and on November 5, 1918 the Armistice was signed with the conditions Germany would withdraw from any invaded lands, returning them, all that remained were the finer details of Wilson’s fourteen points to be ironed out. Negotiations continued until June 28, 1919, arguments still rage to this day regards the harshness of the Treaty, many historians lay the blame on the doorstep of the French negotiators, declaring it a Carthaginian Peace. In recent times however historians have been able to judge better the negotiations, David Stevenson has noted on
SALISBURY UNIVERSITY COLD WAR: THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS POSC 210-002 12 APRIL 2011 DANIEL TIMMER The Allied powers victory in World War II was marked by the end of a reign by tyrant Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers. The victory however did not last long because the termination of one evil influence was quickly transformed into a new threat brought on by fear of the spread of communism. The post-World War II strategic interests of the United States, in terms of nation security, was to focus foreign affairs efforts on containment of the Soviet Union and communism throughout what would be termed the Cold War era. On March 12, 1947 the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, addressed the nation by saying “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.
Wilson believed that fundamental flaws in international relations created an unhealthy climate that led inexorably to the World War. His fourteen points outlined his vision for a safer world. “His statement of American ideals and aspirations served as a warning to Allied leaders who remained committed to national rather than international objectives” (Graebner, 50). Wilson called for an end to secret diplomacy, a reduction of armaments, and freedom of the seas. He claimed that reductions to trade barriers, fair adjustment of colonies, and respect for national self-determination would reduce economic and nationalist sentiments that lead to war.
During the Paris Peace conference of 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was created as a peace treaty to end WW1 and prevent future conflict with Germany. From the beginning the Big Three had different opinions as to how Germany should be treated. It can be argued that the treaty of Versailles was too harsh on Germany and therefore caused embitterment within Germany, which ultimately lead to the public supporting Hitler who through propaganda convinced the public that he would undo the terms of the treaty. After the horrors of World War 1, the people of Europe wanted to retain peace in Europe. The big three at the Paris Peace Conference; Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson, had different opinions as to how Germany should be treated and how peace would be returned to Europe.
To what extent was the policy of appeasement mainly responsible for the collapse of International Peace by 1939? The policy of appeasement was led by Britain and France in the 1930s, when it referred to attempting to satisfy Germany's demands by negotiation and compromise, which would avoid war. It was implemented after World War 1 which was 1936 and ended at 1939. At 1939, September 1, Britain declared the World War 2. It is clear that if the Western Powers were against Hitler, war could have been avoided, it encouraged Hitler, Hitler could never be appeased, and that it prompted the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace settlement between Germany and the allies (France, Britain & USA) after World War 1. The treaty was made in June 1919 by all the nations involved apart from Germany. The French in particularly wanted a peace which would weaken Germany so much they could not attack France in the future. German government had the choice to sign the treaty, thus putting an end to the war by them officially surrendering or have their country occupied by allied troops. They had little choice but to surrender and accept the terms of the treaty no matter how harsh they were going to be.
The Deconstruction of War World War I was known as the Great War and was referred to as “The war to end all wars” by President Woodrow Wilson in his address to Congress asking for a Declaration of War against Germany on April 2, 1917 (Wilson). Unarguably, the perception of war changed profoundly at the conclusion of the astounding combat. People began to deviate from the belief that war was magnificent and heroic to a darker and more melancholy attitude during the second phase of the Great War when the human toll shook up the English gentry. The idea of masculinity in the context of the war eroded, as seen through the First World War soldiers; they started to express fear and anguish instead of bravery and honor. Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen were both soldier poets during World War I, and wrote about the horrific events of the Great War.