Main Notes

IBDP – History of Europe

First World War
Aug 1914 – Nov 1918

“The Great War”, “The war to end all wars”

~8-10 million dead

A total war between the Central Powers and Entente Powers.

Total war – “... a type of warfare that includes any and all resources and
infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to
fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs.”

Central Powers:

·​ Austria-Hungary (under Franz Josef)

·​ Germany (under Kaiser Wilhelm II)
·​ Italy [which would eventually switch sides in 1915]
·​ Ottoman Empire

Entente:

·​ Belgium
·​ Britain (under King George V)
·​ Serbia
·​ Japan (under Emperor Taisho)
·​ France (under Raymond Poincaré)
·​ Russia (under Tsar Nicholas II)
·​ USA (under Woodrow Wilson)

Background of World War I

1815 – Congress of Vienna

· ​ Great powers of Europe assembled after the Napoleonic wars

· ​ Agreed on maintaining a balance of power between nations
· ​ All nations were equally powerful and were therefore discouraged from
invading each other
· ​ Known as the Concert of Europe

1860’s – Process of German Unification

· ​ 1864 – Prussia declares war on Denmark

 · ​ 1866/67 - Prussia declares war on the Habsburg Empire.
o Habsburg empire the protector of tiny German speaking states in
middle Germany
o Defeat of the Habsburg empire by Prussia gives the opportunity for
conquering divided German speaking states
o Two schools of thought at the time about the future of Germany
§ Großdeutschland – Austrian portion of Habsburg empire
should be included as a part of a unified Germany along with
minor German states
§ Kleindeutschland – German states excluding the Austrian
portion are unified into one empire;
o Bismarck takes no territory from the Habsburgs; gets an ally for life
as the Habsburgs (now renamed Austria-Hungary) are now
indebted to him
·​ 1870 – Franco-Prussian War
o French are destroyed by the Prussians in just six weeks
o Alsace-Lorraine provinces annexed from France

1871 – Full German Unification

· ​ Germany becomes a superpower under the Iron Chancellor Otto von

Bismarck
· ​ Kaiser Wilhelm I crowned the emperor of Germany
· ​ Balance of power upset as a unified German Empire proves to be stronger
than all others
· ​ Bismarck encouraged French colonial ambitions, urging them to create a
large colonial empire in Africa and Asia.
o Led the French, potential threats to the German Empire, to focus
their resources elsewhere.
o Also led to competition between France and Britain for territory,
dividing their attention away from Germany

1873 – Dreikaiserbund (League of the Three Emperors)

· ​ Alliance between German, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian Empire

· ​ Ensures that France and Russia, two potential threats to Germany, do not
form an alliance amongst themselves
· ​ Marks the beginning of the alliance system between nations in Europe
· ​ Orchestrated by Otto von Bismarck to a large extent
· ​ “Always be three of five” - Otto von Bismarck

Why was the Dreikaiserbund such an impressive feat?

 · ​ Austria-Hungary and Russia entered into an alliance despite tension
· ​ Russian encouragement of Slavic states’ independence from the Ottoman
Empire (sick man of Europe) unsettled Austria-Hungary
· ​ 40% of the population of Austria-Hungary was south Slavic; encouraging
Slavic states’ independence in the Balkans could lead to unrest and the
breakdown of Austria-Hungary

1878 – Congress of Berlin

· ​ Convened by Bismarck after the Russo-Turkish war, which was won by

Russia
· ​ Held to attempt to limit Russian power and influence in the Balkans by
revising the existing Treaty of San Stefano
· ​ Ottomans lost significant territory in the Balkans; Russians wanted these
territories incorporated into a superstate called Greater Bulgaria
· ​ This plan was, however, dismantled by the Great Powers, as Romania,
Serbia, and Montenegro officially recognized as independent states
instead
· ​ Furthermore, Austria-Hungary permitted to occupy and administer Bosnia
and Herzegovina while Britain gained Cyprus, reflecting Great Power
self-interest in the region
· ​ Example of how Bismarck used German influence to maintain the balance
of power across Europe, preventing one country (Russia) from becoming
more powerful than the others

1879 – Dual Alliance

· ​ Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, used as an insurance

policy against a Russian invasion
· ​ Russo-German relations deteriorated after the Congress of Berlin; hence
Germany was weary of threats from its former ally
· ​ Austria-Hungary entered the alliance as they would remain “indebted” to
the German Empire after the Austro-Prussian War

1882 – Triple Alliance

· ​ Formed when Italy (also unified in 1871) joined the Dual Alliance between
Germany and Austria-Hungary
· ​ Created in order to have the allied nations protect each other in case of
threats from the French
· ​ Germany weary of France ever since the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine,
while Italy and France had rivalries over colonial territory in North Africa
 (which eventually led to France making major territorial gains in North
Africa while Italy lost out)

1890 – Resignation of Otto von Bismarck

· ​ The new Kaiser Wilhelm II (crowned in 1888) formally relieves Bismarck of

duties as German chancellor
· ​ Marks the end of an era (known as Bismarck’s Reich) where almost all
German foreign relations and geopolitical decisions were singlehandedly
controlled by Bismarck

1894 – Franco-Russian Alliance

· ​ Created by Germany’s two largest enemies, France and Russia, in order

to combat the Triple Alliance
· ​ Gave both countries an insurance policy in case any were threatened by
the Triple Alliance
· ​ Nightmare for Germany as both countries sharing its opposite borders
were now allied; any form of conflict would result in a war on two fronts

1896 – Kruger Telegram

· ​ A telegram sent by Kaiser Wilhelm II to Paul Kruger, president of the South

African Republic
· ​ Angered the British, who were fighting against the South African Republic
in the Boer War over the world’s biggest gold supply in Transvaal
· ​ Caused an initial strain on Anglo-German relations

1898 – Tirpitz Laws

· ​ Germany, threatened by the size of Britain’s navy and the development of

new, high-technology superpower battleships (called dreadnoughts),
began naval mobilization itself
· ​ Under Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, Germany increased their naval fleet from
just 12 battleships to 38
· ​ Intensified rivalry between Germany and Britain, especially after the
diplomatic strain caused by the Kruger Telegram
· ​ First signs of disruption of the balance of power by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who
began aggressive militarization in a very non-Bismarckian way

1898 – Fashoda Incident

· ​ Major territorial dispute, almost culminating in war, between France and

Britain in Africa
 · ​ France wanted to unite its colonies across Africa’s east-west axis,
whereas Britain wanted north-south unification
· ​ Both parties eventually had a standoff in the Sudanese town of Fashoda
· ​ France understood the extent to which its military was weak and unable to
compete with other European powers like Britain and Germany
· ​ Forced to rethink its relations with Britain, being friendlier in order to insure
themselves from a German invasion

1902 – Anglo-Japanese Alliance

· ​ Alliance between Britain and Japan, marking the end of Great Britain’s
“splendid isolation” phase, an era where the nation was so powerful and
self-sustaining that they did not need alliances with any other nations
· ​ First major indicator that Britain would be open to military alliances and
cooperation with other nations
· ​ Tied Japan to Britain’s side for conflicts in the recent future

1903 – Construction of the Berlin-Baghdad Railway

· ​ A marker of Germany’s economic dominance at the time, as they had the

means and intentions to fund the construction of such an ambitious project
· ​ A further indicator of Germany’s aggressive foreign policy, as they were
willing to expand their empire’s reach and influence outside their borders
without caring about any consequences

1904 – Entente Cordiale

· ​ An informal series of agreements (not a formal alliance) between Britain

and France in lieu of Germany’s militarization and economic expansion
· ​ Marks a major shift in relations between Britain and France, who were
historically Europe's biggest political and economic rivals

1905 – Russo-Japanese War​

· ​ Major conflict between Russia and Japan over imperial ambitions in

Manchuria and Korea
· ​ Russians wanted a warm water port for their navy while modernization of
Japan enhanced their imperial ambitions
· ​ Japan emerged victorious, to the shock of the European powers, as slow
Russian mobilization across Siberia and lack of military assistance from
allies owing to long travel distance contributed to their downfall
· ​ Marks the first major weakening of the Russian Empire and the
emergence of the first non-European superpower of the era
1905 – First Moroccan Crisis

· ​ Kaiser Wilhelm II attempted to combat French influence in Morocco by

visiting the country and conferring with the Moroccan Sultan, Abdelaziz
· ​ Kaiser declared support for Morocco’s sovereignty, an explicit counter to
the growing French presence in the region
· ​ Germany's attempt to assert dominance as a global power led to an even
greater deterioration in Franco-German relations

1906 – Schlieffen Plan

· ​ A military plan created by German general Alfred von Schlieffen in lieu of

the Russo-Japanese war, as a preventative measure in case of the
outbreak of war between Germany and its allies and Russia and its allies.
· ​ Designed to avoid a war on two fronts (the Franco-German border and the
Russo German border)
· ​ Involved the German army attacking France through Belgium to win the
Western front of the war before war breaks out on the East
· ​ Assumed that Russian mobilization on the Eastern front would be slow,
and further assumed that it would take no more than six weeks to conquer
France

1907 – Triple Entente

· ​ Merging of the Franco-Russian Alliance and the Entente Cordiale

· ​ Creation of an informal agreement between Britain, France, and Russia
· ​ Though not an alliance of mutual defense, entente powers brought
together by this agreement

1907 – Kiel Canal Expansion

· ​ Widening of a canal connecting the Baltic Sea with the North Sea through
the German state of Schleswig-Holstein
· ​ Expanded to accommodate the size of newly built German dreadnoughts
in the event of a war
· ​ A marker of Germany’s increasingly war-centric outlook on their domestic
projects and policies

1908 – Bosnian Crisis

· ​ Annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary

· ​ Led to the deterioration of Austro-Serbian relations, as the tiny nation felt
threatened by the annexation of other similar Slavic Balkan states
 · ​ Though causing a diplomatic crisis, as annexation violated the Treaty of
Berlin made in 1878 (at the Congress of Berlin), diplomatic maneuvering
by Europe’s powers helped defuse the crisis temporarily

1911 – Formation of the Black Hand

· ​ A state-sponsored, secret military society formed in Serbia under captain

Dragutin Dimitrijević, also known as Apis
· ​ Attempted to liberate Serbian people in other nations through acts of
violence and terrorism

1911 – Second Moroccan Crisis

· ​ Caused by the deployment of French troops to the interior of Morocco,

sent to counter a rebellion against the reigning Sultan
· ​ Perceived as some form of threat, Germany deployed a gunboat to the
Moroccan port of Agadir just ten days after
· ​ Negotiations between the Germans and French helped defuse the crisis,
leading to the creation of the Franco-German Accord, under which
Germany accepted France's position in Morocco in return for some of its
territory in Africa

1912 – Reichstag Elections

· ​ First time since the formation of the German Empire that a

non-conservative party (the Social Democratic Party) won the majority of
the seats in the Reichstag (German parliament)
· ​ Although the Kaiser was the chief decision maker of the German Empire,
the Reichstag did have some, albeit limited, checks and balances over his
power
· ​ Aristocrats (including the Kaiser) who were in favor of conservative parties
aimed to bolster nationalism within the country; speculated as a distant
cause of World War I.

1912 – First Balkan War

· ​ A Balkan League (comprising of Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, and

Montenegro) successfully invaded Ottoman territories in Europe
· ​ Led to the Ottoman Empire losing 83% of their territory in Europe
· ​ Effectively marked the end of Ottoman influence in Europe
· ​ Absence of Ottoman influence in the Balkans created a power vacuum,
with multiple major European nations vying for influence

1913 – Second Balkan War

 · ​ Attack by Bulgaria on Serbia and Greece after the nation was left
dissatisfied with its territorial gains post the First Balkan War
· ​ Led to a rift between countries within the Balkans, which would have
consequences when sides were later decided in the First World War

1914 – Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

· ​ Archduke of Austria-Hungary decided to pay a visit to Sarajevo (which was

Austro-Hungarian after the Bosnian Crisis) to check the situation in his
nation’s new territory
· ​ Black Hand got knowledge of Ferdinand’s visit, and decided to plan an
assassination during his time in Sarajevo
· ​ Sent numerous people to assassinate the Archduke while driving through
the streets of Sarajevo
· ​ The first attempt, a bombing of his car orchestrated by a man named
Gavrilo Princip, was unsuccessful as the bomb hit the car behind the
Archduke
· ​ Princip would get another chance as, shocked by the assassination
attempt, Ferdinand’s car driver changed routes through the city, and ended
up (by chance) passing through a cafe where Princip was seated
· ​ Princip ended up shooting both the Archduke and his wife at point-blank
range with a pistol
· ​ Caused major outcry in Austria-Hungary; often attributed as the major
short-term cause of the First World War

1914 – July Crisis

Austria Ultimatum to Serbia

· ​ Demanded in lieu of the assassination that the Serbian government

condemn those who killed the Archduke and make efforts to eradicate
criminal and terrorist activity within the nation, along with other major
points of change
· ​ Serbia accepted most conditions given by Austria-Hungary, however, did
not accept the demand that Austro-Hungarian police be allowed to operate
within Serbia
· ​ Led to a major tension buildup between both nations, whose allies were
initially attempting to defuse them in order to avoid a major war
Blank Check

· ​ Austria-Hungary approached Germany seeking support in case of a major

war
 · ​ Inquired the extent to which Germany would support their ally in the event
of an attack on Serbia
· ​ The German response was to issue a blank check, guaranteeing unlimited
support for Austria-Hungary, going so far as to say "Germany would
support the Monarchy through thick and thin, whatever action it decided to
take against Serbia.”

Austro-Hungarian Mobilization

· ​ Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations with Serbia, and both

powers began to aggressively mobilize
· ​ Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28th July 1914

Willy-Nicky Correspondence

· ​ A series of telegrams exchanged between Kaiser Wilhelm II and Russian

Tsar Nicholas II, who were both first cousins
· ​ Content from telegrams indicate that both nations were highly likely to go
to war in the near future, despite efforts from the Kaiser and Tsar to
diplomatically defuse this through their correspondence
· ​ Telegrams outline how Russo-German relations deteriorated between
1894 (the date of the first telegram) and 1914 (the date of the last
telegram, sent just two days before the outbreak of war)

Russian Mobilization

· ​ Tsar Nicholas II orders Russian mobilization after Austria-Hungary's

declaration of war
· ​ Despite efforts by the Tsar and German Kaiser to defuse the situation (see
Willy-Nicky Correspondence), Russia felt obliged, given the situation, to
begin mobilization of troops
· ​ The final act in what officially constitutes the beginning of World War I
Causes of World War I
Alliance System

· ​ The alliances were adversarial, which increased tension that could finally
have led to war.
· ​ Countries were emboldened due to the support of a powerful ally, leading
them to behave more aggressively during a crisis.
· ​ Conflicts could easily escalate and expand- due to allies being pulled in,
even if they had nothing to do with the original crisis. Alliances were
mechanical
 · ​ Alliances were secret, introducing a dangerous element to diplomacy;
countries would have been prepared to gamble to test rival alliances,
exemplified through the First Moroccan Crisis.

Counter Point

· ​ The alliance system had been in place since 1907 and had survived the
test of many previous crises like the Bosnian Crisis in 1908, the Second
Moroccan crisis in 1911, and both Balkan wars
· ​ It had been argued that alliances prevented war – each side knew that the
rival alliance was equally powerful.
· ​ During these crises, allies restrained each other to avoid large-scale
conflict before 1914.
· ​ Countries outside the original alliance system like Italy, the Ottoman
Empire, and USA also ended up joining the war

Colonial Rivalry

Hobson-Lenin Thesis

·​ Starting in the 1870’s, European economies experienced a slowdown

·​ “Long depression” caused by economic stagnation continued into the ‘20’s
·​ Rates of return on investment in Europe were down
·​ There was a problem of surplus capital, as European investors were
unwilling to put their own money on investments with low return rates
·​ Capitalists therefore sought new economies to invest their money in,
leading them to put pressure on their governments to grab colonies in
Africa and Asia
·​ Led to colonial rivalry, which eventually spilled over into European war

Counter Point

The main colonial rivals across Europe ended up becoming allies. Britain and France
had colonial conflicts in Africa (like the Fashoda Incident), while Britain and Russia
had colonial conflicts in Asia, yet all three countries fought the war together as the
Triple Entente.

Diplomatic Miscalculation

· ​ Argues that all countries diplomatically blundered themselves into the war
· ​ Every nation involved in the war made bad decisions during the July Crisis

Counter Point

The blank cheque during the July Crisis highlights a conscious gamble made by
Germany. Offering unchecked support to their ally was not necessary given the
circumstances, and only served to increase the likelihood of conflict. Additionally, the
many diplomatic decisions that led to the war could not all have been blunders or
unchecked miscalculations by multiple European powers.

Historiography
The study of the writing of history and of written histories.

“In 1914, all the nations of Europe went to war because of fear of the present...
except one, which went to war because of fear of the future.” - Fritz Fischer, 1961

Explanation: One nation, Germany, went to war to prevent the likelihood of revolution
in the future (against the Kaiser and junker aristocracy), while also hastily entering
conflict to prevent Russian threats after their technological advancement. On the
other hand, other nations entered the conflict in response to Germany, to preserve
their own positions in Europe and prevent Germany from dominating the continent.

Fritz Fischer’s Argument of the Causes of World War I

· ​ The July Crisis was a unique cause of the war, as none of the other
speculated causes of war like nationalism, the alliance system, etc. had a
direct impact on its proceedings
· ​ The only factor that turned the July Crisis into full-fledged conflict was
Germany’s position, most notably justified by their issuing of the “blank
check”
· ​ Fischer argues that Germany was prepared to risk everything on a major
war within Europe
· ​ He further argues that, through Weltpolitik, Germany began this social
Darwinism in the 1890’s by trying to show its dominance across Europe
· ​ However, over time, Weltpolitik fails as other countries fail to accept
Germany’s growing power in Europe. For example, their efforts to
antagonize Britain into an alliance majorly backfired as Britain instead
joined the Triple Entente
· ​ This leads to Germany creating military measures in preparation for war,
such as the Schlieffen Plan, as it comes to realize the shortcomings of
Weltpolitik
· ​ Furthermore, the 1912 Reichstag elections put the power of the Kaiser and
aristocracy at immediate risk, as the winning SPD party wanted to revolt
and overthrow the Kaiser
· ​ A combination of Germany’s failed foreign policy activities combined with
fear of revolution led to a sense of fatalism in the nation around 1914
· ​ He argues that the Germans believed that it was “now or never” for their
plan of global domination to be executed, especially as the efficacy of the
 Schlieffen Plan would wane with Russian technological advancement,
leading them to invade France

Interpretation of the Causes of World War I Over Time

1. ​During the initial stages of the war, both parties were polarized, arguing
that their respective enemy was solely responsible for initiating conflict.
Nations were united for a common cause geared towards defeating the
other side (eg. Germany’s implementation of Burgfriedenspolitik, a truce
between political parties who agreed not to criticize government handling
of the war in 1914)
2. ​As the war progressed, however, the humanitarian consequences were
clearly evident as all countries stood to lose out from the conflict.
Sentiments about the war towards its end were bleak and regretful, with
nations agreeing that they accidentally stumbled upon such a horrible
outcome. This is exemplified by a quote by David Lloyd George, Britain’s
prime minister towards the end of the war, who argued that “In 1914, the
nations of Europe slithered over the brink and into the boiling cauldron”
3. ​During the Treaty of Versailles, however, victor nations excessively
adopted an anti-German stance, seeking to put the entire blame on
Germany as pretext for more post-war reparations
4. ​At present, consensus is that the causes of World War I were complex and
multifactorial, and that the above three perspectives were driven by the
nations’ needs before, during, and after wartime. We can now come up
with more balanced and nuanced explanations about causes of the war,
while each historian may have different interpretations about these causes
owing to their complexity.

Events of World War I

Schlieffen Plan

· ​ A military plan created by German general Alfred von Schlieffen in 1906 to

prevent Germany from fighting on two fronts (Franco-German and
Russo-German borders) in case of war
· ​ Implemented by Schlieffen’s successor, general Helmuth von Moltke the
Younger almost a decade after during the First World War
· ​ Based on three major assumptions:
o Russian troops would take approximately six weeks to mobilize after
declaration of war
o Britain would not take part in any conflict on mainland Europe
 o To avoid a war on two fronts, France must be defeated first while
Russia mobilizes slowly
·​ Involved German troops on the Western border marching through Belgium
and Northern France to take Paris from the back, where there was minimal
French military presence

Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?

