Section 3

Wall Street CrashManchurian Crisis-1931

Abyssinian Crisis- 1935-'37Germany and the Treaty of Versailles

Hitler's foreign policy 1933-'36Hitler's foreign policy 1936-'39 (Appeasement)

Hitler's foreign policy 1936-'39 (The Sudeten Crisis 1938)Hitler' actions 1938-'39

FASCISM= the rise of dictators as a result of the Wall Street Crash

People often turn to extremes when times get tough – some countries moved to Fascist dictators

The Wall St. Crash and the Great Depression Background

Missing Words / Phrases

Dawes Plan Freikorps Hyperinflation League of Nations

Locarno Treaties

Nobel Peace Prize

Ruhr Spartakists Wall St. Crash

1. Crisis: 1919-23

These years were characterised by continued suspicion and resentment between Germany and France. The Weimar Republic suffered revolts both from the Left (the ) and the Right (the ) in its first two years, and upon being presented with a final reparations bill of £6,600 million in 1921, the government protested that she could not afford to pay without throwing the country into anarchy. When she defaulted on her payments in 1923, the French invaded the to seize goods for herself.

There were two main results. Economically, Germany descended into the chaos of as she desperately printed paper money off to make up the shortfall in the wealth which should have been generated by industry. Diplomatically, France found herself criticised from all quarters for her aggressive action, which completely went against the spirit of the League. 2. Superficial Recovery, 1924-29 The crisis was alleviated by the of 1924. Germany agreed to pay her reparations on the condition that they were spread out over a longer period. In addition, she was given a gigantic American loan of 800 million Gold Marks. Shortly afterwards, French troops pulled out of the Ruhr. The following year, Germany, France and Belgium agreed to respect their mutual borders in the . This period heralded the "Locarno Honeymoon" which led to Germany's entry into the . Stresemann was even given the the same year. 3. Remaining problems, 1924-29

The problem with this "honeymoon" was that France and Germany had married for money, not out of love – and it was the USA who had bribed them to the wedding altar. The Americans needed the French (and the British) to pay back their war loans; to do that, the French needed Germany to pay her reparations; and for Germany to do that, the USA had to provide a large loan. In other words, the diplomatic machine was completely oiled by American dollars.

Whilst the American economy was doing well, this did not present a problem. However, as Stresemann famously put it, "We are dancing on a volcano…if our short term loans are recalled, a large section of our economy will collapse". Sure enough, when the of 1929 sent the American economy into a tailspin, all of Europe was sucked into the resulting maelstrom.

1929 CRASH and the LON

By 1929, memories of the First World War were fading and the League of Nations had helped improve relations between nations of the world. However, tensions grew again as an Economic depression hit the world in 1929. The League proved powerless in the face of aggression from Japan, Italy and especially Germany.

The main impact of this on the rest of the world (Great Depression) – was a decline in international trade, the ending of US loans, unemployment, the collapse of the international cooperation of 1920s, and political extremism.

Dictators (absolute rulers) seized power in Italy, Germany, Japan, Soviet Union after World War I

The MAJOR Dictators were Benito Mussolini in Italy; Adolf Hitler in Germany; Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union

The Second World War was caused by:a. Hitler’s Aims1.To unite German speaking people (using NSD which had been denied at the Treaty of Versailles.2.He wanted lebensraum (living space) in order to gain self-sufficiency (autarky)3.He wanted to dominate Europe and the WorldTo achieve any of these aims would involve breaking the Treaty of Versailles (28/6/1919), and this could lead to war.b. The aggression of Hitler’s Allies4.Italy – Mussolini wanted a Fascist-Roman empire in the Mediterranean and Africa (e.g. Abyssinian invasion in 1935.)5.Japan – Japan wanted a Nipponese empire in the Pacific, extending into China and Australia (e.g. Manchurian invasion in 1931)Germany, Italy and Japan were hostile to Communism (USSR), and this way a cause of war and vice versa.c. Democratic powers were passive6.USA – Isolated7.France – France was unlikely, and reluctant, to intervene against Germany, because she could not rely on Britain’s and America’s support.8.Britain – Between 1934 and 1937, Britain was sympathetic to German recovery. Between May 1937 and March 1939, Britain appeased Germany.These powers could have stopped Fascist aggression earlier than 1939.d. The League of Nations failed to keep peaceSee other notes.ConclusionWar was caused by a combination of ‘a’ to ‘d’, but Hitler’s aims and actions were the main cause of war.