· ​ Russia had modernized since 1906, especially making large developments

in their army following their humiliating loss to Japan in the
Russo-Japanese war. This led to the following:
o Mobilization time quicker than six weeks, hence Germany
encountered conflict on two fronts while implementing the Schlieffen
Plan
o Germany had to redeploy some of its best armies to counter a
Russian invasion, who were sent to Tannenburg and Masurian
lakes under the leadership generals Erich Ludendorff and Paul von
Hindenburg
·​ Detrimental developments from the original plan:
o Schlieffen advocated for sending a large military contingent through
Belgium at the expense of reducing numbers defending Germany’s
border
o However, in 1911, the plan was modified by Moltke; strength of the
central wing (which remained on the Franco-German border) was
increased and strength of right wing (marching through Belgium)
reduced
o Hence, invasion in Belgium had less strength in numbers than
originally anticipated
·​ Fierce Belgian resistance delayed German advance
o Germany believed the Belgians would simply allow them to march
through towards France rather than fighting back
o Resistance significantly delayed German troops in Belgium, forcing
them to reach France much later than expected
·​ Unexpected entry of Britain into the conflict:
o Britain Expeditionary Force (BEF), a land army contingent, sent to
Belgium and Northern France to halt the German invasion
o 1839 Treaty of London invoked, which stated that Britain would
protect the neutrality of Belgium which was under serious violation
after German invasion
 o Britain likely viewed Germany as a major threat to their global
dominance, especially if they ended up winning the war, and
therefore decided to enter the war to stop them before it became
too late.
·​ Rogue decisions made by German generals:
o Despite the above setbacks, one German contingent, led by general
Alexander von Kluck, was able to follow the original path of the
Schlieffen plan
o During their march through France, however, Kluck lost his nerve;
his army was geographically separated from the other German
contingents who were intercepted earlier, and radio communication
with them was lost
o This led to Kluck diverging from the original plan by leading his
forces south to regroup with the rest of the German army, who had
already been engaged by the French
o Kluck’s contingent met the other forces to the east of Paris, and
fought the French in the Battle of Marne, one of the bloodiest
engagements in the war, which could have been avoided had his
contingent continued marching to reach the west side of Paris

Battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes

Battle of Tannenberg

· ​ First major battle of World War I, taking place from 23rd – 30th August 1914
· ​ Fought between the German and Russian armies in the East Prussian city
of Tannenberg
· ​ A decisive German victory led to the destruction of around half of the
Russian Second Army
· ​ Leading Russian general, Alexander Samsonov, committed suicide after
such an astounding defeat

Battle of Masurian Lakes

· ​ Immediate follow up to the Battle of Tannenberg, taking place from 2nd –

16th August 1914
· ​ German army encountered the Russian Second and First armies in the
Masurian lakes region of East Prussia
· ​ Russian Second Army fully destroyed by the Germans, while the First
Army was shattered

Impact of Battles
 · ​ German show of dominance, as they were able to overcome Russia, the
country with the largest army on Earth at the time, with relative ease
· ​ Splitting of the German army, as some of the best battalions on the
Western Front were redirected towards Russia to fight these battles
· ​ Establishment of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Ludendorff, generals
leading the Germans in both battles, as revered personalities within the
German army setup

Sinking of RMS Lusitania

· ​
Took place on 7th November 1915, off the Irish Coast
·​ German U-boats torpedoed a British ocean liner traveling from New York
to Liverpool
·​ Resulted in the deaths of 1,195 civilians, many of whom were American
·​ Led to an American interest and stake in the war and development of the
nation’s animosity towards Germany
·​ Eventually, one of the main events that led to and justified American entry
into the war, giving the Entente powers an economic powerhouse as a
newfound ally

Gallipoli Campaign

Context:

· ​ Began in February 1915 to January 1916

· ​ After the stalemate on the Western Front, Entente powers were looking for
another front to end the war
· ​ Belief was that destroying a German ally, the Ottoman Empire, would
impact German supply of manpower and resources
· ​ Destruction of the Ottoman Empire would allow a direct naval route
between Russia and Britain, as well as a second front to attack
Austria-Hungary
· ​ Plan was to send a navy through the Dardanelles strait to threaten to
bomb Constantinople, forcing the Ottomans to surrender
· ​ Entente powers also hoped to convince Bulgaria to join their side, giving
them a more strategic position against both the Ottoman Empire and
Austria-Hungary

First Attack:

· ​ Britain (leader of the campaign) underestimated the strength of navy

needed to overcome the Ottomans; sent only pre-dreadnought ships
 · ​ Ottomans had fortifications with large guns, known as Howitzer batteries,
that could ambush entering ships from hidden positions
· ​ Furthermore, minefields were placed at the bottom of oceans, risking
blowing up any ships entering the strait
· ​ Naval forces first attacked fortifications at the entrance of the strait
· ​ Upon reaching the minefields, however, boats came under heavy fire from
the Howitzer batteries, sinking or severely damaging many of the ships,
causing the Entente powers to withdraw their flagship battleships

Second Attack:

· ​ Lacking British troops (who were fighting on the Western Front), the
second attack required enlisting of troops from British colonies, like the
ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps)
· ​ This plan involved attacking Ottoman fortifications from the back, towards
the outside of the Dardanelles strait
· ​ However, Ottomans anticipated this attack and added reinforcements
· ​ Inexperienced armies landed at wrong locations which were heavily
defended by the Ottomans, while the Ottomans were on higher ground,
giving them a major advantage
· ​ Ended up as a trench stalemate in an area of land known as Gaba Tepe

Third Attack:

· ​ Six new divisions from Britain (non-ANZAC) were sent to Gallipoli as

reinforcements, and attempted to advance further North towards the
outside of the Dardanelles
· ​ Their landing terrain was far more favorable, and the forces could have
won the war had the ANZACs been able to rendezvous with this new
reinforcement
· ​ The inexperienced ANZACs were stuck in the trenches, however, and
were unable to advance
· ​ Thus, the third attack forces were also outnumbered by the Ottomans,
rendering them unable to march on towards Constantinople

Outcome:

· ​ Replacement of general Sir Ian Hamilton by Charles Monroe, who ordered

immediate evacuation of the peninsula
· ​ Ottomans powers suffered 186,000 casualties, and still managed to defeat
the Entente powers who suffered 115,000 casualties
· ​ Turkish general at Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal (later christened Atatürk),
established as a revered and respected figure within the Ottoman Empire
 · ​ Bulgaria joining the Central powers, contrary to the aims of the Entente

Southern Front

· ​ Established in May 1915, lasting until the end of the war

· ​ Italy, which was originally a part of the Triple Alliance, declared its
neutrality in 1914
· ​ In 1915, however, Italy signs the secret Treaty of London with the Entente
Powers, enticing it to switch sides midway during the war
· ​ Declares war on Austria-Hungary on 23rd May 1915, and establishes an
alpine Southern Front on their borders
· ​ Although initially a stalemate, Italy put enough pressure on the
Austro-Hungarians to force Germany to send their own troops to the front
in 1917
· ​ This led to more diversions of German resources away from key locations,
such as the Western front, and highlighted the weakness of
Austria-Hungary as Germany’s ally

Battle of Verdun

Context:

· ​ From 21st February – 18th December 1916, the longest conflict of the war
· ​ Took place in the hills North of the French fortress town of
Verdun-sur-Meuse, a salient town
· ​ Germany wanted to "bleed the French white” by attacking the salient from
multiple sides to draw the French in to defending this town, slowly killing
off all the defenders
· ​ Symbolically and militarily key for French to hold their position, loss in the
battle would have led to significant depletion of human resources

Outcome:

· ​ French victory, as the Germans failed to capture Verdun

· ​ Approximately 700,000 casualties, one of the heaviest in the war
· ​ No significant territorial gains as the stalemate on the Western front was
resumed after the battle

Battle of Jutland

Context

· ​ Took place between May 31st – June 1st, 1916, in the North Sea off the
coast of Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula
· ​ Largest naval battle of World War I, arguably the only significant battle
 · ​ Part of Germany’s strategy to break the British naval blockade
· ​ Germany sought to lure parts of the British fleet into a trap to destroy them
and weaken the British navy
· ​ A variety of ship types like Battle Cruisers, Light Cruisers, and
Dreadnoughts used

Outcome

· ​ Inconclusive outcome; both sides suffered heavy losses, with the British
losing more ships (14) as compared to the Germans (11)
· ​ British Grand Fleet retained control of the North Sea, and Germany did not
break the blockade
· ​ Although indecisive, the battle confirmed British naval supremacy, leading
Germany never to engage again with the Royal Navy for rest of the war
· ​ Increased German reliance on unrestricted submarine warfare to bypass
blockade

Brusilov Offensive

Context

· ​ Took place between June and September of 1916 in Galicia, present-day

Western Ukraine
· ​ Led by later-revered Russian general Alexei Brusilov
· ​ Took place at a critical time for Russia, who was facing significant
challenges due to domestic instability and military setback
· ​ In spite of this, the Russians aimed to improve their strategic position at
the request of the allies by attempting to defeat Austria-Hungary before the
Central powers could capitalize on its own weaknesses

Outcome

· ​ Russian forces deployed on a broad front along the Austro-Hungarian

border
· ​ Brusilov implemented a new offensive strategy, utilizing shock tactics and
rapid assaults to exploit enemy weaknesses
· ​ Russians were able to break through certain Austro-Hungarian defenses
by unleashing barrages of heavy artillery
· ​ Eventually, Austria-Hungary was able to fight back with German support
· ​ Weak supply lines for the Russians forced a pushback, leading them to
make no territorial gains
· ​ However, diversion of key German forces and resources to the Eastern
front helped reinforce the Entente powers’ position on the Western front
Battle of the Somme

Context
· ​
Lasted between July 1st and November 18th, 1916
·​ Attack by the British on the Somme River region of modern-day France
·​ Designed to draw German attention away from Verdun as well as relieve
pressure on Russian armies on the Eastern Front
·​ Also an attempt to break the Western Front stalemate through a huge
offensive

Outcome

· ​ First instance of tanks being used in armed conflict

· ​ Limited territorial gain; the maximum advance made by the Entente
powers was just 12 kilometers into German Occupied Territory (GOT)
· ​ Leaders of both sides, such as British general Douglas Haig, fell under
criticism for ineffective tactics and high casualty rates resulting in minimal
gain
· ​ Resulted in over 1 million total casualties

Turnip Winter

· ​ Winter of 1916/17 was one of the harshest for Germany: naval blockade
prevented the imports of supplies into the country
· ​ Widespread famine through Germany; turnips, crops traditionally used as
animal feed in Germany, was the only available food throughout the winter
· ​ Domestic crisis allowed Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes generals,
Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the chance to take control from the Kaiser
and chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, becoming de facto warlords and
leaving the old junkers as political figureheads

Zimmermann Telegram

· ​ Dispatched in January 1917 by the German Foreign office under Arthur

Zimmermann to the Mexican government
· ​ A proposal to form a secret alliance to weaken the U.S, who were sending
key supplies to the Entente powers
· ​ Germany was planning to re-enter unrestricted submarine warfare in lieu
of Britain’s naval blockade, which was choking their supplies, and was
aware that such an action would likely prompt U.S entry into the war
· ​ Intercepted by British code breakers enroute to Mexico, who decoded the
telegram’s contents just days after it was sent
 · ​ Swayed U.S public opinion even more against Germany and likely
prompted U.S entry into the war in April 1917 once Germany resumed
unrestricted submarine warfare

Third Ypres Campaign

Context

·​ Took place between July and November 1917

·​ Fighting for control of the ridges southeast of Ypres, in Western Belgium
·​ USA entry into the war 3 months prior
·​ Germany aimed to push the Western Front further back to access more
ports, to strangle French supplies
·​ Entente powers wanted to themselves push through to invade German
ports, where most of the Empires’ U-boat fleet was stored

Outcome

· ​ Entente powers were able to secure the high ground in the Ypres Salient,
as well as the city of Passchendaele
· ​ 250,000 casualties for the Entente powers, while 200,000 casualties for
the Germans
· ​ Entire cities and surrounding landscapes destroyed from the campaign

Czechoslovak Legion

Context:

· ​ Czech and Slovak lands were under strict control from Austria-Hungary,
and had limited national identity and political rights
· ​ Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk among other exiled revolutionaries promoted
independence abroad, seeking support from the Entente powers
· ​ Czechoslovak Legion, who was fighting for Austria-Hungary at the time,
decided to switch sides mid-war in the hopes that a Czechoslovak state
would be created through the destruction of Austria-Hungary

Outcome:

· ​ Main legion formed in Russia, with over 100,000 soldiers, mainly prisoners
of war (POWs) and volunteers
· ​ Smaller units of the legion also formed in Italy and France
· ​ Legion fought in key battles with Russia, like the Battle of Zborov, where
they combined with Russian forces to defeat Austria-Hungary
· ​ Czechoslovak National Council eventually recognized by Entente powers
in 1918
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Context:

· ​ Signed on 3rd March 1918 between the newly formed Soviet Russia and
the Central Powers in Brest-Litovsk, a town in modern-day Belarus
· ​ Domestic instability within the Russian Empire led to the assassination of
Tsar Nicholas II and the rise of communist Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin
to power, who led successful revolution in October 1917
· ​ Russian economy continued to suffer throughout the war, with the country
facing numerous food shortages; likely one reason the Bolsheviks, who
were for war withdrawal, became popular among the masses
· ​ Negotiations between the Soviet Union and Central powers led to a
peaceful armistice through the treaty

Outcome:

· ​ Major territorial losses for Russia, who lost Ukraine, Poland, Belarus,
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, which comprised 34% of the nation's
population
· ​ Led to the freeing of one million German soldiers on the Eastern Front,
who could then strengthen the Western Front effort
· ​ Ruthless concessions imposed on Russia by the Central Powers made the
Entente powers weary of losing the war for fear of such measures being
imposed on them on a larger scale
· ​ Formally annulled following the November 11th Armistice which ended
World War I

Ludendorff (Spring) Offensive

Context:

· ​ Lasted between 21st March 1918 to 18th July 1918

· ​ Russia’s withdrawal from the war following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
allowed Germany to redeploy all their Eastern armies to the Western front
· ​ Conceived by Erich von Ludendorff as a last-ditch attempt to collectively
mobilize all of Germany’s resources and win the war
· ​ Germany could not sustain the Western Front stalemate for longer owing
to American entry into the war, and needed quick action to have an
advantage

Outcome:
 · ​ Rather than targeting one specialized region for attack, the German forces
(known as stormtroopers) attacked multiple enemy lines along different
points on the Western Front
· ​ Successful in the early stages, as Germany was able to break through
British lines despite being stretched for supplies and resources back home
· ​ Germans made huge territorial gains, coming as close as 48km to Paris
· ​ However, eventually the lack of resources caught up with Germany, as the
Entente powers were able to launch the Hundred Days Counter-Offensive

Hundred Days Counter-Offensive

Context

· ​ Lasted between 8th August and 11th November 1918

· ​ Series of offensives from the Entente powers following the Ludendorff
Offensive which cemented them as victors of World War I
· ​ Led to a complete undoing of the territorial gains previously made by
German forces
· ​ Resulted in the breaching of the Hindenburg Line, the last and strongest
military line protecting the German interior from invaders

Outcome:

· ​ Completely decimated German forces, with the Entente powers

threatening to march till Berlin if Germany did not surrender
· ​ Led to major workers’ revolts in Germany, threatening mass revolution,
such as the November 3rd Kiel Mutiny, where crews of German naval
ships unionized and refused to sail for a final battle against the British
Grand Fleet
· ​ Forced the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II on 9th November, putting
Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in power, with
Germany being declared a republic
· ​ Led to the signing of the November 11th Armistice by the Central powers
on 11th November (at 11:00AM) signifying the end of the First World War

Why did Germany and the Central Powers Lose the First World War?

· ​ Inadequate strategy (reliance on the Schlieffen Plan)

· ​ Outnumbered, as the entente comprised of multiple superpowers (like
Russia, USA, Britain, and France)
· ​ Out resourced because of Britain’s naval blockade on Germany
o “War of attrition” - The side which won was the side best equipped to
mobilize its economic and human resources
 o France and Britain could bring resources from their colonies, far
greater in number and more prosperous than that of Germany
·​ Entry of unexpected superpowers like the US into the war
·​ German geography: surrounded by land enemies on three fronts (West,
East, and South) and a naval blockade on the North Sea left the country
on its own
o Germany’s resources spread thin across multiple fronts
§ Western front – Stalemate
§ Eastern front – More mobile, depended on Germany’s
involvement
§ Southern front – Similar to Eastern front, but Italy was an
extremely weak enemy compared to Russia in the East
·​ Weak allies offered Germany no support, leaving it on its own
o “Shackled to a corpse” with Austria-Hungary
o Allied with a “sick man” in the form of the Ottoman Empire

Tactics of World War I

Technological Developments

· ​ Sonar (Sound Navigation and Ranging) systems

o Allowed Allied (Entente) ships to detect U-boats
· ​ Torpedoes
o Used by U-boats in unrestricted warfare
· ​ Convoy system
o A system conceived by David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister)
in 1917
o Involved a group of civilian supply ships crossing the Atlantic
together
o Communal crossing merited assignment of a naval escort, which
could offer some security for supply ships from the U-boats
·​ Depth Charges
o Bombs dropped into the ocean using a warship, which detonate at a
certain depth
o Used to destroy U-boats moving below the ocean surface
· ​ Poison Gas (mustard and chlorine gas)
o Horrible with respect to its impact on a human body: skin peeling off,
lungs filling with fluid causing self-drowning, etc.
o Limited impact on the overall outcome, as it was dependent on wind
direction
 · ​ Gas Masks
o Developed in response to the threat of poison gas
· ​ Tanks
o First used by the British in 1916, then extensively used at the Battle
of the Somme
o Initially, limited impact; although troops could use tanks to cross over
into no-man's land, mechanical problems led to unreliability with the
tanks functioning
o By 1918, however, reliability significantly improved, and tanks were
used to great effect in the Allies’ Hundred Days Counter-Offensive
·​ Synchronization Gear
o Synchronizes the shooting of a machine gun on a plane with the
movement of the blades of a propeller
o Made it possible to use machine guns on fighter aircraft
· ​ Sea Mines
o Crucial in many naval-related campaigns, such as Gallipoli, where
sea mines gave the Ottomans a major advantage
·​ Hand Grenades
o Thrown into trenches; provided an easy way to attack a faraway
enemy trench without having to cross no-man's land
·​ Flamethrowers
o Led to the ability for one user to attack multiple troops at once inside
a trench
o Used for the first time by the Germans at the Battle of Verdun

Land

· ​ Trench Warfare
o Defining feature of the war on land led to a relative stalemate
between both sides for long periods of time
·​ Machine Guns
o Crucial to the nature of the conflict, especially on the Western Front
o Favored defenders of a trench, as machine guns could be mounted
on the tops of trenches to prevent advancing offensives
·​ Heavy Artillery Guns
o The most effective and destructive type of gun used in the war,
hence also one of the most decisive technologies
o The ability of both sides to manufacture artillery shells significantly
swayed the conflict; Germany’s inability to manufacture shells after
the naval blockade likely accelerated their loss
Air

· ​ Airships/Zeppelins
o Used by the Germans to bomb British cities
o Limited impact, however, as they are slow and could easily be
intercepted
·​ Hot-Air Balloons
o Used for surveillance by both sides
· ​ Heavier-than-air aircraft, such as biplanes
o Used extensively on the Western Front, and became significant
towards the end of the war
o Offered more lift to aircraft and better structural integrity
· ​ Fighter Pilots’ Heroism
o Most pilots’ life expectancies in the air measured in minutes, going to
show how volatile and risky air warfare was
o Some successful pilots, like the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen)
with 80 combat victories and future Nazi politician Hermann Göring,
lionized after the war

Sea

· ​ British Naval Blockade

o Stopped essential goods coming into Germany, cutting off major
supply chains
o Since almost all of Germany’s land borders were shared by enemies,
naval routes were key for the movement of supplies
o Led to widespread famine in Germany, causing an estimated
763,000 casualties from malnutrition and disease
·​ Submarines like German U-boats
o Could circumvent the British naval blockade and attack
cross-Atlantic shipping
o Led to unrestricted submarine warfare
o Suspended following sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915, resumed
by the warlords (Hindenburg and Ludendorff) in 1917
o Contributed to bringing the USA into the war

Mobilization of Human and Economic Resources during World War

I
· ​ Britain’s naval blockade of Germany meant that Germany was restricted to
using domestic resources only, giving the Entente a key advantage
 · ​ Germany’s campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare was designed to
deny Britain key economic resources
· ​ US entry into the war gave a massive economic boost to the Entente and
largely helped extend supply chains; eventually, there was also a large
influx of US troops (known as doughboys) into Europe as well
· ​ All countries raised money for the war by borrowing (mainly from the US)
and by issuing war bonds
o In Germany, the SPD voted for war bonds in 1914,
Burgfriedenspolitik achieved
·​ Ability to produce food was crucial
o Priority was to get food to the front; civilians suffered shortages as a
result
o Loss of labor in food-producing areas
o Transportation used to supply the front rather than civilian areas
o Food shortage eventually contributed to knocking Russia out of the
war (“It all started with bread...” - Orlando Figes, historian of the
Russian Revolution)
o Chronic shortages in Germany led to the Turnip Winter
§ Famine-like conditions in 1918
§ Threat of revolution on the home front led to the armistice
o Introduction of rationing and ersatz [fake] foods, such as sawdust
being added to bread
·​ Home front
o Mobilization of female labor was key, especially in industry
o Some countries like Russia and Serbia, went so far as to have
female combat units
o Germany failed to effectively mobilize female labor on the home
front, considered as a significant cause for their downfall
·​ Colonies
o Britain and France could rely on huge colonial empires for troops
(eg. France conscripting troops from West Africa) and resources
(eg. Britain exporting cotton and food from India)

Aftermath of World War I

Ebert-Groener Pact

· ​ Took place on November 10th, 1918

· ​ An anti-extremist pact between German chancellor Friedrich Ebert and
Wilhelm Groener, the head of the German Army
 · ​ An agreement that the German army would support the SPD under Ebert
to quell radical leftist protests from Spartacists (communist members of the
KPD)
· ​ Agreement reached that Groener would enlist the help of the Freikorps,
demobilized soldiers from the German army (mainly on the Eastern Front),
to put down extreme leftist protests
· ​ Groener enlisted the help of the Freikorps to prevent direct military
involvement, as the right-wing military were political enemies with Ebert’s
moderate left-wing government
· ​ Condition set by Groener for the pact to come through was for the
maintenance and non-reform of the German army and civil service, leaving
junkers in key government positions
· ​ This left remnants of the old system embedded in the new republic, as the
right-wing army and civil service would never agree with the socialist
government

Stinnes-Legien Agreement

· ​ Agreement between German industrialists (represented by mega

industrialist Hugo Stinnes) and trade unions (represented by trade union
leader Carl Legien) on 15th November 1918
· ​ Concessions made by corporations to stop revolutionary strikes that had
taken place across 1918, to further prevent a revolution from the
proletariat
· ​ Working hours were shortened to eight-hour days
· ​ Worker benefits were to be recognized, paid for in equal amounts by
workers’ employers and the government
· ​ Helped bring the proletariat off-strike and back to work while fair
concessions were made for their well being

Treaty of Versailles

Context:

· ​ Signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles on June 28, 1919
· ​ The most major of a series of five treaties signed in the Paris Settlements,
where all major European powers gathered to resolve the end of World
War I and decide Germany’s fate

Territorial Losses:

· ​ Alsace-Lorraine returned to France

· ​ Eupen-Malmedy given to Belgium
 · ​ Northern Schleswig and Upper Silesia given to Denmark and Poland
respectively following plebiscites in the regions
· ​ Must of West-Prussia given to newly formed Poland, creating a Polish
corridor that separated the state of East Prussia from the rest of Germany
and giving the Polish access to the Baltic Sea
· ​ Principal West-Prussian port city, Danzig [now in the Polish corridor], kept
under international control despite being a German majority
· ​ Saar Basin, one of Germany’s primary coal-producing centers, placed
under League of Nations control (once the body formed in 1920) for 15
years; coal mines given to France as compensation
· ​ Germany forced to give up colonies in Africa and the Pacific Islands such
as Namibia and German New Guinea

Military Restrictions:

· ​ Forced demilitarization of the Rhineland, which would be occupied by

Entente troops for 15 years
· ​ German army limited to 100,000 men
· ​ A German air force and submarine fleet was strictly prohibited
· ​ Navy vessels restricted to 10,000 tons in weight, preventing the Germans
from maintaining their fleet of dreadnoughts; only six battleships were
permitted for the entire nation provided they fell under this weight
restriction

Other Reparations:

· ​ War Guilt Clause: Treaty stated that Germany was to blame for the
outbreak of World War I. As stated:

“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the
responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage
to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have
been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the
aggression of Germany and her allies.” - Article 231, Treaty of Versailles
· ​ Germany initially forced to pay $5 billion to Entente powers in reparations,
raised to $33 billion in the subsequent years following an Inter-Allied
Investigation into war expenses

Outcome

· ​ Created a spiteful sentiment among the German people, who resented the
Treaty for destroying their country, and whose anger would later be
targeted towards the German delegation involved in its inception
 · ​ Led to the formation of small buffer states between Germany and the
Soviet Union, such as Czechoslovakia and Poland, whose weaknesses
would later be exploited by Adolf Hitler at the start of the Second World
War
· ​ Put the newly born Weimar Republic in a precarious financial situation
from the start: war reparations would significantly deplete Weimar
resources and cause multiple domestic crises throughout its life

Was 1918 really a German Revolution?

· ​ For:
o Germany was now ruled by socialists (the SPD was the largest party
in the new republic)
o Workers gained many of their demands (eg. 8-hour day as decided
in the Stinnes-Legien Agreement)
o Germany transformed from a monarchy to a republic, the most
democratic and most progressive in the world, following the
abdication of the Kaiser
·​ Against:
o Historian AJP Taylor: “In 1918, Germany reached a turning point in
its history, and failed to turn”
o The old government was never forcibly overthrown; instead, it was
gradually reformed
o Violence confined to Berlin, and the attempted uprising was
suppressed by the Freikorps
o Ebert-Groener Pact meant that many representatives of the old
German order never supported the new republic (eg. Hindenburg
and Ludendorff, army, civil service)

Weimar Republic
Weimar Constitution

· ​ Each citizen of the Weimar Republic had one vote, and one seat in the
Reichstag was allocated per 60,000 votes
· ​ Reichstag elections occurred every 4 years, starting in 1919
· ​ System of proportional voting: if one party could not obtain majority of the
Reichstag, a coalition would be formed
o This led to disagreement among members belonging to different
parties
o Susceptible to break up leading to high turnover of government
 · ​ Very progressive bill of rights; women were granted suffrage
· ​ President
o Elected every seven years

o Power was limited by the Reichstag

· ​ Chancellor

o There were two parliamentary houses in the Republic, the Reichstag

and the Reichsrat.

o The chancellor was the leader of the Reichstag.

o Appointed by the President

o Usually, the chancellor would be the leader of the largest party,

although this was not always the case.

o Led the cabinet and oversaw the administration of laws, coordinating

with ministers and managing day-to-day government functions
·​ Article 48
o Article of the Weimar constitution which gave the president and
chancellor the right to bypass the Reichstag to pass laws in a state
of emergency

o Frequently used by the heads of state: Friedrich Ebert himself

invoked the article 63 times during his term

o Weakened the democratic nature of the Weimar Republic, giving its

leaders the opportunities to gain absolute power (eg. Hitler)

Reichstag Parties

KPD

· ​ Communist Party of Germany, far-left leaning

· ​ Founded as an official Reichstag party by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa
Luxemburg in 1919
· ​ Influenced by Marxist ideas, and committed to revolution and the
overthrow of the Weimar Republic
· ​ Alliance with the junkers through the Ebert-Groener pact created a rift
between the KPD and Ebert’s SPD
 · ​ Closely aligned with the values of the Soviet Union, opposing militarism
and capitalism in any form
· ​ Typically won around 12-15% of the popular vote throughout the Weimar
years

SPD

· ​ Social Democratic Party, a left-leaning with socialist tendencies

· ​ Advocated for worker’s rights, social welfare programs, and democratic
governance
· ​ In-power for most of the Weimar Republic’s life, and hence, strongly in
favor of the constitution and structure of the republic
· ​ Among the most influential post-war parties in Germany, winning 38% of
the popular vote in 1919

DDP

· ​ German Democratic Party, slightly left leaning

· ​ Strongly in favor of the new republic, committed to democracy and
parliamentary governance
· ​ Values aligned closely with the SPD, with shared advocacy for liberal
economic policies and social reforms
· ​ Initially won 18% of the popular vote in 1919, but influence largely
diminished over the course of the next decade

ZP

· ​ Center Party, center-right leaning

· ​ A continuation of a pre-Weimar, exclusively Catholic party in favor of the
republic
· ​ Participated in all governments during the republic’s life; it would generally
be included in coalitions because of its affinity for the government and
non-extremist views

DVP

· ​ German People’s Party, slightly right wing, in favor of the Weimar Republic
· ​ Led throughout its golden years by Gustav Stresemann, arguably the most
recognizable German politician of the Weimar era who would go on to
become chancellor and foreign minister
· ​ Influence in German politics largely waned following Stresemann’s death
in 1929

DNVP
 · ​ German National People’s Party, right leaning and against the Weimar
Republic
· ​ Formed from remnants of conservative parties in Imperial Germany
· ​ Initially moderate in views, but turned slightly extreme after the party fell
under the control of German press baron Alfred Hugenberg in 1928

NSDAP

· ​ National Socialist Workers Party (colloquially known as the Nazi party),

extreme right leaning and against the government
· ​ Formed in 1919 and gained popularity under the leadership of Adolf Hitler,
who became leader in 1920
· ​ Promoted the idea of a unified German society, rejecting internationalism
· ​ Largely anti-Semitic in views; blamed Jewish people for societal ills and
advocated for their extermination
· ​ Believed in racial superiority and Social Darwinism, arguing that Germans
with certain physical characteristics (such as blond hair and blue eyes),
dubbed Aryans, were the most superior of races
· ​ Drew support among the aggressive, disgruntled working-class youth;
Nazi meetings were often held in beer halls, and would end in raucous
fighting with people belonging to other parties
· ​ From winning just 2.63% of the popular vote in the 1928 elections, the
party rose meteorically over the next four years, winning 37.27% and
33.09% of the popular vote in the July and November elections of 1932,
the last free and fair elections before their totalitarian takeover
· ​ Had two main paramilitary groups: the larger group known as the S.A
(Sturmabteilung) led by Ernst Röhm and the S.S (Schutzstaffel) led by
Heinrich Himmler

Crisis Years
Spartacist Uprising

· ​ On the 4th of January 1919, Spartacists, radical followers of the KPD in

support of revolution, began an armed uprising against the republic in lieu
of Ebert’s government’s alignment with conservatives
· ​ They wanted to create a government modeled on Soviet Russia
· ​ Tens of thousands of people swarmed the streets of Berlin, and began to
occupy government offices
· ​ Around 500,000 workers went on strike following this occupation
 · ​ Their leaders, Liebknecht and Luxemburg (who were imprisoned in 1916
and released in 1918), were assassinated by the Freikorps on January
15th, effectively putting an end to the uprising for the time being
· ​ Caused social unrest and brought the fear of a revolution much closer to
reality for the Weimar government

Bavarian Soviet Republic

· ​ On 6th April 1919, a group of rogue communists and anarchists led by

Ernst Toller and Eugene Leviné took power in Munich
· ​ Bavaria was declared a socialist state [the Bavarian Soviet Republic], and
the leaders of the takeover sought to model it wholly on the structure of the
Soviet Union
· ​ Six days after their relatively peaceful takeover of power, however, the new
republic was defeated by the Freikorps, supported by the German Army,
who subsequently reclaimed Munich for the Weimar state
· ​ 600 casualties in fighting between the rogue republic and the state,
followed by the execution of around 1200 people involved in the takeover
plot
· ​ Increased anti-leftist sentiment in Berlin among both the government and
people, providing a platform for extreme right-wing parties such as the
Nazis to thrive in

Kapp Putsch

· ​ An attempted coup against the Weimar government on March 13th, 1920

· ​ Occupation of Berlin by the Freikorps, led by nationalist politician
Wolfgang Kapp
· ​ Goal to bring Kaiser Wilhelm II (who was exiled in the Netherlands) back
into power, and restore the government of pre-war Germany
· ​ Likely supported by the German army (led by right-wing junkers), as
evidenced by the revolutionaries’ access to heavy weapons like tanks
· ​ Lack of support from the public led to the failure of the coup; worker and
union strikes completely paralyzed industry across Germany, rendering the
Freikorps unable to fully execute the takeover

Red Rising (Ruhr Uprising)

· ​ Took place at the start of the Kapp Putsch between March and April 1920
· ​ Revolt of left-wing workers in the Ruhr region attempting to overthrow the
government and establish a Soviet-style council republic in Berlin
· ​ Created a paramilitary, known as the Red Ruhr Army; after peace talks
with the German government failed, this army clashed with the freikorps
 (who switched allegiance back to the government) and Weimar army in an
ultimately failed campaign
·​ The Ruhr region was stabilized, but only after the death of 1000 workers
and 600 soldiers on both sides
·​ Lack of coordination on the part of the revolutionaries ensured that the
revolution did not gain much traction outside the Ruhr region, and was
easily suppressed by the government locally

Political Assassinations

· ​ Throughout the early years of the republic, up to 356 Weimar politicians

were assassinated by nationalist terrorists, especially those involved in the
terms of the World War I armistice
· ​ Notable assassinations include Matthias Erzberger (former finance
minister, assassinated in August 1921) and Walter Rathenau (foreign
minister, assassinated in June 1922)
· ​ Forming of violent paramilitary groups by most political parties and the
general violence that permeated Weimar politics at the time meant that
political assassinations took place far too often in Weimar Germany
· ​ Left-wing assassins typically faced harsher sentences than right-wing
offenders whose crimes were of a similar degree, as judges were often
right-leaning themselves; this judicial bias was present as the result of the
Ebert-Groener pact, which allowed the junkers and the old German order
continued control of the civil service
· ​ Signified the weakness of the government through their inability to protect
their own politicians from mass organized crime

Rapallo Treaty

· ​ Signed in 1922 between Weimar Germany and the Soviet Union

· ​ Led to trade and secret military agreements between both countries
· ​ Allowed Germany to use Russian airfields to develop an air force,
circumventing the Treaty of Versailles
· ​ Renunciation of opposing territorial claims staked by both countries during
the First World War
· ​ Led to a new beginning of Weimar foreign policy, as the nation sought to
create a new international identity independent of that of the old Empire

French Occupation of Ruhr

· ​ Took place between 11th and 16th of January 1923

· ​ Germany initially attempted to repay war reparations, following a policy of
fulfillment (Erfüllungspolitik) adopted by Chancellor Josef Wirth
 · ​ The Wirth coalition fell apart in 1922, and was followed by chancellor
Wilhelm Cuno, who adopted a contrarian strategy of resistance to
reparations
· ​ Defaulting of war payments by Germany led to a violation of international
law, leading to France and Belgium invading the Ruhr region
· ​ This was the largest industrial center of Germany, known for coal
production, and occupation by the French led to these resources being
diverted to the French
· ​ Weimar government under Ebert advocated a policy of passive resistance
in the Ruhr, leading to workers in the region to go on strike and stagnate
coal production

Hyperinflation

· ​ Following the French occupation of the Ruhr, scarcity in the supply of raw
materials like coal led their prices to skyrocket
· ​ An increase in raw material price propagated through the economy,
causing the prices of most goods in Germany to increase significantly
· ​ To combat this price increase, as well as to pay striking workers in the
Ruhr who were exiled out of the region by the French, the Weimar
government began printing large amounts of money
· ​ At its peak, one U.S dollar was equal to 4.2 trillion Reichsmarks
· ​ The benefactors, as well as those relatively unaffected by the inflation
crisis, were the German upper-class; junkers who owned land had
relatively stable investments, while businessmen who were heavy
borrowers benefitted as the interest that had to be paid back to banks was
now worthless
· ​ The worst hit groups were the lower- and middle-classes, as their cash
stockpiles and reliance on banks led to their savings becoming worthless

Munich Putsch

· ​ Took place between 8th and 9th November 1923, inspired by Benito
Mussolini’s successful march on Rome in 1922, in a Munich beer hall
known as the Bürgerbräukeller
· ​ Conspiracy between Adolf Hitler, Ernst Röhm (head of the S.A), Erich von
Ludendorff, and right-wing leaders of Bavaria (Gustav Ritter von Kahr and
Otto von Lossow) who were installed by Ebert in lieu of the Communist
uprising four years earlier
· ​ Cold feet on the part of the right-wing Bavarian leaders led to Hitler, Röhm,
and Ludendorff to crash a right-wing meeting in the beer hall on November
8th
 · ​ Hitler enters the beer hall with a revolver, puts a gun to the heads of the
Bavarian leaders, and threatens Kahr and Lossow to speak in favor of
their revolution or be shot instead
· ​ After the chaos in the hall, however, Kahr and Lossow regain their power,
and successfully arrest Röhm
· ​ The following morning, November 9th, the Nazis decide to rescue the
situation by organizing a march throughout the city
· ​ Police intercept the Nazis and shots are fired, resulting in the death of
around 15 Nazis and 4 innocents
· ​ Hitler escapes immediately, but is arrested some days after the march,
while Ludendorff escapes arrest because of his status as a national hero

Ludendorff-Hitler Trial

· ​ Trial follows the arrest of Hitler, begins on 26th February 1924 and ending
on 1st April
· ​ Hitler given a platform to address the court in his defense, uses it to assert
· ​ Hitler asserts that the real criminals were not himself or his
co-conspirators, but blames the republic and those who signed the
armistice on November 1918; becomes a household name in the process
· ​ Hitler granted an extremely lenient five-year sentence, kept as the only
prisoner in an extremely comfortable castle called Landsberg Castle
· ​ Hitler would later dictate contents of his book Mein Kampf to his secretary,
Rudolf Hess, while imprisoned

“Unwanted and Unloved.” Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?

Yes:

· ​ Article 48 – Gave the Chancellor and President the ability to rule by

emergency decree, leaving scope for the republic to slide into dictatorship
if abused
· ​ Electoral system through proportional representation – No party ever won
a Reichstag majority leading to weak, short-lived coalitions
· ​ New republic stigmatized by its acceptance of the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles – Republic leaders dubbed the “November criminals”
· ​ Army and civil service were against the republic
· ​ Multiple attempts to overthrow the Republic, especially during the early
years, such as the Spartacist Uprising and assassinations of politicians
like Erzberger and Rathenau
· ​ Declaration of independence of Soviet Bavaria and Kapp Putsch sparked
fears of revolution within the Republic
 · ​ Hyperinflation, as the result of Germany losing the Ruhr region, ruined the
reputation of the Republic
· ​ Most major Weimar parties were against the republic and wanted to bring
it down
· ​ Hankering for the “old days” when Germany was strong
· ​ Seeds of the old German Empire still left in the Republic – junkers still had
power, Hindenburg elected president
· ​ Bad blood between the two left-wing parties when Ebert called freikorps to
put down the Spartacist uprising

No:

· ​ High degree of political engagement – voter turnout consistently over 80%

· ​ Weimar government able to negotiate good terms through its international
diplomacy
· ​ Very progressive – universal suffrage, women’s rights, and culture all
thrived under the Republic
· ​ Could have survived if not for a victim of circumstance – Great Depression
crippled the Weimar economy
· ​ Groups prepared to compromise to save the Republic from revolution (eg.
Stinnes-Legien and Ebert-Groener pacts)
· ​ 70% of voters supported the republic in 1919 by voting for pro-Weimar
parties

How did the Weimar Republic survive its crisis years (1919-1923)

· ​ It was able to use the Freikorps to suppress left-wing uprisings (Spartacist

Uprising, Red Rising, Bavarian Soviet Republic)
· ​ Willingness of the army to support the republic against left-wingers through
the Ebert-Groener Pact
· ​ The majority of workers supported the republic after the Stinnes-Legien
Agreement, as evidenced by their resistance to the Freikorps during the
Kapp Putsch; Ebert was able to use a strategy of passive resistance
because of this support
· ​ Ebert was able to use Article 48 to take swift and decisive action, such as
after the Munich Putsch in November 1923
· ​ Majority of the public supported the republic, at least in the early years,
seen by an approximately 70% voter turnout in the January 1919 election
· ​ Political assassinations led to an upsurge in sympathy for the republic
· ​ Stresemann became Chancellor and solved hyperinflation (introducing a
new currency, the Rentenmark, while negotiating an end to the French
occupation
 · ​ Communists got their timing wrong; Spartacists’ attempted revolution was
too late, while the Red Rising was too early
· ​ All attempted uprisings were geographically isolated, and could therefore
be contained; never took on a nationwide character

Golden Era of the Weimar Republic

Dawes Plan

· ​ Economic reforms enacted in 1924 through Gustav Stresemann, designed

to control German hyperinflation and boost the Weimar economy
· ​ Before the enactment of this plan, Stresemann already began reforms by
introducing a new currency (the Rentenmark) whose value is pegged to
the value of gold, helping German citizens gain trust in their new currency
· ​ While the introduction of a new currency solved the hyperinflation crisis, it
still did not give Germany the ability to continue to repay war reparations
· ​ By cooperating with the Entente powers, American banker Charles Dawes
was enlisted to help solve Germany’s non-payment problem
· ​ The plan involved temporarily lowering the cost of German reparations to
50 million pounds per year, while German industrialists would borrow
heavy from the Americans (amounting to a total of $25 billion between
1924 and 1930) to help repay the war debts
· ​ By August 1925, Stresemann also called off passive resistance in the
Ruhr, prompting the French to leave the region and Germany to regain
access to its industrial heartland
· ​ Led to a boom of the German economy in the Weimar “golden years”, with
industrial output doubling between 1923 and 1928

Locarno Pact

· ​ A series of seven agreements in 1925 between Germany and Entente

powers such as France, Belgium, Britain, and Italy
· ​ Helped improve relationships with the Entente Powers, and led Germany
to accept its Western borders
· ​ Guaranteed no military aggression between signatories, with all powers
promising not to invade the others
· ​ While Germany accepted its territory to the West, its failure to comment on
its Eastern neighbors led to ambiguity, suggesting that the Germans
planned to redraw the map in the East without repercussions from the
West

German Entry to League of Nations

 · ​ In 1926, Germany was granted admission as a permanent member to the
council of the League of Nations, putting it at par with other European
powers in terms of international influence
· ​ Allowed a German opinion into all international issues, giving it the power
to influence decisions related to Europe

Kellogg-Briand Pact

· ​ A pact negotiated in 1928 by all the major countries of the League of

Nations in Paris
· ​ Led to a general agreement among the nations of the war to morally
renounce war and resolve international disputes peacefully
· ​ Superficial pact, as nations would continually violate it over the next
decade, especially Germany when World War II was initiated in 1939

Young Plan

· ​ A continuation of the Dawes plan, implemented for the first time in 1929
with the help of American businessman Owen Young
· ​ Led to the reduction of reparations from 6.6 billion pounds to 2 billion
pounds, with Germany being given a further 59 years to pay it off at the
same rate of annual payment
· ​ Lower reparations led to lower taxation of German citizens, improving
public spending power which boosted the Weimar economy and therefore
increased employment
· ​ A 1929 referendum saw around 35 million Germans (roughly 85% of
respondents) support the Young Plan, beginning a shift in view of German
citizens who were now increasingly starting to support their government’s
decisions
· ​ Germany’s booming success and Stresemann’s cooperation with the
Entente powers also gave the French enough reassurance to leave the
then-occupied Rhineland in 1930, unlocking area for more agriculture and
industry

General Assessment of the Factors leading to the Weimar Golden

Age
Politics

Benefits

· ​ Mid 1920’s characterized by political stability, following the measures

Stresemann implemented at the end of the hyperinflation crisis
 · ​ Moderate parties were in power, such as the SPD and the ZP, while
extremist parties like the KPD and Nazis were marginalized despite
continuing to oppose the Republic
· ​ From 1928-1930, the Republic had a grand coalition, led by Herman
Muller of the SPD; united the SPD, ZP, and DDP, the three major
pro-government parties in the republic
· ​ Grand coalition showed that parties could set aside their differences and
work together for the betterment of Germany, leading to never-seen-before
stability in the Weimar Republic
· ​ Significant legislative achievements during the Golden Years; government
was strong despite proportional representation making it difficult to pass
laws

Challenges

· ​ Election of Paul von Hindenburg as president following the death of

Friedrich Ebert, which led to an anti-republic, anti-democratic head of state
· ​ Conservative traditionalists viewed the progressivism of the Weimar
Republic as a downfall from the old German Empire

Economy

Benefits

· ​ Dawes and Young plans, as well as adoption of the new rentenmark

currency, helped make war reparations more manageable
· ​ Rapid industrial growth, averaging approximately 10% per annum
· ​ Improvements in workers’ rights, such as the introduction of
unemployment insurance in 1927
· ​ Heavy importance on agriculture, which employed around one third of the
German population, which helped provide essential Weimar staples

Challenges

· ​ Heavy reliance on American loans would lead to a German economic

crash in 1929, following the Great Depression, when American banks were
unable to keep lending
· ​ One sector of the Weimar economy did not boom – agriculture – as
subsidized production of food by the US Government led to cheap
American food imports outcompeting German grown crops
· ​ Ideals of the Nazi party (including their motto “blut und boden” [blood and
soil]) appealed to disgruntled farmers who were suffering while their
German counterparts boomed
Arts and Culture

· ​ Weimar painters like Ernst Kirchner and Otto Dix became internationally
acclaimed during the golden years
· ​ German Expressionist filmmakers like Fritz Lang and F.W Murnau also
thrived in this era, using distorted sets and dramatic lighting to explore
psychological and societal themes
· ​ Weimar art and film typically classified as avant-garde, pushing the
boundaries of the artistic world and gaining international recognition as a
result
· ​ Cabarets became popular around the country, especially in Berlin, which
embraced themes of political satire and cultural rebellion, shocking many
traditionalists

Women

· ​ Weimar Republic maintained a very progressive view on the role of

women in society, being one of the first nations to grant women’s suffrage
in 1919
· ​ Abortion, divorce, and the use of contraception were generally tolerated by
the Republic
· ​ Middle-class women increasingly entered clerical work, albeit at a large
pay gap with men
· ​ While working women were encouraged by the Republic in theory, many
would succumb to social pressure and avoid taking up jobs
· ​ The new image of the Weimar woman symbolized independence, financial
self-sufficiency and modernity
· ​ Women began to adopt bobbed haircuts, shorter skirts, and more practical
clothing, breaking away from the traditionalism of old Germany
· ​ Many Weimar women came into the public eye, such as actress Marlene
Dietrich, highlighting how women had potential to gain prominence as
celebrities in Weimar society

Rise of the Nazis

Obstacles to Nazi Rule
·​ Weimar constitution
·​ The left (SPD + KPD + unions)
·​ The SA (Röhm’s ambitions)
·​ German army
·​ Traditional conservatives/elites (DNVP)
 · ​ The president
· ​ Other parties (ZP)
· ​ Religious groups

How did the Nazis overcome these obstacles to take over

Germany?
Reichstag Fire and RFD

· ​ On 4th February 1933, Hitler invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Republic to

temporarily pass a law placing constraints on free press
· ​ On 27th February 1933, a Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe,
committed arson by setting fire to the Reichstag building
· ​ Nazis framed the KPD for the arson despite van der Lubbe having no
direct links to the party
· ​ The fire helped turn Hitler’s temporary law into a permanent one (known
as the Reichstag Fire Decree), giving the Nazis power to both ban free
press and incarcerate citizens without evidence (suspension of habeas
corpus)

March 1933 Elections

· ​ Last contested elections in Germany until after World War II

· ​ Initiation of fresh elections proposed by Hitler after his appointment as
Chancellor, to give the Nazi coalition a chance to win two-thirds majority in
the Reichstag
· ​ Reichstag fire decree gave Nazis unconstitutional power to arrest other
party officials, weakening opposition voice
· ​ Stormtroopers conducted acts of violence and intimidation against
opposition parties like the SPD and KPD in the lead up to the election
· ​ Nazis won the Reichstag with 44% of votes (52% with their DNVP
coalition), falling below their expectations despite their foul play

Day of Potsdam

· ​ A ceremony on March 21st, 1933, commemorating the opening of the first

German Reichstag in 1871
· ​ Hitler attempted to use this ceremony to spread Nazi propaganda,
signifying peace with conservatives and a continuity of the old German
Imperial Order
· ​ Major conservative figures such as President Hindenburg and the children
of Kaiser Wilhelm II invited to the ceremony
 · ​ Used to gain conservative support for the establishment of an authoritarian
Nazi state whose values allegedly lined up with the old order

Establishment of Concentration Camps

· ​ Created by Nazi Germany to exploit and hold groups that were

undesirable for the party
· ​ Initially used as a place hold arrested communists and unionists following
the Reichstag fire
· ​ First camp, Dachau, opened on March 22nd, 1933
· ​ While initially managed by the S.A, the S.S took over after the Night of the
Long Knives, and used camps as training grounds for their violent
practices
· ​ Later grown to accommodate other groups oppressed by the Nazis, like
Jewish and homosexual people
· ​ Publicized to ordinary German citizens to create a feeling of fear of
opposing the Nazi party; residential buildings continued to overlook
Dachau after its establishment

Enabling Act

· ​ A law passed by Hitler and the Reichstag on March 23rd, 1933

· ​ Law that allowed the chancellor (Hitler) to write their own laws without the
approval of the Reichstag and the President
· ​ Initially planned for four years, but later extended to give Hitler absolute,
dictatorial powers indefinitely
· ​ Hitler was able to win two thirds majority in the Reichstag to pass this act
by forming alliances with the DNVP and the ZP, who agreed to ally with the
Nazis in return for respect of their religion
· ​ Although largely passed by legal means, the Enabling Act helped get
passed through violence and intimidation towards other parties by the S.A
and the S.S

Jewish Shop Boycott

· ​ Beginning on April 1st, 1933, Nazis began to spread their anti-Semitic

views by calling upon Germans to boycott shops owned by Jews
· ​ While largely ignored by most German citizens, the boycott stood as the
starting point for Nazi antisemitism that would unfold over the next few
years

Goebbels Appointed Propaganda Minister

 · ​ Hitler appointed a district leader of the Nazi Party, Joseph Goebbels, as
the Minister of Propaganda and Enlightenment on April 1st, 1933
· ​ Led to the Nazi takeover of film, radio, theater and the press, which
prevented opposition from having mediums to gain traction across
Germany
· ​ Gave the Nazis a platform to control information and therefore indoctrinate
German citizens into believing their values without questioning

Law for the Restoration of a Professional Civil Service

· ​ Passed on April 7th, 1933, which led to the exclusion of Jewish people from
the German civil service
· ​ With the intervention of President Hindenburg, an exception was made to
keep Jews into the army following their sizable contributions in World War I
· ​ Another early indication of the Nazis’ hate for German Jews

Banning of Trade Unions and Creation of DAF

· ​ Began in May 1933, when the S.A and Gestapo attacked the offices of
trade unions and burned important documents
· ​ Led to their banning, and the establishment of the German Labor Front
(DAF) by the Nazis, a new centralized organization which regulated
workers’ rights
· ​ The DAF, led by Robert Ley, consisted of numerous sub-organizations:
o RAD [Reich Labor Front] – An organization designed to employ the
unemployed, notably for building autobahns
o KdF [Strength Through Joy] - An organization geared towards the
leisure of workers, who organized “holiday camps”; workers would
have a free week of holidays, but interspersed with Nazi lectures
and speeches
o SdA [Beauty of Labor] - An organization that helped improve the
sanitation around Germany, highlighted the strong emphasis on
hygiene by the Nazis
·​ While attacking the left-wing through the banning of these unions, Hitler
was pleasing the right-wing industrialists who helped him rise to power

Book Burnings

· ​ Took place in approximately 25 German university towns in May 1933

· ​ Orchestrated by the S.A, but the main participants were German college
students themselves
 · ​ Led to the burning of thousands of books deemed “un-German”, mainly
those written by Jews, communists, and other groups targeted by the
Nazis
· ​ Notable books burned included those by renowned authors like Einstein,
Freud, and Kafka

Law Concerning the Formation of Political Parties

· ​ Passed on 14th July 1933

· ​ Established the Nazis (NSDAP) as the only legal party in Germany,
making membership of all other political parties in Germany illegal
· ​ Formation of new parties or active membership in old non-Nazi parties
would lead to imprisonment or even higher forms of punishment for
offenders

Reichskonkordat

· ​ A treaty negotiated between the Nazis and the Vatican on 20th July 1933
· ​ Helped please members of the ZP, who had earlier signed the Enabling
Act giving Hitler quasi-dictatorial powers
· ​ Allowed for the growth of Catholicism in Germany, through establishment
of pro-Catholic organizations and publications, provided they agreed not to
interfere in government affairs

Law Concerning the Reconstruction of the Reich

· ​ Passed on January 30th, 1934

· ​ Ended the autonomy of individual German states, putting their governance
in the hands of the Nazis
· ​ State parliaments and governments were completely dissolved; states
were now led by gauleiters, Nazi leaders appointed by Hitler himself

Night of the Long Knives

· ​ Took place between 30th June and 2nd July, 1934

· ​ Throughout 1933, Ernst Röhm (head of the S.A), grew uncomfortable with
the slow pace of Nazi progress
· ​ Hitler, growing weary of his and other Nazi officials’ activities, ordered a
purge together with Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler
· ​ More than 85 Nazis were murdered by the S.S, including Röhm, as well as
anti-Nazis and conservatives including former chancellor Kurt von
Schleicher and Bavarian politician Gustav Ritter von Kahr
 · ​ Led to a shift in the internal balance of power in the Nazi party; the
Himmler-led S.S (who carried out the killings) began to grow in important,
while the typically prominent S.A went on the wane

Soldier’s Oath

· ​ Took place on August 1934 under Hitler’s orders

· ​ Soldiers in the German Army were forced to pledge allegiance directly to
Hitler instead of the German state
· ​ Led to a clear shift in power showing the extent to which Germany grew
dictatorial, controlled by one man
· ​ Also led to the propagation of Nazi ideology to the German Army, an
organization which remained largely independent from the Nazis until this
point

German Foreign Policy | 1933-1936

· ​ Relatively moderate and cautious, radical moves were always interspersed
with conciliatory gestures
· ​ Germany could not take big risks because rearmament was not complete,
hence their moderate foreign policy stance

Disarmament Conference in Geneva and Leaving the League of Nations

· ​ Held between 1932 and 1934, mainly concerning endless debates about
the use of offensive and defensive weapons
· ​ Acknowledgement of Germany’s weak military position relative to France
after the Treaty of Versailles
· ​ Britain offered a compromise: Germany would rearm while the French
would disarm until both nations were equal
· ​ While Germany accepted the terms of this offer, the French resisted,
giving Hitler a pretext to leave the Disarmament Conference and, by
extension, the League of Nations
· ​ Nazi Germany no longer constrained by membership of the League of
Nations, especially its commitment to collective security
· ​ Led to suspicions among other nations that Germany was aggressive

Polish Non-Aggression Pact

· ​ Signed on 26th January 1934 in a pact where both nations agreed to

completely forgo armed conflict for ten years
· ​ A shocking decision by Hitler, as the Nazi party hated Poland because of
their anti-Slavic ideology as well as the fact that Germany was forced to
cede large amounts of its territory to Poland after WWI
 · ​ Showed that Germany had no aggressive designs on its neighbors, though
the events of subsequent years highlighted how they had no intention of
honoring the treaty
· ​ Further helped lull the Polish into a false sense of security
· ​ Undermined Franco-Polish relations, as the French were also
guaranteeing Polish security in a separate deal

First Attempted Anschluss

· ​ Took place in 1934 as the Nazi party attempted to fulfill their

Groẞdeutschland views by incorporating Austria
· ​ Austrian economy was badly damaged by the Great Depression, and the
nation was near civil war at this period
· ​ Austria led at the time by a right-wing authoritarian named as Engelbert
Dollfuss; right-wing government supporters and socialists would often
clash in the streets, while the presence of an Austrian Nazi complicated
the situation
· ​ On June 25th, 1934, the Austrian Nazis (with support from Hitler) shot and
assassinated Dollfuss
· ​ Amidst the chaos, Italians under Mussolini send troops to the Brenner
Pass (Italo-Austrian border); Italy (who was stronger than Germany at the
time) wanted to avoid Anschluss to keep away a major power like
Germany on their borders
· ​ Germany backs down from Austria, where the situation stabilizes as Kurt
Schuschnigg takes power

Saar Plebiscite

· ​ Took place on 13th January in 1935 in the Saar Basin, a tiny

coal-producing region on the Franco-German border
· ​ After the Treaty of Versailles, it was ruled that the Saar Basin would be
ruled for a period of fifteen years; France was allowed to use all the coal
from the basin in this period
· ​ In 1935, fifteen years after the treaty, a plebiscite was held to determine
whether the basin should continue to stay under the League of Nations or
to rejoin Germany
· ​ The plebiscite was presented as an enormous triumph for Germany
(sparking large amounts of propaganda), as 91% of the people of the Saar
voted to rejoin Germany
· ​ Marks the last time Hitler would agree to terms laid in the Treaty of
Versailles; once it had now been used to benefit Germany, they were
willing to completely negate its terms in the future
Two Speeches

· ​ Both speeches made around February/March (early) 1935

· ​ Göring’s Speech
o Admits that Germany has an air force (Luftwaffe), which was
explicitly forbidden at Versailles
·​ Hitler’s Speech
o Announces the reintroduction of conscription, which was also
banned at Versailles

Stresa Front

· ​ Anschluss combined with Hitler and Göring’s speeches force a reaction

from Italy, France, and Britain, forming the Stresa Front in April 1935
· ​ This was a coalition where all nations agreed to open discussion regarding
any matters concerning Germany
· ​ Led to the short-term diplomatic isolation of Germany as all other major
European powers at the time were in opposition to it, though the Front
collapsed by the end of 1935

Anglo-German Naval Agreement

· ​ Took place in June 1935

· ​ Chief German diplomat in Britain, Joachim von Ribbentrop, instructed to
form an agreement with Britain by Hitler, leading to the formation of the
Naval Agreement
· ​ The agreement stated that the Germany Navy could arm up to 35% the
volume of the British Navy
· ​ Hitler accepted this inferior position to attempt to win the support of the
British (who he personally envied), especially because his expansionist
aims were centered on the land army and air force
· ​ Agreement violates the Treaty of Versailles as Germany grew beyond its
restricted naval size, while Britain’s participation in the agreement
undermined the Stresa Front

Abyssinian Crisis

· ​ Major global crisis in October 1935 when Abyssinia [modern-day Ethiopia]

is invaded by Mussolini’s Italy
· ​ Being a member state of the League of Nations, Abyssinia caused a large
global distraction as Britain and France sought to solve the crisis
 · ​ At the same time, French coalition government had fallen apart; Germany
saw this as an opportunity to make large strides in destroying the terms of
the Treaty of Versailles

Remilitarization of the Rhineland

· ​ On March 7th, 1936, Hitler orders 20,000 German troops to enter the
Rhineland while the other Western European nations were embroiled in
the Abyssinian Crisis
· ​ Gambling on inaction from the French; German troops were ordered to
leave should they encounter French soldiers
· ​ Lack of interaction from French soldiers led to the successful
remilitarization of the Rhineland as Hitler’s calculated risk paid off
· ​ Germany began to build a line of defense fortifications, called the West
Wall or Siegfried Line, larger than the smaller defensive fortifications of the
French, the Maginot Line
· ​ Highlights Britain’s appeasement of Hitler, as they failed to take any action
countering the remilitarization, while the French followed the British for
security

German Economy | 1933-1936

· ​ Driven largely by economics minister, Hjalmar Schacht, appointed in 1934
by Hitler [who himself had little interest in the details of German
economics]
· ​ When Schacht came into power, German economy was contracting since
1929 and around 6 million people were unemployed
· ​ Following Schacht’s departure in 1936, German economy was booming
with unemployment negligible
· ​ Schacht’s policies:
o Deficit Financing
§ Massive government spending from debt; government issued
Mefobills (bonds) and was able to raise large amounts of
capital to restart the economy
§ Schacht was counting on the economy booming enough in the
long-term to generate the revenue needed by the
government to repay debt
§ Large sums from deficit financing spent on rearmament in
violation of Treaty of Versailles; money spent on making
tanks, aircrafts, and other wartime equipment as the
international community turned a blind eye
 § Large spending also on industry and infrastructure; helped
repay the faith of industrialists who supported Hitler’s rise to
power
o Reich Labor Service (RAD)
§ A sub-unit of the DAF, unemployed Germans were sent to the
RAD to help contribute to building infrastructure like
autobahns
§ Non-compliance with the RAD despite being unemployed
could result in getting sent to concentration camps – this
forced the employment of almost all Germans unemployed in
1933
o Balance of Payments Deficit
§ By 1936, Schacht realized an error in his policies as Germany
was on a balance of payments deficit; large imports of iron
ore, oil, chemicals, etc. for rearmament could not match the
value of their exports
§ Furthermore, a heavy focus on industrialization and
rearmament stagnated the German economy in other sectors
such as food production, requiring more imports
§ The nature of Germany’s industrial focuses also prevented
them from making large exports; infrastructure is not an
exportable commodity, while Germany’s armaments were
used for themselves
o Guns and Butter Debate
§ Recognizing the balance of payments deficit, Schacht
advocated for the German economy’s focus on producing
food and consumer goods rather than continuing
rearmament
§ Led to opposition from Nazi leaders like Göring, who
advocated for rearmament despite not having any knowledge
of economics
§ Schacht was sidelined following Hitler’s favoring of Göring’s
argument, eventually leading to his forced resignation in
1937

German Foreign Policy | 1936-1939

Appeasement
A policy undertaken by Britain and France to please Nazi Germany and adopt a
passive stance on German foreign policy while encouraging German development
politically and economically.

Reasons

· ​ Implemented by the British as they felt the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
were too harsh on Germany

· ​ Despite German foreign policy growing more aggressive between 1936

and 1939, Western powers continued to appease Hitler to prevent the
outbreak of another catastrophic war across the continent

· ​ Shared fear of communism between Germany and Western Europe; a

stronger Germany could be a buffer against the westward spread of Soviet
communism

· ​ Right-wingers in Britain and France admired many of Hitler’s policies

including his economic recovery, hate for the left, restoration of national
pride, and strong leadership

· ​ Germany had begun its rearmament program before Britain and France,
and appeasement allowed Western European powers time to arm up to an
equal level

· ​ Preoccupation of Western European powers with other ongoing

international affairs like the Abyssinian Crisis

· ​ Failure of collective security, as the League of Nations failed to stop

aggression across numerous instances like the Manchurian Invasion and
Abyssinian Crisis

· ​ Sense that Germany’s demands were limited and could be satisfied with
appeasement

· ​ Misunderstanding of the psychology and character of Nazism and Hitler

himself; Western European leaders like Neville Chamberlain believed he
could be tamed, and felt him to be a reliable partner in negotiations
Results

· ​ Inaction gave Germany a blank check; silence from Western Powers,

especially the British, gave them support to adopt increasingly risky foreign
policy tactics such as the Rhineland remilitarization and Anschluss

· ​ Led to the eventual degradation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles -

the British themselves helped support Hitler in negating numerous treaty
terms, removing the largest internationally agreed upon checks and
balances of German power

· ​ The main aim of appeasement failed drastically; policy simply delayed war
and allowed Germany to rearm into a stronger position

· ​ Can be argued that appeasement allowed Britain time to fully rearm, as

they eventually ended up winning the war in 1945

· ​ Moral cowardice as Western Europe caved in to Hitler’s demands by

sacrificing innocent countries such as Czechoslovakia and alienating the
Soviet Union

· ​ Allowed Germany to grow stronger as lack of resistance led them to gain

land and key resources like oil from Romania

· ​ Made war inevitable, as there would come a point where appeasement

would have to stop complying with Hitler’s demands

Rome-Berlin Axis

· ​ An agreement between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy signed on 25th

October 1936
· ​ A military and political alliance between both powers, with both countries
agreeing to offer defensive aid to each other in the event of a war
· ​ First instance of Germany becoming the dominant power in Italo-German
relations, as their prior economic and military developments made them
stronger than Mussolini’s Italy by 1936

Anti-Comintern Pact

· ​ A pact between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan on 25th November 1936
 · ​ Directed against the Communist International, the largest international
body of communist nations headed by the Soviet Union

· ​ Both nations agreed to non-aggression; in case of an attack from the

Soviet Union, both countries agreed not to ally with the Russians

Spanish Civil War

· ​ A military conflict in Spain between the nationalist and republican parties

between 1936 and 1939

· ​ The nationalist party, headed by Francisco Franco, were supported by

upper-class fascists, monarchists, the army and the church, as well as
fascist countries like Germany and Italy

· ​ The republicans were supported by intellectuals, communists,

secessionists, and the lower-class, as well as countries like the Soviet
Union and international brigades [volunteers from neutral nations like
Britain and France]

· ​ Great Depression caused significant economic problems in Spain,

fostering the growth of extremism and ideological polarization

· ​ At this time, the left-wing Popular Front government won the 1936
elections, but were soon ousted by a Franco-led coup

· ​ The ensuing conflict for power in the nation led to the death of between
250,000 and 1 million people

· ​ Germany tested their new weapons in this war, sending important divisions
of their army like the Condor Legion [a branch of the Luftwaffe], helping
their troops gain key battle experience

· ​ Created a diplomatic realignment, improving relations between Germany

and Italy who both contributed to the Spanish nationalist cause

· ​ A nationalist victory led to the establishment of the brutal, dictatorial

Franco Regime
 · ​ League of Nations failed to act, adopting a non-intervention policy
throughout the war

Hossbach Meeting

· ​ A secret meeting between Hitler and the top political and military Nazi
officials, which took place on 5th November 1937

· ​ Reveals Hitler’s expansionist aims, and his decision to adopt an

increasingly risky and aggressive foreign policy in subsequent years

· ​ Further reveals Hitler’s expectations of a world war being fought for

lebensraum between 1943 and 1945, outlining schemes to develop
Germany economically and militarily by this time frame

· ​ The original notes of this meeting, the only recorded evidence, went
missing at the end of World War II, leading to a debate surrounding the
authenticity of events in this meeting

Blomberg-Fritsch Affair

· ​ Two related scandals in 1938 which allowed Hitler to gain direct and full
control over the German army

· ​ High ranking military officials, Werner von Blomberg and Werner von
Fritsch, who challenged Hitler’s plans for immediate war preparations were
forced to resign

· ​ Blomberg’s reputation tarnished when Berlin police discovered his wife,

Erna Gruhn, to be a former prostitute with a criminal record, leading to his
resignation in January 1938

· ​ Fritsch was charged with acts of homosexuality, illegal in Germany at the

time, on grounds of tenuous evidence; while disproved by an independent
high court, his reputation was also largely destroyed, forcing his
resignation in February 1938

· ​ Resignations allowed Hitler to largely weaken his main source of domestic

opposition, the German army, putting the German nation in a more
favorable state for invasions and even wars
Anschluss

· ​ Formal annexation of Austria by Germany, taking place in March 1938

· ​ Due to pressure from the Nazis, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg
called a plebiscite, which was rigged by the German Army in favor of
Anschluss
· ​ Schuschnigg discovered German involvement in the actions of the
Austrian Nazis; upon meeting Hitler to demand an apology, he was forced
to hold the plebiscite, with the destruction of Austria being the alternate
outcome
· ​ Britain and France did not intervene despite major violations of the treaties
of Versailles and St. Germain

Impacts

· ​ Confirmed Italy’s position as a strong German ally in stark contrast to the

failed Anschluss attempt in 1934
· ​ Highlighted Britain and France’s weakness owing to appeasement and
domestic instability (France’s failed coalitions)
· ​ Reinforced Hitler’s domestic position, as Anschluss helped achieve
Großdeutschland, a show of strength which appealed to German
politicians and public
· ​ Led to the spread of antisemitism in Austria, as Jews were immediately
persecuted following the Anschluss [celebrated by most non-Jewish
Austrians]
· ​ Furthered German expansionism; Anschluss gave Germany a larger
border with nations like Czechoslovakia, whose frontiers with Austria were
less defensible than those with Germany
· ​ Germany absorbed all of Austria’s resources, boosting rearmament and
production of other war resources like iron ore

Munich Conference

· ​ An agreement signed on September 30th, 1938, between Nazi Germany,

France, Britain, and Italy

Lead Up to Conference

· ​ Hitler threatens war with Western Europe if the Sudetenland is not united
with Germany. He encouraged Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudeten
Nazis, to rebel, and demand a union with Germany
· ​ Neville Chamberlain met Hitler, and agreed that he can have the
Sudetenland but shortly after, Britain and France prepare for war
 · ​ Mussolini (following terms dictated by Hitler) helps defuse the tension by
suggesting a conference instead
· ​ Though largely concerning Czechoslovakia, the nation was not invited to
participate

Impacts

· ​ Czechoslovakia was to surrender its border regions and defenses in

Sudetenland to Nazi Germany
· ​ German troops were to occupy the Sudetenland by October 1938
· ​ Support from Western Europe highlighted their weakness, and
emboldened Hitler to continue expansionism

Invasion of Czechoslovakia and Memel

· ​ On March 15th, 1939, Germany crossed the Sudetenland and invaded the
Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia
· ​ Invasion highlighted how Germany’s expansionist aims went beyond
uniting just German speaking provinces; first glimpses of true lebensraum
· ​ Similarly, on March 22nd, 1939, Germany regained the Lithuanian province
of Memel after repeated military threats – this was justified ideologically as
Memel had an ethnic German majority
· ​ Memel annexation signaled how smaller nations had little power and
international support to resist Hitler
· ​ Violation of the terms of the Munich Conference was a last straw for Britain
and France, who abandoned appeasement and began preparing for war

Pact of Steel

· ​ Signed on 22nd May 1939 between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy

· ​ A formalization and extension of the terms laid out in the Rome-Berlin Axis

· ​ Pact obliged both Italy and Germany to aid each other economically and
militarily, especially in the event of war

· ​ Highlighted Hitler’s preparedness for what he felt was inevitable global

conflict as democratic Western powers would retaliate against his
aggressive foreign policy
 · ​ However, further highlights his miscalculations on the timescale of the war:
the pact operated under the assumption that war would not take place for
at least three years

Nazi-Soviet Pact

· ​ Also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; publicly cited as a ten-year

non-aggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union
on 23rd August 1939
· ​ Creation of a secret protocol revealed only after the war though: the Nazis
and Soviets agreed to carve up Eastern Europe into two distinct spheres
of influence
· ​ The Soviet Union would get Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and eastern Poland,
while Germany would get Romania, Lithuania, and western Poland

Reasons

· ​ Germany
o Wanted to avoid a war on two fronts; learning from the mistakes of
World War I
o Wanted to avoid a Grand Alliance between other European powers
(Britain, France, and the Soviet Union)
o German economy was not ready for a total war; economic planning
geared towards fighting a war around 1943-45
o Required natural resources such as oil for armaments (such as
Panzer tanks)
o Allowed Hitler to maximize smaller, bilateral blitzkrieg war tactics
instead of fighting a large total war
o Hitler never planned on honoring the treaty throughout the full
ten-years; helped lull the Soviet Union into a false sense of security
·​ Soviet Union
o Stalin needed more time to rebuild the Red Army to fight a total war,
after his purges exterminated all top-ranking military officers
o By having a buffer zone (Eastern Europe) controlled by the Red
Army, Stalin was ensuring that Russian soil was geographically far
and safe from German influence
o Stalin believed that the Soviet economy was 50-100 years behind
the West; introduced a series of five-year plans for breakneck
industrialization, which was incomplete by 1939
 o Wary of the appeasement policies of Britain and France, who
betrayed allies (such as Czechoslovakia) in the process of
appeasing Hitler; Stalin felt that Western European powers were not
o Would receive money in return for giving Germany oil, allowing them
to fund the rebuilding of the Red Army

Impacts

· ​ Shocked most people globally, as the nationalist right-wing Nazi ideology

was in complete opposition to the communist, left-wing Soviet ideology
· ​ Furthermore, Hitler regarded Slavic peoples as an inferior race (hence his
desire to conquer Eastern Europe as a part of lebensraum), yet still
decided to sign a ten-year non-aggression pact with the largest Slavic
nation worldwide

Gleiwitz Incident

· ​ On September 1st, 1939, SS members rounded up prisoners in a German

jail, dressing half of them up in Polish uniform and half in German uniform
· ​ They took these prisoners to a local radio station, Sender Gleiwitz, and
shot them all
· ​ Used as a casus belli to show how the Polish Army invaded Germany,
providing a false justification for Germany to then invade Poland

Invasion of Poland

· ​ On September 1st, 1939, Germany conducted a full-scale invasion (known

as Fall Weiss) of Poland; the Soviet Union followed suit on September 17th
· ​ Aims were to divide Polish territory amongst both countries (lebensraum)
and exterminate all Polish people, namely the nation’s large Jewish
population
· ​ Nazi propagandists accused Poland of persecuting ethnic Germans living
in Poland

· ​ They claimed falsely that Poland was planning (along with its allies Britain
and France) to encircle and dismember Germany

· ​ The SS, in collusion with the German military staged a phony attack on a
German radio station, Sender Gleiwitz, and accused the Poles

· ​ Western European countries, already wary of appeasement after the

invasion of Czechoslovakia, officially declared war in subsequent days

Tripartite Pact
 · ​ Signed on 27th September 1940 between Germany, Italy, and Imperial
Japan
· ​ Led to the creation of the Axis Powers of World War II, as the three nations
agreed to aid each other in dominating their respective global regions
· ​ Helped extend global conflict outside of Europe, as Tripartite nations were
obliged to support their allies in the fact of threats around the world;
especially notable when invoked to declare war on the United States
following Pearl Harbor

Rise of Fascist Italy

Italian Unification
Risorgimento – Name given to the movement that led to Italian Unification

Led by the state of Piedmont, which also controlled the Kingdom of Sardinia, under
Prime Minister Count Camillo di Cavour, King Vittorio Emanuele II, and general
Giuseppe Garibaldi.

1860-1861

· ​ Provinces initially under Piedmont’s control like the Duchy of Savoy and
County of Nice given to France by Cavour
· ​ Cavour wanted to avoid territorial opposition from Austria-Hungary to
incorporate the Kingdoms of Lombardy and Venetia and therefore needed
to be on good terms with the French
· ​ Faced opposition from key risorgimento figures like Garibaldi, who
believed in terra irredenta, a notion which argued for the incorporation of
all Italian speaking states into the new nation
· ​ In this time, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany,
Parma, and Modena were also incorporated into the unified Italian vision

1870

· ​ Rome and the Papal States, the last enclave of an ununified Italy, finally
incorporated into the Risorgimento movement
· ​ Vittorio Emanuele II crowned the king of the unified Italy

Problems Facing Italian Unification

· ​ Mezzogiorno – The notion that there was a major economic and cultural
divide between the top and bottom half of Italy. The northern half was
more industrial, modernized, and European while the southern half was
more traditional, poorer, and Mediterranean
 · ​ Mafia – Southern half of the mezzogiorno run largely by criminals
· ​ Religious Divide – Catholic Church was a large opponent to Italian
unification, even though Italy was the world’s largest Catholic country, as a
unified Italy diminished the church’s power, especially with respect to the
now-defunct Papal States
· ​ Government Structure – Although democratic, too many parties were
present in the Italian government; none won majorities, and coalitions had
high turnover rates (a notion dubbed transformismo), with their average
age lasting just two years
· ​ Battle of Adowa – Italian conflict with Ethiopia in 1896 directed by
then-Prime Minister Francesco Crispi which they humiliatingly lost despite
technological superiority compared to the defending Ethiopian army,
highlighting their military weakness
· ​ Overuse of Elections – Same leaders placed into power multiple times,
while back-of-the-room agreements and deals led to an air of corruption in
the system; Giovanni Giolitti, most prominent politician at the time, was
elected prime minister five times

Creation of the PSI

· ​ The PSI (Italian Socialist Party) was a Marxist revolutionary founded in

1892 in Genoa by Filippo Turati
· ​ Initially, the party had very limited electoral impact as workers were not
allowed to vote in Italy (only those with savings were allowed to vote)
· ​ Posed a threat to the liberal government, even with limited popularity, as
they organized workers into trade unions and radicalized them to go on
strike

Turkish-Italian War

· ​ Conflict which broke out from 1911-12 between Italy and the Ottoman
Empire
· ​ Both nations fighting for control over the Ottoman province of Libya
· ​ Italy declared war, claiming rights over Libya owing to it being a former
territory of the Roman Empire
· ​ Italy’s eventual victory highlighted the weakness of the Ottoman Empire,
eventually leading to the First Balkan War
· ​ Helped establish Italy as a growing colonial power, fostering a surge in
nationalism/militarism and a false sense of Italian strength
· ​ Put a strain on the Triple Alliance, as Italy fell out with Germany as the
result of being at war with a common ally (the Ottoman Empire)
 · ​ Main voice in Italy against the war was Benito Mussolini, then the editor of
Avanti, a newspaper run by the PSI

Impact of World War I on Italy

Split in Italian Society

· ​ Under Antonio Salandra (liberal party), Italy decided to stay neutral

following the initial war declaration, but Italian society was polarized
whether to join later or not
· ​ Other liberals, nationalists, and industrialists (eg. Agnelli, Pirelli, Olivetti)
were for the war as well as Mussolini (who was then, surprisingly, a
member of the PSI)
· ​ The rest of the PSI, Giolitti (liberal party member), and the Catholic Church
were against the war

Treaty of London

· ​ In 1915, Italy agrees to join the war on the side of the Entente after
negotiations with the French and British as revealed through the treaty
· ​ The treaty suggested that after the war, Italy would receive territories of
Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, and the Istrian Peninsula
· ​ Treaty also argued that post-war Italy would have control over the
Mediterranean, and would get a large share of reparations after the war

Vittoria Mutilata

· ​ Contrary to his party’s sentiments, Mussolini becomes the biggest

cheerleader of the war following the treaty of Londen, and hence is
expelled from the PSI
· ​ Mussolini then founded his own newspaper, Il Popolo d’Italia, and went to
join the Italian army as a corporal
· ​ In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles failed to achieve all the promises laid out
in the Treaty of London: parts of the Istrian Peninsula were given to
Yugoslavia, their influence in the Mediterranean was low, and Italy was not
given African colonies
· ​ Nationalists like poet Gabriele d’Annunzio pioneered the term vittoria
mutilata (mutilated victory) to emphasize how Italy was cheated by the
Western powers at Versailles

Impacts of World War I

Social
 · ​ 600,000 Italians dead, a significant portion of the population but nominal
compared to the casualties suffered by the other warring nations,
highlighting their lack of contribution
· ​ Large societal divisions (militarists vs pacifists, left vs right, etc.)

Economic

· ​ Mass unemployment, approximately 2 million people left without jobs

· ​ Cost of living (effects of wartime inflation) multiplied by a factor of six

Political

· ​ Disillusionment between Italian population and the liberal state following

the nation’s poor wartime performance
· ​ Extension of the franchise (near-universal male suffrage introduced),
boosting electoral power of the PSI
· ​ Emergence of a new party, the Popolari, in 1919, with strong ties to the
Catholic Church; immediately became one of the big four parties in Italy
(PSI, Popolari, liberals, nationalists), further splitting votes and requiring
larger coalitions

Biennio Rosso

· ​ A period of intense social conflict between 1919 and 1920

· ​ Coordinated strike action organized by the PSI swept across the entire
country, but ravaged Northern Italy in particular
· ​ The formation of peasant leagues illegally occupied land owned by
wealthy landowners
· ​ Government incapable of stopping this resurgence; forced to watch as the
PSI’s movements plunged the entire nation into chaos
· ​ In this time (November 1919), Mussolini founds the first Italian fascist
movement, known as the Fasci di Combattimento; promised to turn Italy
into the Second Roman Empire
· ​ Fasci di Combattimento officers, known as blackshirts or squadistri,
frequently fought against striking workers and peasants – acted as a
private police force when the government was too weak to act led by
movement leaders known as rases

First Fiume Affair

· ​ In September 1919, poet and war veteran Gabriele d’Annunzio organized

a private army and led 2,000 ex-soldiers to occupy the city of Fiume, a part
of Yugoslavia
 · ​ Retaliation against Italy’s fortunes at the end of World War I; most Italians
were disgruntled at not having been given Fiume despite the city’s Italian
majority population
· ​ Italian government was too weak to remove Annunzio and his troops from
Fiume until 1920, when Giovanni Giolitti was elected prime minister for the
record fifth time
· ​ Undermined the strength of the Italian government and provided a
template for subsequent events of unrest like Mussolini’s 1922 March on
Rome

Mussolini’s Rise to Power

Fascist Party

· ​ In 1921, Mussolini reforms the Fasci di Combattimento into the Fascist

Party, which could now stand in Italian elections
· ​ Portrayed himself as a religious gentleman in stark contrast to the brutality
of the blackshirts to appeal to conservatives and the Church

Fascist Ideology

· ​ Aggressive foreign policy

o Irridentism
o Mare nostrum (our sea) - Italy wanted to dominate the
Mediterranean
o Advocated for the creation of a Second Rome (empire)
o Wanted to spread fascism and undermine democracy around the
world, making fascism a natural enemy of Western European
nations like Britain and France
·​ Militarism
o Glorification of military and war
o Increased political presence of the military (running government and
performing other administrative tasks)
·​ Belief in strong government
o Importance of the leader in running the country
o Cult of personality
· ​ Extreme nationalism
o Class divisions must be overcome for the sake of the nation, leading
to social unity
o Mussolini equally opposed to communism (class warfare) and
capitalism (exploitation of one group by another)
 · ​ Social Darwinism
o Survival of the fittest leaders and nations
o Not initially geared towards racism; only began to adopt racist
ideology in 1938 with the publication of the Manifesto on Race

March on Rome

· ​ Took place from 28th – 31st October 1922

· ​ A weak conservative coalition government led by Luigi Facta, unable to
control the prevalent domestic violence, inspired Mussolini and the fascists
to make their grab for power
· ​ After an increase in socialist and communist strikes in August 1922, Italian
leaders were keen to incorporate Fascists into government owing to their
harsh suppression of the left through violence
· ​ Fascists began to revolt and march on government buildings in north and
central Italy; while Facta asked King Vittorio Emmanuele III to declare
martial law in response, the king decided to side with Mussolini
· ​ On October 29th, Mussolini was officially appointed as the Prime Minister
of Italy; in the subsequent days, he gathered around 30,000 fascists to
march through the streets of Rome for propaganda and glorification

Mussolini’s Rise to Power

Similarities and differences between Hitler’s rise to power

Factor Relation to Hitler Justification

Sense that the existing political Similarity The electoral system in the
system (Liberal state) was weak Weimar Republic was the
owing to proportional same, with proportional
representation and short-lived representation leading to
coalition governments – short-lived coalitions.
Mussolini promised strong
leadership.
Use of street violence by Similarity S.A also conducted mass
squadristi during the Biennio street violence against the
Rosso, leading to fear among KPD during the Great
the public and a sense that only Depression, leading to a
Mussolini could control the feeling that only Hitler could
rases. control Röhm.
Use of propaganda, powerful Similarity Propaganda extensively
speeches, and the media (Il used in the Nazi party to
Popolo d’Italia) leading to a cult create a cult of personality
of personality formed around surrounding Hitler, the
Mussolini (Cult of the Duce). Führerprinzip.

Difference While Nazi propaganda

largely outsourced to
Goebbels, Mussolini himself
largely contributed to
creating his own cult of
personality.
Disillusionment at the outcome Similarity German humiliation
of the First World War and following the Treaty of
previous humiliations (Battle of Versailles fostered a desire
Adowa, Battle of Caporetto). to gain revenge against
Western Europe.

Difference Italy was on the winning

side of World War I yet still
felt cheated by the outcome
(vittoria mutilata), while
Germany was on the losing
side and therefore suffered
heavier post-war losses and
implications.
Exploited local economic Similarity The Great Depression and
problems and promised subsequent hyperinflation
radicalism and strong leadership exacerbated Weimar
to capitalize on public economic problems,
desperation. providing a springboard for
the establishment of the
Nazi party.

Difference While Italy went on a

downward economic spiral
till Mussolini’s rise to power,
Germany experienced a
great recovery during the
Weimar Golden Years, even
after which Hitler was able
to seize power.
Fear of the left by most Similarity Fear of a political situation
conservatives and liberals, who spiraling out of control in
wanted to avoid a return to the Germany was prominent in
Biennio Rosso, created a sense 1932, with conservatives
that only Mussolini could handle like Hindenburg believing
the left properly. that only Nazis could stop
the communists.
Forcible action – Mussolini's Difference Hitler’s first attempted
March on Rome led to his seizure of power, the
appointment as prime minister. Munich Putsch and
subsequently planned
March on Berlin, ended in
complete failure.
Mussolini used legal means to Similarity Hitler’s decision while in jail
obtain power by transforming in 1924 was to “hold our
the Fasci di Combattimento into noses” at the seizure of
the official Fascist Party, power, waiting to instead
entering the Italian Chamber of rise through legal means.
Deputies.
Difference The Fascist party was
electorally insignificant,
while the Nazis rose to
become the biggest party in
the Reichstag.
Helped into power by a key Similarity Hitler helped into power
political figure, as Mussolini was following his appointment
appointed prime minister by as chancellor by
King Vittorio Emmanuele III with Hindenburg.
advice by Prince Amadeo, Duke
of Aosta, and support from
wealthy Italian industrialists like
Pirelli, Agnelli, and Olivetti.
Mussolini was appointed as Difference The Nazi party was
prime minister only one year established in 1919, but
after the creation of the Fascist Hitler was only appointed as
party in 1921. Chancellor by 1933.
Divided left, as the PSI split into Similarity The split of the SPD into
two offshoots in 1921 (Matteotti two in 1919 decentralized
Socialists, and PCI), preventing and weakened the German
concerted opposition against the left movement, allowing
Fascists. Hitler to neutralize
opposition easily.
Mussolini’s Consolidation of Power
Emergency Powers

· ​ One day after Mussolini’s appointment as prime minister (November

1922), Mussolini requested emergency powers from King Vittorio
Emmanuele III
· ​ These powers would grant Mussolini the right to overwrite the constitution
when making the decisions
· ​ While Luigi Facta asked for emergency powers to stop the Fascists shortly
prior and was denied, the king approved Mussolini’s request for a tenure of
one year
· ​ Mussolini argued that the Fascists required emergency powers to quell the
possible strike action planned by the left

Creation of the Fascist Grand Council

· ​ On 15th December 1922, Mussolini created a grand council which acted as

the main representative body of the Fascist party
· ​ Allowed Mussolini to centralize power within the PNF himself, being the
chairman of the council, and gave the Fascists a platform to create policies
· ​ Further allowed him to control radical rases within the Fascist party which
seemed to pose a threat to his own power

Economic Policies under de’Stefani

· ​ Between 1922 and 1925, the Fascists adopted laissez-faire economic

policies under Alberto de’Stefani
· ​ Led to the reduction of taxes, tariffs, and government spending, allowing
businesses to compete in a fair unregulated market
· ​ A stark contrast with the strong government involvement preached by
Fascist ideology, which pleased powerful stakeholders like industrialists
· ​ Represented Mussolini’s attempt to appease conservatives in power by
adopting policies contrary to his ideology – Fascist economics would have
a marked shift when Mussolini’s power was fully consolidated in 1925

Corfu Incident

· ​ An August & September 1923 diplomatic crisis between Italy and Greece
· ​ On August 27th, 1923, Italian General Enrico Tellini was murdered in Greek
territory while settling a dispute on the Albanian-Greek border as a part of
a League of Nations force
· ​ Mussolini issued a set of terms and conditions for the Greek government
to comply with to reconcile with Tellini’s murder, some of which were
rejected and modified on the grounds of infringing on Greek sovereignty
 · ​ In response, on August 31st, 1923, Mussolini ordered the bombardment of
the Greek island of Corfu, and sent between 5,000 and 10,000 troops to
occupy the island
· ​ The incident was weakly arbitrated by the League of Nations, in its infancy
having been established in 1920, while other powers were more
preoccupied with the economic situation in Germany; the League ended
up resolving the crisis through a heavy Italy-favored agreement,
encouraging Mussolini’s attempts at aggressive foreign policy

Federzoni’s Nationalists

· ​ A prominent party led by Luigi Federzoni, which ardently favored

irredentism (e.g. supporting the Italian invasion of Libya)
· ​ In 1923, Federzoni was able to merge his nationalist party with the
Fascists
· ​ Allowed the Fascists to gain larger support from conservatives, and
strengthen the party in terms of size and influence

Acerbo Law

· ​ Proposed and passed in November 1923

· ​ The law changed the electoral system from proportional representation to
one which drastically favored the Fascists
· ​ Any party winning more than the 25% of the popular vote would gain 66%
of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a majority large enough to make
constitutional changes

Creation of Ceka

· ​ In 1923, Mussolini directed the creation of a Fascist secret police, the

Ceka, modeled on Vladimir Lenin’s secret police
· ​ Helped create a general atmosphere of fear and intimidation surrounding
the persona of the Fascist party, especially before the 1924 elections

1924 Chamber of Deputies Elections

· ​ The Fascists led by Mussolini created a National List of allies and formed
a large coalition
· ​ The coalition ended up winning 64% of the popular vote, a giant triumph
for Fascism
· ​ Results were likely influenced by the presence of Ceka, who engaged in
intimidation and ballot stuffing to inflate the final voting outcome

Annexation of Fiume
 · ​ Following d’Annunzio’s removal from Fiume in 1920, the territory remained
an independent state de jure for four years
· ​ On 27th January 1924, however, Mussolini decided to reannex Fiume in
the Treaty of Rome with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
· ​ Once again, the League failed to respond to Mussolini’s expansionist
foreign policy tactics, allowing the Duce to further assert himself
internationally

Matteotti Murder

· ​ On 10th June, 1924, Giacomo Matteotti, the leader of the Matteotti

Socialists (an offshoot of the PSI) was assassinated
· ​ One month prior, Matteotti had given a key speech outlining the corruption
and intimidation employed by the Fascists behind the 1924 election
· ​ This led Mussolini to order Amerigo Dumini, a member of the Ceka, to
kidnap and strangle Matteotti
· ​ Subsequent investigations traced the evidence of Matteotti’s murder to
Mussolini’s office, implicating the Duce’s key role in the crime

Aventine Secession

· ​ A protest movement between 1924 and 1925 following Matteotti’s murder,

when major leftist parties left the Chamber of Deputies
· ​ Helped the Fascists as their key parliamentary oppositions were removed
from office without being allowed back in
· ​ By December 1924, however, domestic unrest surrounding the Matteotti
case reached a tipping point, with all evidence suggesting that King
Vittorio Emmanuele III was close to dismissing Mussolini

Mussolini’s January 1925 Speech

· ​ On January 3, 1925, Mussolini gave a speech to the Chamber of Deputies

where he admitted to the assassination of Matteotti
· ​ He argued that the benefits of his rule (Corfu, political stability) outweighed
the ugly scandal surrounding Matteotti’s assassination
· ​ Marked a turning point in Italian domestic policy, with Mussolini
establishing himself as an undisputed leader of Italy as the Chamber
reconciled with the Duce despite the Matteotti assassination

Vidoni Pact

· ​ Signed on October 2nd, 1925, between the Fascists and the CGII, the
principal trade union in Italy at the time
 · ​ Pact abolished the existence of any non-Fascist controlled trade unions in
Italy, in exchange for the representation of workers in the corporate state
· ​ Helped Mussolini gain control over the worker populations of Italy, making
economic and industrial processes within the nation far more efficient by
diminishing workers’ rights

Christmas Eve Law

· ​ Passed by the Chamber of Deputies on December 24th, 1925

· ​ Enabled Mussolini to be answerable only to the King, thereby bypassing
the Chamber of Deputies when creating legislation
· ​ Prevented the parliament from retaliating against any of the Duce’s
decisions and from diminishing or even removing him from power

Law for the Defense of the State

· ​ Passed on 25th November 1926, where Mussolini established a Tribunal

for the Defense of the State
· ​ Acted as a Fascist court which could try and persecute any opponents of
the regime
· ​ Most notable case was the jailing of Communist party head Antonio
Gramsci in 1926

Tirana Pact

· ​ Issued on November 27th, 1926, between Italy and the newly created
Kingdom of Albania under King Zog I
· ​ Led to Italy promising economic aid to Albania, which eventually
transformed into the Kingdom turning into a virtual protectorate of Italy in
1928
· ​ Mussolini chose to invest in friendship after having strongly backed Zog’s
ascension to the throne (turning Albania from a democracy into a
monarchy) in 1924, setting the stage for future ambitions in the Balkans

Syndical Laws (Rocco Law)

· ​ Series of laws passed in 1926 to further the establishment of the Fascist

corporate state
· ​ Officially banned trade unions and strikes, and helped create special labor
courts to resolve disputes, thereby bypassing traditional legal systems
· ​ Set up different syndicates and corporations (initially 22 of them)
corresponding to every sector of the economy, which would all come under
the control of the Fascist party
 · ​ Fascist-controlled syndicates would form the basis of the corporate state,
allowing Mussolini to have direct influence over Italian economic affairs

OVRA

· ​ The Organization for the Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism,

established in 1927
· ​ A secret police organization which replaced Mussolini’s earlier Ceka, set
up by the Law for the Defense of the State
· ​ Used violence to intimidate and exterminate political opponents,
conducting approximately 20,000 raids and arrests each week

Electoral Law of 1928

· ​ Passed to make the Fascist party the dominant political power; anyone
who wished to stand in the Chamber of Deputies was first required to gain
approval from the Fascist Grand Council
· ​ Effectively transformed Italy into a Fascist one-party state, as Mussolini
gained the power to include only his political allies into a figurehead
parliament

Economic Battles

· ​ A series of campaigns launched by Mussolini to help establish the Fascist

state as an autarky – a self-sufficient economic engine
· ​ Branding of these propaganda campaigns as “battles” highlights the
militarized nature of Fascist society
· ​ Battle for Grain
o Launched in 1925 as a means to significantly boost Italian wheat
production
o Led to a 50% increase in wheat production levels compared to 1914
o Overall, however, detrimental to the economy as farmers growing
other produce were forced to clear their land to grow wheat,
diminishing other agricultural exports thereby increasing food prices
·​ Battle of the Lira
o Began in 1926 to improve Italian purchasing power by revaluing the
Italian lira
o Policy attempted to lower the exchange rate between lira and
sterling pounds by lowering inflation, redeclaring the value of the
lira, and going back to the gold standard
o Improving the exchange rate helped make Italian imports cheaper
(benefitting heavy industry)
 o Italian workers were forced to suffer large wage cuts to compensate
for the new lira valuation, to a point where wages fell more than
food prices, decreasing living standards for working-class Italians
·​ Battle for Births
o Began in 1927 as Mussolini introduced numerous measures to
increase Italian population by 50%
o Married couples were offered large loans which would be cut for
each child in the house, while married men with more than six
children were exempt from taxation
o Campaign largely ended as a failure, with the Italian birth rate
remaining relatively uniform throughout the campaign years
·​ Battle for Land
o Began in 1928 in order to clear large swathes of Italian land for crop
cultivation
o Also used to prevent diseases like malaria across Italy by removing
mosquito-breeding bogs like the Pontine Marshes
o While public health significantly improved, the campaign was only
able to reclaim one sixth of the promised land, leading to the
eventual abandonment of the scheme in 1940

Treaty of Friendship

· ​ On 2nd August 1928, Italy signed a friendship treaty with the independent
African nation of Abyssinia
· ​ Agreed that both countries would remain allies for at least twenty years,
but would soon be violated by Mussolini following the 1935 Abyssinian
Crisis
· ​ Illustrated the cunning and untruthfulness of Mussolini’s foreign policy
campaigns, attempting to win global support as a launching pad for his
aggressive foreign policy

Pacification Campaign

· ​ Between 1922 and 1928, Mussolini successfully quelled mass revolts

against the Italian government in Libya
· ​ Though euphemistically dubbed the Pacification Campaign, it transformed
into a full-scale war, where Italians brutally murdered around 60,000
Libyans
· ​ Highlighted the aggressive nature of Mussolini’s foreign policy, choosing to
have Italy assert themselves by force when in positions of power

Lateran Pacts
 · ​ A series of treaties signed in 1929 between the Fascist party and the Holy
See establishing Catholicism as the official religion of Italy
· ​ Agreed to the establishment of the Vatican as an independent state,
helping Mussolini gain support from the Catholic Church
· ​ Helped resolve the Roman Question, as the Church finally reconciled with
the Italian state after sixty years (following the annexation of the papal
states by Piedmont, which strained relations with the church)

Domestic Policies in Nazi Germany + Fascist Italy

Common Features

●​ Both nations demanded complete obedience to the state, remaining unafraid

to use force for subjugation
●​ Domestic policies used to entirely revolutionize society, as both were highly
ideological regimes
●​ Economic success key to other developments, with the ultimate goal being
autarky

Germany

●​ Volksgemeinschaft, the sense of a National Community or People's

Community
○​ Defined on the basis of German blood
○​ Shared blood society should be pure Aryan race (ubermenschen),
eugenics policies to eliminate other inferior races
○​ Individual needs and liberties subordinated to the wellbeing of society
and the state
●​ Gleichschaltung (coordination)
○​ All individuals and groups pulling the same way
○​ Sought to achieve a thorough Nazification (ideologically) of German
society
●​ Sought a successful economy for the military, employment, and restoration of
national pride, ultimately used to achieve foreign policy goals like lebensraum

Italy

●​ Fascist "new man"

○​ Embodying a strong, bold, determined, and dynamic national character
○​ People governed under the slogan of "Believe, obey, fight!"
●​ Economic system embodied ideology, helping Mussolini execute his vision of
the corporate state

Differences
 ●​ Goals of domestic policy more radical in Nazi Germany
○​ Focus on race and racial purity drove more extreme policies
○​ Race was a limiting factor in fascist Italy before 1938

Policies Towards Women

Germany

●​ Significant subordination of women in Nazi society, following the slogan

"Küche, Kinder, Kirche" (kitchen, children, church)
●​ Creation of the NS-Frauenschaft, a women's wing of the Nazi party in 1931
●​ Policies encouraged racially pure women to bear as many children as
possible
●​ In 1936, SS leaders created Lebensborn, a state directed program which
mandated every SS member to father four children
●​ State encouraged matrimony through marriage loans, and childbirth through
family income supplements for each newborn child in a family as well as
bestowing the Cross of Honor on German mothers with more than four
children
●​ “Bund Deutscher Mädel” → League of German Girls. The party was split into
2 divisions. Girls over 10 were mandated to join in 1936.
●​ The belief & beauty society (17-21): cooking, sewing, education, and politics,
in line with Nazi ideologies
●​ BDM : Nazi understanding of history, biology, and geography. Children were
taught about the world in a manner which justified the actions of the Nazi
regime, and promoted conformity and obedience in all aspects of life.
●​ Music within the BDM focused on singing in choir groups & in WW2, choirs
were taken to sing to injured troops to raise the morale of the men.
●​ Sport in the BDM was intended to create healthy, strong girls who were fit for
child-bearing and produce multiple children to increase the population

Italy

●​ According to the Fascists women's primary goal was to bear children and to
take care of family
●​ They had little to no job opportunities, since the fascist believed that it would
distract women from their primary duty and would reduce the number of jobs
of men
●​ “Battle of Birth” was a program to increase Italy’s population from 40 to 60
million people.
●​ Women had only limited, largely symbolic voting rights in the 1920s, which
disappeared once free elections were abolished in the one‑party dictatorship.​
 ●​ Policies to encourage childbirth included marriage loans partly canceled for
each child, tax breaks for large families, and medals or honors for mothers of
many children.
●​ Abortion, divorce, and contraception were banned in the 1931 Rocco Law (not
to be confused with the Rocco Syndical Laws)

Policies Towards Religious Groups

Germany

●​ Coordination of all institutions necessary for volksgemeinschaft, making

reconciliation with the Church necessary
●​ Christian values like "Love your neighbor" placed into direct opposition with
Nazi ideology - even more complicated when considering that Jesus Christ
himself was Jewish, making Nazism an antithesis to Christianity
●​ However, in society, the conservative nature of Nazi ideology somewhat
matches with that of the Catholic Church (most notably when considering the
role of women in society)
●​ Pragmatists in Nazi leadership like Goebbels and Göring advocated that
religion should not be significantly mixed with the state - contrasted by party
radicals like Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg, who sought to replace
Christianity by a Nazified religion
●​ Protestants were handled by the establishment of the Reich German Church,
a pro-Nazi institution headed by Ludwig Kaas; however, certain progressive
Protestants, forming the Confessional Church, directly opposed Nazism
●​ To consolidate the Catholics, Hitler made a deal with the ZP to leave
Catholicism alone if they voted in favor of his Enabling Act, culminating in the
Reichskonkordat
●​ However, Nazi Germany remained condemned by the Vatican throughout
1937 with the publication of Mit Brennender Sorge, an encyclical denouncing
Nazi racial policy and fascism

Italy

●​ Almost 100% of the Italian population was Catholic, making support from the
Roman Catholic Church necessary for the consolidation of power
●​ Advantageous circumstances for Mussolini as the Catholic Church hated the
old liberal Italian order for their annexation of the Papal States
●​ Relationship between the Fascist State and the Church blossomed,
culminating in the 1929 Lateran Treaties, as Church turned a blind eye to
Mussolini's committing of murder in favor of his other conservative values
 ●​ In the mid- to late-1930's, however, relations between Mussolini and the
Church soured after atrocities were revealed during the Abyssinian Crisis
●​ Catholic opposition to Mussolini during World War II through lay organizations
helped conservative politicians approach King Vittorio Emmanuele to depose
of Mussolini

Opposition

Nazi Germany Fascist Italy

-​ Exiled political parties (SOPADE) -​ Church; disappeared after the

-​ Internal (Ernst Röhm and the S.A 1929 Lateran Pacts, but
- eliminated in July 1934) re-emerged after the 1938
-​ Army; multiple attempts to Manifesto on Race in the form of
overthrow Hitler (eg. the Catholic Action lay
Stauffenberg/July Plot) association
-​ Youth - Swing Kids, Pirates, -​ King Vittorio Emmanuele III, who
White Rose Movement eventually dismissed Mussolini in
-​ Church 1943
-​ Confessional Church -​ Fascist Grand Council
(Martin Niemoller, Dietrich -​ Exiled groups (eg. Liberty +
Bonhoeffer) Justice)
-​ Catholic Church under -​ Partisan groups during WWII -
Bishop Clemens von eventually caught Mussolini
Galen; opposition began trying to escape Italy and hung
after the introduction of him
Aktion T4 [forced
euthanasia of disabled
people]
Economic Policies

Nazi Germany Fascist Italy

Differences -​ Economic objectives -​ Strong ideological

mainly practical dimension to economic
-​ Hitler needed a policy
successful economy for -​ Capitalism and socialism
the purposes of achieving divided the nation, fascism
other goals (eg. foreign would provide a Third Way
policy ambitions - Hitler via the corporate state
needed resources for -​ Interests of workers and
rearmament and big businesses would be
conquest) reconciled under the
auspices of the Fascist
Phases: Party
1.​ 1933-36 - Hjalmar -​ Strong economy key to
Schacht's New Plan Mussolini's vision of a
a.​ Deficit spending - Second Rome
borrow money to
inject into the Phases:
economy 1.​ 1922-25 - Laissez-faire
b.​ Capital came from under de'Stefani
Mefobills, bilateral a.​ Liberal economic
trade deals, and policies that had
tight exchange been followed
controls previously
c.​ Huge spending on b.​ Characterized by
the army, low taxes, low
infrastructure, and government
heavy industry spending, and
d.​ Use of the RAD balanced budgets
(wing of German c.​ Business and
Labor Front) as a industries operated
coerced workforce in a free-market
e.​ Superficially environment
immensely d.​ Done in order to
successful - Nazi appease the
Germany was the industrialists
fastest growing (Agnelli, Pirelli,
economy in the Olivetti) that helped
world, bring Mussolini to
unemployment power
dwindled e.​ Furthermore,
f.​ However, by 1936, Mussolini prioritized
New Plan had foreign policy
achieved its goals (Fiume, Corfu) in
and outlived its this era - needed a
usefulness stable economy to
g.​ Problems on the pursue radical
 horizon were foreign policy
huge: objectives
i.​ Budget 2.​ 1925 - early 1930s-
deficits - Mussolini establishes the
borrowing corporate state
significant a.​ Laws like the
capital that Christmas Eve Law,
had to be Vidoni Pact, and
paid back Rocco Laws banned
with interest trade unions and
ii.​ Trade created different
deficits, as sectors of the
heavy economy
industry (syndicates) that
required formed the
enormous foundation of the
imports of corporate state
goods b.​ Ideology took first
iii.​ Workers priority as Mussolini
wages were sought to create a
kept too Fascist "New Man",
low, leading a culture rooted in
to rising charismatic
discontent leadership and
and limited machismo
availability i.​ Fascist
of society
consumer embued in
goods militarism
2.​ 1936-1940 - Hermann ii.​ Autarky seen
Göring's 4-Year Plan as primary
a.​ Resolved iii.​ Battles
Schacht's Guns served to
and Butter Debate strengthen
by arguing that Italy both
"guns make you economically
strong, butter and socially
makes you fat" c.​ Supplemented with
b.​ Germany would furious propaganda
pursue a policy of campaigns issued
import substitution by the Duce himself,
c.​ Reduced who received
dependency on significant spotlight
imports by making d.​ His revalue of the
alternatives lira in 1929,
d.​ Even greater however, stunted
government this initially
control of the promising progress
economy e.​ Italy's exports
 e.​ By 1939, massive become incredibly
failure of policies expensive overnight,
i.​ New just as international
production trade crashes due to
techniques the Great
largely Depression
failed f.​ By the early 1930s,
ii.​ Shortages the corporate state
of and battles were
consumer clearly shown to be
goods and white elephants,
food having more
iii.​ Significant symbolic rather than
worker practical value
discontent g.​ Led Mussolini to
iv.​ Risk of create the IMI and
inflation IRI, bringing large
v.​ Economy portions of banking
badly and industry under
overheating fascist control
with h.​ Overambitious
growing policy, however,
labor (Abyssinia, support
shortage for Franco in Spain),
vi.​ Gold made this upswing
reserves go undone as
and foreign resources were
currency again stretched too
reserves thin with Mussolini's
had run dry expensive military
misadventures
Tim Mason argues that the
solution of these economic
problems were blitzkrieg wars -
Germany was disproportionately
stronger than its Eastern
European neighbors. These
countries could be easily
overwhelmed, and their
resources, reserves, and labor
seized to bolster the Nazi
economy. Furthermore, German
military might coerced many
independent nations into trade
deals originally seen as
unfavorable (eg. Romanian oil).

3.​ 1939-1945 - Wartime

a.​ From 1939
 onwards, the Four
Year Plan
continues, but the
main focus is on
the wartime
economy
b.​ Economy faired
okay until
Operation
Barbarossa in
1941
c.​ German economy
in trouble after
Barbarossa
stretched
resources and
failed to achieve
its objectives
d.​ Chief architect
Albert Speer
appointed to
organize wartime
economy, who
pioneered a
system of mobile
factories
e.​ Regular bombing
of German
factories emptied
resources by 1945
- German
economy failing by
the end of the war

Similarities -​ Ultimate aim of economic policies was autarky

-​ Heavy state control of the economy, despite both dictators
backed by capitalists

Early Italian Foreign Policy

1922-1925

· ​ Characterized as bold, aggressive and revisionist

· ​ Mussolini attempts to consolidate power by building domestic support to
put Italy on the map
· ​ Radical foreign policy tactics evidenced by the Corfu Incident and the
Fiume Annexation
1925-1929

· ​ Marked shift from the earlier years as Mussolini opts for a more moderate,
statesmanlike, and diplomatic approach
· ​ Focus on domestic policies like the corporate state and battles
necessitated the need for cautious foreign policy, as Mussolini was taking
enough risks at home
· ​ Also represented an attempt to appease conservatives at home after
Mussolini’s role in the Matteotti assassination was exposed
· ​ Evidenced by his cooperation with other European powers during the
Locarno and Kellogg-Briand Pacts, as well as his signing of friendship
treaties with Albania and Abyssinia

1930-1934

· ​ Great Depression led to a loss of domestic support for Mussolini, as the

failure of the corporate state and battles led to trade collapses, 2 million
unemployed, and an economy in crisis
· ​ Mussolini tempted to adopt more radical foreign policy to compensate for
falling local support
· ​ Furthermore, Mussolini sensed a rift in European politics between Western
Europe and Germany, and decides to center his foreign policy aims away
from both sides at equidistance, to reap the diplomatic benefits
· ​ Led to some success with Mussolini organizing a Four Power Pact in
Rome (though the pact achieved very little diplomatically) with other
Western European nations, but the policy of equidistance was quickly
abandoned with Italy joining the Stresa Front after Germany’s first
attempted Anschluss

Italian Foreign Policy 1935-1939

Stresa Front

[April 1935 – End of 1935]

Agreements

· ​ Reaffirmed the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact

· ​ All signatories agreed to cooperate on diplomatic matters regarding
Germany
· ​ Confirmed Austria’s independence and agreed to prevent any further
attempt at Anschluss

Significance
 · ​ Represented the first major global effort to contain Germany
· ​ Ended Italy’s foreign policy tactic of equidistance as they chose to align
themselves with Western Europe
· ​ Overall minor significance as Italy became an eventual ally of Germany in
1936

Reasons why Italy joined

· ​ Wanted to prevent Anschluss to keep a northern buffer against German

expansionism, especially since the Nazis could have targeted the German
speaking population in Trentino and South Tyrol
· ​ Mussolini believed he could get a green light from Britain and France to
invade Abyssinia by allying himself with them

Reasons why it ended

· ​ Italian invasion of Abyssinia and British and French efforts to resolve the
crisis
· ​ Britain’s naval agreement with Germany in June 1935 violated the
openness of the Front
· ​ Britain and France were more prepared to make concessions to Germany
than Italy
· ​ Different objectives amongst signatories, as ideological differences and
strategic rivalries made the Front an unlikely alliance in the first place

Abyssinian Crisis

Wal Wal Incident

· ​ The beginning spark of the Abyssinian crisis; a skirmish between the

Italian and Abyssinian armies on 5th December 1934
· ​ Led to 30 Italians being killed, but a far larger number of undocumented
Ethiopian casualties
· ​ Mussolini immediately orders the capture of Wal Wal (the town where the
skirmish occurred) and demands an apology from Abyssinia
· ​ Abyssinian emperor, Haile Selassie, appeals to the League of Nations for
help while Italy beings to prepare for a full-scale invasion of Abyssinia
· ​ Britain had the option of restricting Italian invasion by shutting the Suez
Canal, but chose not to, as they believed doing so would lead to a conflict
with Italy in the Mediterranean and divert attention away from German
aggression

Crisis Timeline
 · ​ Italy launches a full-scale invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935 having
mobilized troops for almost ten months prior
· ​ Following the leaking of Hoare-Laval Pact in December 1935, which
attempted to appease Mussolini by giving him 2/3rds of Abyssinia,
Mussolini left enraged by British and French encroachment on Italian
foreign policy, and decides to continue with his invasion
· ​ By May 1936, the invasion is complete as Addis Ababa fell to the Italians,
and the creation of a new Italian overseas territory was formalized

Why did Italy invade Abyssinia?

· ​ Grow Italy’s colonial empire to help build a Second Rome

· ​ Get access to more agricultural and human resources from the
Abyssinians to bolster the colonial population
· ​ Avenge the humiliation of the Battle of Adowa in 1896
· ​ Develop Mussolini’s cult of personality through propaganda
· ​ Divert attention from the failure of the corporate state and Battles
· ​ Gain control of the Red Sea and eventually the Suez Canal
· ​ Mussolini hoped to gain access to minerals, oil, and gold resources
· ​ Abyssinia would provide fertile land for Italian settlement, especially as
Mussolini forecasted a population boom due to the Battle for Births
· ​ Increased access to economic resources would lead to recovery from the
Great Depression
· ​ Abyssinia would provide a place for Italy to export goods, especially as
their exports were at all-time lows
· ​ Testing the might of the Italian military and their weaponry
· ​ Good optics to show back home as Fascist society was highly militarized
· ​ Stresa Front lulled Mussolini into a false sense of security, as he believed
Western Europe would support his decision to invade
· ​ Timing of invasion was perfect, as European powers were preoccupied
with Hitlers aggressive foreign policy
· ​ Trigger of the Wal Wal Incident

International response to Abyssinian invasion

· ​ Both the British and French were aware of Mussolini’s plans to invade
Abyssinia, as these were disclosed at the conference during the formation
of the Stresa Front
· ​ However, both nations adopted a policy of military inaction during the
invasion, despite verbally condemning the invasion in the League of
Nations – British removed ships from the Eastern Mediterranean and left
the Suez Canal open
 · ​ Immediately after the Wal Wal Incident (before the invasion), an arbitration
committee formed by the League found none of the sides responsible for
the initial crisis
· ​ As Italy began to mobilize forces following this incident, the League
ignored the many appeals of Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie to curb
their militarism throughout early 1935; led to Britain declaring a military
embargo on both Italy and Abyssinia
· ​ Following the invasion, the League imposed economic sanctions on Italy
following their full-scale invasion in 1935 for all goods except oil, coal, and
steel, key war materials which were not embargoed
· ​ Furthermore, the Hoare-Laval Pact attempted to redraw Abyssinian
borders in favor of Italy, behind the back of the League of Nations; pact
enraged both Mussolini and critics in Britain and France, but completely
undermined the power of the League as a whole

Effects of the crisis

· ​ Undermined and eventually destroyed the authority of the League of

Nations, marking the end of collective security
· ​ Led to Italy eventually leaving the League of Nations in December 1937
· ​ Used as a smokescreen for Germany’s remilitarization of the Rhineland
· ​ End of the Stresa Front, driving Italy closer to Germany diplomatically
· ​ An effective propaganda stunt which burnished the Cult of the Duce
· ​ Beginning of Anglo-French appeasement of dictatorships
· ​ End of Abyssinian independence, leading to the creation of AOI (Italian
overseas Africa), though resistance to Italian rule was prominent in this
period
· ​ Growing racism in Italy, leading to the publication of the Manifesto on Race
in 1938

Involvement in Spanish Civil War

· ​ Italy adopted the same stance as Nazi Germany in supporting Franco’s

Nationalists in the Civil War
· ​ Conflict taken as an opportunity for Italy to test their military might, which
was often looked down upon domestically
· ​ Franco’s support by a Spanish fascist party, the Falange, led to Mussolini
siding with him to spread fascist ideology
· ​ Led to strengthening of alliances between Italy and Spain, though Spain
remained neutral throughout the Second World War
· ​ Drew Mussolini and Hitler closer as allies, leading to the Rome-Berlin Axis
followed by the Pact of Steel
 · ​ High cost of intervention worsened the already fragile Italian economy,
exacerbating domestic troubles
· ​ Italy’s military, despite sending 70,000 infantry and deploying their air force
and navy, failed to make a large decisive impact while further weakening
its military
· ​ Italy’s attack of British ships delivering supplies to the enemy Republicans
strained tensions between both nations

Anschluss

· ​ Despite resisting the First Attempted Anschluss in 1934, Italy adopted a

passive stance in the 1938 attempt, allowing Hitler to successfully take
Austria
· ​ Closer alignments with Hitler after the Rome-Berlin Axis forced Mussolini
to accept Groẞdeutschland to appease his ally
· ​ Furthermore, changes in the balance of power since 1934 meant that Nazi
Germany was now the dominant ally, having a stronger military and more
successful economy

Involvement in Munich Conference

· ​ Mussolini acted as the chairman/mediator in the 1938 Munich Conference,

however, was doing so under direction from Hitler and therefore acted as a
puppet
· ​ Helped boost Mussolini’s international image as a statesman and diplomat
· ​ Reinforced the strength of the Rome-Berlin Axis, completely alienating
Italy from the other Western European powers, setting the stage for
alliances in WWII

Invasion of Albania

Events

· ​ Lasted between April 7th-12th, 1939

· ​ Mussolini sent 22,000 soldiers to occupy Albania under King Zog I, the
same leader helped into power by Italy in 1926

· ​ King Zog went to Greece in exile, while Albania became an Italian

protectorate and subsequently an Italian territory governed by the king

Causes

· ​ Imperialistic policies to help create a Second Rome

 · ​ Access to key Eastern Mediterranean ports to achieve mare nostrum

· ​ Further Mussolini's cult of personality in a time of local economic strife

(failure of the corporate state was apparent by 1939)

· ​ Mussolini wanted to assert Italy's dominance in lieu of German

expansionism

· ​ Coordinated attempt to increase Axis powers' spheres of influence in

Eastern Europe

· ​ Seizure of economic and human resources to mitigate the effects of failed

domestic policies

· ​ Put pressure on Yugoslavian borders, especially since Mussolini (an

irredentist) was eying the Dalmatian Coast

Effects

· ​ Large boosts to the Italian army, as the Albanian army was formally
merged with the Italians in 1940

· ​ Albania served as a base for Italy's failed 1940 invasion of Greece

· ​ Spreading of Fascist ideology across Europe as Albanian institutions were

reformed subsequently after the invasion

· ​ Further alienated Mussolini from Britain and France, marking them as

another key enemy second only to Germany

· ​ However, also marked a failure of appeasement and affirmed the death of

collective security as minimal international attempt was made to stop the
invasion

Non-Belligerence

· ​ Despite Hitler declaring war on Western Europe in September 1939,

Mussolini failed to match the war declaration
· ​ Domestic failures of the corporate state and battles rendered Italy
economically unready by 1939, forcing Mussolini to watch the first year of
the war as a non-belligerent
· ​ Furthermore, significant human resources were devoted to Abyssinia,
Spain, and Albania, which weakened an already fragile Italian army

Declaration of War on France

 · ​ Formally marks Italian entry into World War II in June 1940
· ​ In addition to supporting Hitler, the declaration was an irredentist move by
Mussolini to regain territories on the French Riviera lost during the
Risorgimento
· ​ With Hitler attempting to subdue the French by installing and promoting
the puppet Vichy state, Mussolini was forced to abandon his territorial
ambitions
· ​ Highlights the unbalanced relationship between Italy and Nazi Germany,
as Mussolini’s weakness in their alliance forced him to act subordinate to
Hitler

Second World War

Causes
· ​ The economic problems caused by the Great Depression helped Hitler into
power and caused European nations to adopt more aggressive foreign
policy tactics
· ​ The rise of militaristic, aggressive, nationalist, and expansionist regimes
like Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
· ​ Failure of the League of Nations and collective security in maintaining
sovereignty of smaller states, on instances such as:
o 1931 – Japanese invasion of Manchuria
o 1932-34 – Failure of the Disarmament Conference
o 1935 – Abyssinian Crisis
· ​ German invasion of Poland, which acted as the short-term trigger caused
by violating the British guarantee of Polish sovereignty
· ​ Appeasement encouraged Hitler by rewarding aggression, making Nazi
Germany more powerful; further alienated the Soviet Union, leading to the
Nazi-Soviet Pact, curbing Hitler’s fears of fighting a war on two fronts
· ​ Failure of Britain, France, and the Soviet Union to agree to a Grand
Alliance against Hitler
· ​ Revenge for the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which made Germany
bitter and aggressive
· ​ Weaknesses of the Versailles system
o Germany weakened but not entirely destroyed
o Germany faced weaker states on their borders that were internally
divided (Austria, Czechoslovakia) and divided among themselves
(Czechoslovakia and Poland)
 · ​ Remnants of WWI, as the tensions caused by the first great were not
resolved successfully in 1919 – what historian E.H Carr dubs the “Thirty
Years Crisis”
· ​ Nazi ideology centered around racism placed an emphasis on
lebensraum, drove Hitler to expansionist policies concerning Eastern
Europe
· ​ Nazi aggression which destabilized Europe
o Anschluss
o Sudetenland and Munich Conference
o Invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia
o Invasion of Poland
· ​ Creation of the Axis alliance, and polarization of world powers into two
distinct factions
· ​ Short-term economic problems in Germany (low workers' wages, balance
of payments deficit, and over-reliance on Mefobills) which could only be
solved through a series of blitzkrieg wars
· ​ Developments in East Asia: Japanese invasion of China in 1937 meant
Germany’s ally was already facing a large war

Events of World War II

1939

·​ 1st September – German invasion of Poland

·​ 3rd September – Britain declares war on Germany
·​ 4th September – France declares war on Germany
·​ 17th September – USSR invades Poland
·​ 28th September – End of Poland as Nazis reach Warsaw
o Western parts of Poland were incorporated into Nazi Germany
o Areas around Warsaw became known as the Government General
of Poland
th
·​ 30 November – The Winter War begins as the Soviets invade Finland
o Soviets expected a quick victory over a smaller and militarily inferior
opponent
o However, fierce Finnish resistance prolonged the capture of Helsinki,
with the Red Army taking five months to win the war, significantly
depleted by the end of the campaign

Rise of the S.S

 · ​ Throughout the Nazi conquests of 1939, newly taken territories would be
placed under control of the S.S, leading to Himmler becoming the most
powerful person in Nazi Germany second only to Hitler
· ​ For example, the Government General of Poland run by Hans Frank, an
S.S member, that organized all Polish Jew populations into the infamous
Warsaw Ghetto
· ​ Becoming a greater administrative power, the S.S began to form larger
subdivisions, including:
o Gestapo – Secret police
o SD – Security policy
o Totenkopf – Ran the concentration/extermination camps
o Waffen SS – Military S.S units
o Einsatzgruppen – Established after Germany’s invasion of the Soviet
Union, mobile killing squads which followed military units

1940

· ​ April 9th – Operation Weserübung, invasion of Norway and Denmark by the

Nazis
o British were establishing a military presence in Norway, gaining a
strategic upper hand in the war in the Atlantic
o Fjords with deep waters could be used as U-boat bases by the
kriegsmarine
o Used to secure key iron ore supplies from Sweden
o Germany’s successful invasion was a huge setback for Britain,
leading to a change of government with Neville Chamberlain
resigning and Winston Churchill coming to power
·​ May 10th – Nazi invasion of France and the Low Countries
·​ May 15th – Surrender of the Netherlands
·​ May 28th – Belgium falls
·​ June 22nd – French surrender to the Nazis

Phoney War

· ​ The period from September 1939 to April 1940

· ​ Despite Britain and France openly allying themselves with Poland, there
was no coordinate attempt to defend Polish sovereignty in this period
· ​ Furthermore, the Allies failed to take any offensive attack on Germany at
the Siegfried Line on the Western Front, showing no resistance towards
Nazi expansion in the East

Invasion of France
 · ​ Germans went through Belgium [again!] to bypass the formidable French
Maginot Line
· ​ This time around, German Panzers were quick, and invaded through the
hilly Ardennes region rather than the flat Northern plains
· ​ Despite German and French armies being roughly equal in size, the
French failed to redeploy their forces to the Ardennes, allowing the Nazis
to overpower the Low Countries with ease
· ​ Significant territorial gains by land armies and air supremacy, with a
rampant Luftwaffe, led to the collapse of the Maginot Line
· ​ Italy finally changed its stance of non-belligerence, declaring war on Britain
and France on June 10th
· ​ Just eleven days after, however, the French surrendered to German troops
· ​ The area around Paris and the French coastline were administered by the
S.S., while a puppet state known as Vichy France was set up in
south-eastern France
· ​ The invasion also led to Operation Dynamo, a successful Allied attempt to
evacuate around 350,000 soldiers to Britain from the French port of
Dunkirk

Battle of Britain

· ​ A German military campaign which lasted from 10th July to October 31st,
1940
· ​ An effort for the Luftwaffe to attain air supremacy over the skies of Britain
to aid with Operation Sea Lion, the complete German invasion of British
territory, by bombing British naval ships

Reasons for the Outcome of the Campaign

· ​ Churchill acted as an inspirational wartime leader

· ​ Britain’s recent development of radar, which went unrecognized by
German pilots, giving the RAF advance warnings of Luftwaffe raids
· ​ RAF used pilots from around the commonwealth, increasing the size of
their air force; furthermore, these pilots could be recycled after crashing as
they would eject over home territory
· ​ Superior plane technology as British Spitfire and Hurricane planes gave
them technological supremacy in dogfights
· ​ Churchill optimized aircraft production by giving his best friend, Lord
Beaverbrook, total control of aircraft production, while Hitler believed in the
survival of the fittest for aircraft manufacturing companies
 · ​ Hitler lost patience; Luftwaffe moved too soon from attacking factories and
airfields to civilian cities, following a successful British bombing raid on
Berlin
· ​ The British invention of the Dowding system, which synchronized
communication and information across the RAF
· ​ Disproportionate number of slow bomber aircraft compared to fighter
aircraft in the Luftwaffe

Italian Invasion of Greece and Egypt

· ​ Simultaneous campaigns undertaken by Fascist Italy in October 1940

· ​ Both territories were adjacent to Italian colonies (Albania and Libya),
providing Mussolini with an accessible springboard from which he could
launch his invasion
· ​ Greek invasion carried out to achieve mare nostrum and satisfy his aims of
building a Second Rome
· ​ Through his invasion of Egypt, Mussolini attempted to control the Suez
Canal, cutting off Britain’s link to its colonies
· ​ Further showed Italian ambitions to connect her Horn of Africa colonies
with Libya, gaining control of the entire Red Sea
· ​ Despite the Italian army’s proven weakness, Mussolini wanted these
invasions to avoid embarrassment when compared to Hitler
· ​ Both invasions ended up as large Italian failures, requiring Hitler to redirect
German troops to help Mussolini
· ​ Germany successfully invaded and took Greece by the end of October;
their rapid and unprecedented success also led them to simultaneously
invade and occupy Yugoslavia
· ​ Even in Egypt, Mussolini required German assistance as Hitler sent the
Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel, who engaged the British in a stalemate

Lend-Lease Act

· ​ Economic policy enacted by the United States government in March 1941

· ​ The US offered to lend war materials to the Allies in exchange for leases
on British strategic bases around the world
· ​ Despite ideological differences, the Lend-Lease Act was extended to the
Soviet Union following the start of Operation Barbarossa
· ​ Although America was de jure isolationist, the Act highlighted their
sympathies for the Allied cause

Operation Barbarossa
 · ​ Following the failure of Operation Sea Lion, Hitler turned his ambitions to
the East, deciding to launch a full-scale invasion of the Soviet Union in
June 1941
· ​ Hitler’s goal was to conquer Russian territory roughly west of the Volga
River, incorporating its main urban centers (Moscow, Leningrad) and
agricultural areas
· ​ Further driven by racial motives, as Hitler believed all Slavic people must
be enslaved for lebensraum
· ​ With 10 million combatants, the operation was the largest invasion in
history, as well as the deadliest with 8 million casualties at the end of the
operation
· ​ Initial invasions significantly favored Germany, as the Luftwaffe quickly
achieved air supremacy while the Wehrmacht conquered large swathes of
Soviet territory
· ​ By September, the Nazis had taken Soviet territory all the way up to Kiev –
this marked the point when the Red Army no longer outnumbered the
Germans
· ​ As Panzer divisions approached Moscow, Russian peasants resorted to
aggressive scorched earth techniques to choke Germany’s resources
· ​ Once the Nazis had got near Moscow in October, however, the Russian
weather worsened leading to aggressive blizzards
· ​ Despite halting the invasion till November, the Germans were forced to
retreat from Moscow, and would never be able to take the Soviet capital
and complete Operation Barbarossa

Military Organization

The 3 million strong invading German force split into three divisions to achieve
distinct objectives across Soviet territory

1. ​North Division – Marched through the Baltics to take Leningrad, attempting

to capture and purge the symbolic capital of Russian civilization
2. ​Center Division – Marched through Belarus to capture Moscow and, with
it, the center of power via the Kremlin
3. ​South Division – Marched through Ukraine, attempting to take Crimea and
the Caucasus and seize the largest Soviet oil reserves in Baku

Why did Barbarossa Fail

· ​ Onset of heavy rains followed by freezing conditions greatly stalled the

German advance
 · ​ Germany underestimated the strength and determination of Soviet
resistance
· ​ Window for success narrowed due to delay in launch of the operation,
brought by the Italian invasions of Greece and Egypt
· ​ Supply lines stretched thin owing to the large area of Russian territory
· ​ Russian enveloping strategy owing to a long German advance (cut off +
destroy German armies)
· ​ Russian patriotic fervor – World War II known as the Great
Patriotic/Fatherland War in Russia – as the Communist party resorted to
heavy propaganda
· ​ Scorched earth prevented Germany from replenishing their supplies
· ​ German troops unprepared for Russian winter (lack of winter clothing, no
antifreeze on vehicles, etc.)
· ​ Soviet success in mobilizing its wartime industry – created thousands of
cheap T-34 tanks and military aircraft
o Creation of new industrial cities in the East removed manufacturing
from enemy threats
o Stalin’s creation of the GKO (State Defense Committee) as a
supreme, centralized economic body was extremely efficient in
planning
·​ Hitler’s refusal to prioritize attack on Moscow over other objectives
·​ Mobilization of troops in Siberia after it became apparent that there was no
imminent Japanese invasion
·​ Einsatzgruppen and later the Final Solution wasted resources which could
have been directed towards invasion purposes
·​ Racial obsession via persecution of Slavic peoples denied Germany
collaborators and encouraged partisan activity
·​ Russia’s vast resources, human and material

Atlantic Charter

· ​ Meeting between the American and British governments in August 1941

· ​ Led to the joint agreement of both nations to uphold freedom and
democracy around the world
· ​ Implicitly led to US opposition towards authoritarian states like Nazi
Germany and Imperial Japan, bolstering their sympathies towards the
Allies without risking their isolationist foreign policy

Pearl Harbor Attack

· ​ An attack by the Japanese on a US naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in

December 1941
 · ​ Japanese attempted to strike the large American aircraft carrier fleet to
allow for complete domination of the Pacific
· ​ Instigated the US, prompting American entry into the war, tipping the
scales largely in favor of the Allies

Battle of Stalingrad

●​ Major battle between July 1942 and February 1943, marking a turning point in
Operation Barbarossa, paving the way for Germany’s subsequent retreat
●​ City held large geographical importance, as taking Stalingrad ensured control
of the Volga River, providing a shipping line cutting through Russia with
access to the Caspian Sea oil fields
●​ Russian troops under General Vassily Chuikov retreat across the Volga river
and manage to lure German troops in the center of the city
●​ The Russians managed to circumvent the Germans to attack flanks from
behind; these were largely composed of Romanians and Hungarians,
representing a weaker body of soldiers owing to shortages of German men
●​ Despite Hitler initially giving orders to refuse surrender, German General
Friedrich Paulus was eventually forced to acquiesce by late January

North African Campaign

●​ Following the failed Italian invasion of Egypt, Hitler sent German troops under
commander Erwin Rommel to assist with the seizing of the Suez Canal
●​ Culminated in the battle of El Alamein, a tank battle on the North African front
between Nazi and British troops in October 1942
●​ The contested oasis of El Alamein in Egypt, right on the border of German
and British lines, was successfully taken by the British army
●​ El Alamein marked the turning point in the North African campaign, as the
British were able to force the Germans to retreat to Tunisia post this battle
●​ Led to the start of Operation Torch in November 1942, when British and
American troops landed in Morocco to attack Germany from behind to clear
North Africa
●​ Operation Torch led to discontent with the Soviet Union, as Stalin believed the
Allies were not making a meaningful contribution by helping the USSR during
Operation Barbarossa
●​ By May 1943, Operation Torch was successful as German and Italian troops
left Tunisia and evacuated to Sicily

Battle of Kursk

●​ Major German counteroffensive in the summer of 1943, as the retreating

German armies identified a salient in the Soviet advances
 ●​ Despite representing a potential turning point, the Red Army’s victory
significantly diminished German chances of retaking lost territory on the
Eastern Front
●​ Represented the last major engagement on Russian soil as the Red Army
continued to advance the Eastern Front towards Berlin

Operation Husky

●​ Following the Casablanca Conferences, a major meeting of Allies in 1943, the

Allies agreed to an invasion of Italy following the removal of Axis powers from
North Africa
●​ The invasion culminated in the launching of Operation Husky in July, 1943 as
the Allies attacked through Sicily
●​ Led to a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council that same month, the members
of which voted for the overthrow of Mussolini and defecting to the Allies
●​ While Mussolini was thrown in prison, he was eventually rescued by the Nazis
in September, 1943, and installed as the dictator of a puppet state (the Salo
Republic) in Northern Italy
●​ Fierce fighting as German troops pour into Italy from the North, intercepting
the Allies moving upward, culminating in famous hilly battles such as the
Battle of Monte Cassino

Tehran Conference

●​ Allied strategic meeting held in November, 1943

●​ First time that Allied powers agreed to launch an invasion of Northern France
following successful campaigns in North Africa and Italy
●​ Led to the initial seed of major future Allied campaigns like D-Day

Operation Overlord

●​ Successful landings by the Allies on German-occupied French soil, including

D-Day (6th June 1945)
●​ Allies deceived Germans into thinking that the landings would take place in
Calais (fake radio chatter, wooden paratrooper landings, etc.), while the actual
invasion was carried out in Normandy
●​ Large artificial harbors (known as mulberries) were deployed to mitigate the
effects of high tide, allowing the Allies to make a smooth landing
●​ After a few days of fighting, the soldiers landed on the beach and created a
reinforcement known as the Falaise pocket
●​ Breaking out of the pocket a few weeks after, the Allies successfully advanced
through France, reclaiming land and marching on to Paris which got liberated
in August, 1945
 ●​ Almost 230,000 people killed on both sides

Yalta Conference

●​ Took place in the Crimean town of Yalta between February 4th and 11th, 1945
●​ A conference between the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union to decide the
future of post-war Germany and Europe
●​ Allies agreed to enforce the demilitarization and denazification of Germany
●​ Further agreed to pursue Nazi war criminals and put them on trial
●​ Agreement to create a new provisional government in Poland, a coalition
between the London Poles (government in exile) and the Lublin Committee
(communist government)
●​ Both Germany and Berlin itself would be divided into four zones of
occupation, with each Allied power occupying a zone
●​ Soviet commitment to fighting the war in the Pacific three months after
Germany’s eventual surrender
●​ Led to the Declaration of a Liberated Europe, an agreement to free and fair
elections in Nazi-freed countries, despite the Soviets maintaining a special
sphere of influence in Eastern Europe
●​ Establishment of the United Nations, including skeleton plans of key
sub-institutions like the Security Council
Potsdam Conference
●​ Took place in July, 1945, following the defeat of Germany
●​ Tense relations between America and the USSR before the conference as the
new American president (Harry Truman) had a distinctly anti-Soviet ideology
●​ Led to the confirmation of a Nazi criminal court at Nuremberg
●​ Set up of an Allied Controlled Council, a body of representatives from all
Allied powers that would collaborate on the governing of Germany
●​ Agreed to Germany’s new borders with Poland
●​ Issued the Potsdam Declaration, which called for Japan’s immediate and
unconditional surrender
●​ Official confirmation that the Soviet Union would enter the war in Japan
●​ Agreed that all four occupying powers would be allowed to take unrestricted
reparations from their respective zones of German occupation
●​ Disagreed, however, as America and Britain expressed anger at the
systematic exclusion of London Poles from the Polish provisional government,
as well as Stalin’s refusal to hold elections
●​ Further discontent at Soviet refusal to withdraw troops from Eastern Europe,
clearly making a Soviet takeover imminent
 ●​ News of America’s successful nuclear testing reached Truman at the
conference, though he decided to conceal it from the other Allies in violation
of their wartime agreements
Effects of World War II
Reasons for the Allied victory

●​ Sufficient mobilization of human and economic resources (heavy

industrialization compared to Germany, who suffered from an Allied blockade)
●​ Deciphering of German communications (eg. Enigma) mitigated the effect of
German attacks on shipping, helping Allies win the Battle of Britain
●​ Defeating the Luftwaffe at home and achieving air supremacy in Germany,
allowing frequent bombardments of German cities and industrial targets
●​ Fierce Russian resistance, winning key battles on the Eastern Front and
devastating Hitler’s soldiers
●​ Military turning point after Operation Overlord was carried out successfully,
leading to Germany fighting a war on three fronts
●​ Successful Allied coordination including multiple wartime conferences (Yalta,
Potsdam, etc.) and secret agreements (Percentages Agreement)

Why did Germany and the Axis powers lose the war?

· ​ Despite being an advanced industrial economy, Germany was still a

continental power lacking vast colonial resources at their disposal, running
short of supplies as a result
· ​ No coordination among Axis powers – Japanese attack on Russia in June
1941 would have ended the war
· ​ Hitler’s irrationality and his failure to listen to his generals, in contrast with
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt having an informed and qualified cabinet
of generals and advisers
· ​ Strategic errors
o Huge gamble in deciding to attack the Soviet Union
o Failure to prioritize the attack on Moscow at the end of Operation
Barbarossa
o Failure to execute strategic retreats (eg. Stalingrad)
o Postponement of invasion of Britain, allowing Allies to use British
land as a springboard for a second Western Front
o Lack of consolidation of military objectives
· ​ German forces overstretched because of weak allies like Italy (eg. German
divisions bailing out the Italian army in Greece and North Africa, running
short of men at Stalingrad)
 · ​ Loss of Italy as an ally after the Fascist Grand Council switched sides in
1943

· ​ Nazi racial obsession (concentration camps, Final Solution,

einsatzgruppen) fostered significant partisan activity in conquered regions
· ​ Lack of cross-Atlantic shipping after losing the Battle of the Atlantic,
following Britain’s decoding of the Enigma machine
· ​ Hitler promoted competition in weapons production, whereas the Allies
focused on coordination, leading to more efficient wartime manufacturing
· ​ Relentless Allied bombing campaigns weakened mainland Germany by
targeting cities and industrial centers
· ​ US entry into the war provided a huge boost in terms of human and
economic resources
· ​ Defeat in key battles of the war (eg. Stalingrad and El Alamein) that
became turning points
· ​ Bad luck with the weather
o Delay of launch of Operation Barbarossa because of rains
o Wet weather and early onset of Russian winter later in 1941
o Luftwaffe unable to effectively target Allied positions at Dunkirk
· ​ Bad luck with weapons development – Germany developed advanced
missiles in 1944 to attack Britain once London had been put out of range,
while their jet fighters contained faulty technology

Early Cold War

Historiography

Orthodox position - Soviet aggression including takeovers of Eastern Europe and

Stalin’s reneging on agreements made at Yalta and Potsdam led to the outbreak of
the Cold War. Given the nature of Stalin and the Communist system, the US had no
alternative but to intervene and stop the Soviet takeover of not just Eastern Europe,
but the whole world, in order to protect freedom and democracy.

Mainstream in the US until the 1960s.

Historians:

-​ George Kennan (diplomat-turned-historian, advocated Soviet containment

throughout the Cold War)

Revisionist position - Stalin’s takeover of Eastern Europe marked an attempt to

further his sphere of influence. However, this takeover was not to gain territorial
control or to spread communism, but to establish a defensive buffer between
Germany and capitalist Western Europe. US failure to recognize these legitimate
worries and deliberate exaggeration of the Soviet threat justified their proxy wars
during the Cold War.

Emerged in the US after the 1960s, as American discontent and questioning during
the Vietnam War was on the rise.

Historians:

-​ Gar Alperovitz (argued that US dropped the atomic bomb not to end the war,
but to warn the Russians)

Post-revisionist position - A Hegelian-style synthesis of both the orthodox and

revisionist positions. Argues that the Cold War was inevitable given the massive
sizes and available resources of both powers. Hitler was a rare exception bringing
the US and the Soviets together, but a clash for global supremacy was always to
come. Blames both powers to some extent for the actions propagating the war.
Further argues that the actions of both powers were driven by mutual fear and
misunderstanding.

Emerges in the 1980s, dominant historiographical position today.

Historians:

-​ John Lewis Gaddis (argues that both powers were responsible for the Cold
War, but focuses blame on Stalin’s unstable personality)

Dropping of the Atomic Bomb

●​ The Japanese response to the Potsdam Declaration (advocating their

surrender) was mokasatsu - a word that can either be translated as treatment
with silent contempt, or idling to make decisions
●​ Accepting the first interpretation of the word, on 6th August 1945, the United
States unleashed their first weapon of mass destruction in dropping a uranium
atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima
●​ With the Japanese failing to surrender in three days, this was followed by the
dropping of a plutonium bomb on the city of Nagasaki on 9th August
●​ Between 20-50% of the population of both cities (numbering in the
tens/hundreds of thousands) estimated to have been instantly killed, with
numerous radiation-linked casualties appearing in the future
●​ United States administration argued that only a cataclysmic event of this kind
would make the Japanese surrender easily, without America having to risk the
lives of more soldiers in an invasion of the island
●​ Counterpoint argues that the bombings were a show of strength to the Soviet
Union, who were due to invade Japan around the time of the bombings,
 kicking off the Atomic Age and the early tensions that saw the rise of the Cold
War

Iranian Crisis

●​ During World War II, the British and Soviets conducted a joint invasion of Iran
in order to provide a supplies passageway between both allies
●​ Occupation was formalized in the Tripartite Treaty Alliance, with the Allies
agreeing to withdraw from Iran six months after Germany's destruction
●​ On March 2nd 1946, British and American troops left Iran; however, Stalin
refused to leave and even expanded southward
●​ One of the first crises to be handled by the newly created United Nations
Security Council
●​ In the end, negotiations with the USSR through official channels led to a
peaceful agreement involving them leaving the country

Iron Curtain Speech

●​ A speech delivered by Winston Churchill (no longer Prime Minister) at

Westminster College, Missouri on March 5th 1946, with President Truman in
audience
●​ Coined the term "Iron Curtain", a separation of Europe down a line beyond
which was an entirely Soviet sphere of influence
●​ Highlighted the downfall of the Grand Alliance, and expressed concerns at
Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe

German Zonal Developments

●​ Following the establishment of four zones of control in post-war Germany, the

Socialist (SPD) and Communist (KPD) parties merged in the East in 1946
●​ Represented Stalin’s attempt to spread communism in his German zone
instead of promoting democracy as agreed at Yalta
●​ While the Western zones were thriving economically, Stalin’s zone was poor
to the extent that East Germany was forced to trade food to the West for
specialized goods
●​ The West consolidated German control with Bizonia, the merging of the
British and American occupation zones on 1st January, 1947
●​ Differences in management and objectives led to the breakdown of the Allied
Control Council (ACC) with the Soviet Union leaving by March, 1948
●​ Eventually France included its control zone as a part of a larger Trizonia with
the West, while East Germany remained behind the Iron Curtain, cut off from
the other Allied zones
Turkish Straits Crisis

●​ Began prominently in 1946, lasting beyond the decade

●​ While Turkey remained neutral throughout World War II, the Soviet Union
pressured it to institute joint military control of the passageways through the
Turkish Straits
●​ An agreement would give Stalin direct access to the Mediterranean for both
commercial and military purposes
●​ Crisis began when the Soviets increased their military presence around the
Straits despite the Turkish government refusing their joint-control demands
●​ Led to a Turkish appeal to the United States, leading Truman to send a naval
task force to the region
●​ Eventually, Stalin removed heavy military forces, marking another mini-victory
for America in curbing Soviet expansionism

Kennan’s Long Telegram

●​ A telegram sent by George Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow,

published in the July 1947 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine
●​ An 8,000 word message which advocated for a policy of containment towards
the Soviet Union
●​ Described the USSR as hostile to the West and driven by communist
ideology.
●​ Further postulated that the nation would seek to expand its influence globally,
not through open war but through sabotage, propaganda, and political
pressure.
●​ Also warned that the Soviets would exploit divisions in the West to spread
communism, sparking fearfulness that eventually led to the establishment of
the Truman Doctrine

Greek Civil War

●​ The Axis powers' seizure of Greece in the Second World War led to the
formation of two prominent resistance groups: the Communists and the
Monarchists
●​ Following the end of World War II, the British reinstalled the Greek king,
George II, despite the fact that the Communists had control over much of rural
Greece
●​ Discord between the populist movement and the state culminates in civil war
in March, 1946
 ●​ With the British weakened by World War II, the Americans stepped in on the
side of the monarchists; Stalin refused to help the Greek communists,
honoring his Percentages Agreement with Churchill
●​ Eventually, the Communists were defeated in August, 1949 with the right-wing
pro-Western government remaining
●​ A smaller ideological proxy war that mirrors larger future conflicts - highlighted
the large extent of US participation in containment

Truman Doctrine

●​ Announced to Congress by president Truman on 12 March 1947

●​ Explicitly stated that the United States would provide political, economic and
military aid to democratic nations to counter the threat of communism and
Soviet expansion
●​ Signified a departure from US isolationism and head towards globalism,
especially centered around the containment of communist expansion
●​ Started with financial aid to Greece and Turkey, but eventually led to broader
collective security efforts and the formation of NATO
●​ "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."
- Harry Truman

Marshall Plan

●​ A European economic recovery plan proposed in 1947 by George Marshall,

US Secretary of State
●​ Provided over $13 billion in aid to Western European countries in an attempt
to rebuild war-torn Europe after WWII, stabilize economies, and prevent the
spread of communism
●​ Assistance included food, fuel, raw materials, machinery, and loans to
modernize industry
●​ The USSR and Eastern Bloc countries were invited but rejected participation,
viewing it as a tool for US monetary dominance (dollar imperialism),
deepening Cold War divisions
●​ Helped contribute to the notable economic turnaround of Western Europe
while increasing inequalities with the aid-refusing nations in the East
●​ Further cemented the position of the US as the dominant global economic
power, as Marshall aid provided a huge economic boost to the country once
debts were repaid

Coup in Czechoslovakia
 ●​ A coup d'état in February, 1948, when the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia assumed undisputed control over the nation
●​ Mobilization of worker militias and organization of mass demonstrations
forced president Edvard Benes to hand over power to party leader Klement
Gottwald
●​ While Stalin gave Gottwald political backing, there was no direct Soviet
influence in orchestrating the coup, hinting at the organic growth of
communism around Europe
●​ Reinforced the need for containment policies like Marshall aid, and arguably
led to the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in
1949 in an effort to escalate containment policies

Berlin Blockade and Airlift

●​ First major crisis of the war, lasting from June 1948 to May 1949 - escalation
could easily have led to nuclear war between the US and USSR

Causes

●​ The proximate cause of of the blockade was the introduction of a new

currency, the Deutsche Mark, in Western zones, which Stalin thought would
undermine the Soviet Union’s economic strength as Germans strayed from
using roubles
●​ Ultimately, however, it is postulated that Stalin was desperate to gain a Cold
War victory over America, and Berlin presented a perfect location within the
Soviet sphere of influence to do so
●​ Forced merger of the SPD and KPD which helped break down the Grand
Alliance
●​ Agreements made at Yalta and Potsdam (dividing of special-status Berlin
despite being within the Soviet zone)
●​ Western presence in Berlin becoming an embarrassment to Stalin, as West
Berlin was performing far better economically than the Eastern part
●​ Hotbed for Western espionage to figure out activities on the other side of the
Iron Curtain
●​ Democratically elected mayor of Berlin, Ernst Reuter, frequently called out the
Soviets for attempting to establish totalitarian government in their part of
Berlin
●​ “Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to scream, I squeeze
on Berlin” - Nikita Khrushchev

Course
 ●​ During the multinational occupation of Germany, Stalin decided to cut off all
transport to the city of Berlin (including Western-controlled zones)
●​ Citing "technical difficulties", Stalin blockaded transport routes into Berlin with
tanks and shut off all waterways leading into the city
●​ In response, the West ordered a counter-blockade, preventing American and
British goods from entering East Germany
●​ The Americans and British also coordinated a large airlift strategy, sending
essential supplies to their Berlin zones over the blockade
●​ Stalin failed to retaliate, knowing that instigation would likely result in a
full-scale war between both powers
●​ Eventually, the blockade was lifted in 1949 as the presence of the West
remained in Berlin as Stalin was again forced to acquiesce

Effects

●​ Led to the formation of separate, independent East and West Germanys

●​ Further led to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
an organization of mutual defense against the Soviet Union
●​ Convinced US administration of the need to actively contain Soviet
expansionism by supporting West Germany
●​ Set a template for future Cold War crises centered on brinkmanship (pushing
each superpower to their political limit) yet also effective crisis management

Korean War
Political Change in China

-​ In the 19th century, China was governed in a backward fashion under the
Qing dynasty, with the economy and social order weakened by Opium Wars
with Britain
-​ Opposition to the Qing dynasty grew in the late 19th century in the form of the
Guonmindang, led by Sun Yat-Sen
-​ Qings finally overthrown, as the last Emperor Puyi was deposed by the
nationalists in 1911
-​ Warlord Period begins in 1915-1916 as an unstable central government leads
to Northern China ruled by independent regional warlords
-​ In 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is formed in Shanghai - a
revolutionary party that seeks to overthrow the Guonmindang
-​ After Sun Yat-Sen's death in 1925, he was succeeded by a right-wing military
leader called Jiang Jieshi
-​ In 1927, the Guonmindang leadership begins the Northern expedition to
defeat warlords and unify China - Communists agree to support the cause
 -​ Guonmindang set a trap (White Terror) - the nationalist army wiped out the
remaining members of the CCP in Shanghai
-​ Remaining members of the CCP flee to the Jiangxi Province, where they
establish the Jiangxi Soviet under Mao Zedong
-​ In 1931, Japan successfully invades China, starting the Manchurian Crisis
-​ 日本人不應該入侵滿洲
-​ In 1934, the Guonmindang army successfully attacks the Jiangxi Soviet,
starting a 10,000 kilometer military retreat from the Communists known as the
Long March
-​ In 1936, Jiang Jieshi is kidnapped by a warlord in the Xian Incident - the
warlord only agreed to release him if he promised to make a united front with
the communists
-​ Following the end of World War II and the expulsion of Japan, infighting
resumes between the Guonmindang and the Communists, resulting in a
shock Communist victory in October, 1949

Installation of Power

-​ Unlike China, Japan was prospering in the 19th century during the 1867 Meiji
Restoration, which led to the modernization of the country
-​ Eventually, engaged with China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 in
vying for influence across East Asia - Japan's victory led to Korea being
transferred to the Empire
-​ After Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese war, Japan becomes the
dominant power in 1910 and annexes Korea
-​ In 1937, Japan invaded the rest of China, successfully controlling the Eastern
Coast
-​ During the end of World War II, People's Committees formed across the
peninsula, as regional unions which largely comprised of communists
-​ At the Potsdam Conference, Truman proposed a split of the Korean Peninsula
at the 38th Parallel with the Soviets and Americans installing interim
governments in the North and South - the South was forced to accept
right-wing rule despite the popularity of People's Committees
-​ Communist Kim Il-Sung is installed in the North while right-winger Syngman
Rhee was installed in the South
-​ Between 1948 and 1950, insurrection breaks out across the South, most
notably on the island of Jeju, against the authoritarian regime of Syngman
Rhee

Causes of the Korean War

 ●​ The invasion of the South (ROK) by the North (DPRK) on 25th June 1950, as
the Korean People's Army (KPA) pushed the army of South Korea (ROK) past
the 38th Parallel
●​ Decisions reached at Potsdam to divide the Korean Peninsula and failure to
follow up on the terms of division (eg. failure to hold elections in both Koreas
in 1947)
●​ North Korean ideological/nationalist ambitions to reunify the Korean Peninsula
after the division of 1945
●​ Economic and military disparities - the North was stronger and saw this as an
opportunity to invade
●​ Stalin's decision to approve Kim Il Sung's plans to invade after the meeting of
both leaders in March 1950
●​ Insurrection in the South led to existing instability, amplified because of
Syngman Rhee's unpopularity and authoritarianism
●​ Dean Acheson's January, 1950 Perimeter Speech attempted to tempt Kim into
an invasion by omitting Korea from the US list of potential protectorates
●​ US hopes to extend containment policies to Asia
●​ Changing context of the Cold War, following the Soviet development of the
atom bomb and the Communist Revolution in China

Cuban Missile Crisis

International Developments

●​ Following Stalin's death in 1953, power of the Soviet Union was given to
Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who advocated for destalinisation and peaceful
coexistence with America in 1956
●​ Led to the first of a series of superpower of summits in Geneva in 1955,
marking a relatively peaceful Cold War period known as rapprochement
●​ Soon after, however, both Khrushchev and newly appointed US president
Eisenhower reverted to increasingly antagonistic foreign policies
●​ Brutality of the Soviet Union shown in their heavy military involvement in the
1956 Hungarian Uprising
●​ The Soviet Union experienced a period of rapid technological advancement
before the crisis, exemplified by their launching of the Sputnik satellite in 1957
●​ That same year, they developed the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
(ICBMs) which could theoretically deliver atomic bombs from a long range,
gaining strategic ground in the arms race

Revolution in Cuba
 ●​ In the context of the 19th century, the United States helped revolutionaries
overthrow Spanish colonists in the Americas to maintain a sphere of influence
in accordance with the Monroe Doctrine
●​ In 1898, this led to the US invading Cuba and liberating it from Spain, as the
island became an independent nation that effectively became a US
protectorate
●​ Cuba was one of the richest countries in the Americas in the early 20th
century, yet also one of the most unequal as extreme poverty was rampant
●​ Beginning in the 1930s, America sponsored a series of military dictators to
control the nation, including Fulgencio Batista who was installed in power and
became the de facto Cuban leader in 1952 after cancelling democratic
elections
●​ A Havana University student, Fidel Castro, and some friends from university
decide to start a revolutionary movement, attacking an army base at the
Moncada Barracks on July 26th 1953
●​ Jailed after trial, Castro was released from jail in 1955 on condition that he
leaves Cuba; went to Mexico in 1956 and formed the 26th of July
Revolutionary Movement with Argentinian Che Guevara
●​ At the end of 1956, the revolutionaries' clandestine landing was intercepted by
the government, though Castro and Guevara managed to escape and formed
a guerilla army in the Sierra Maestra mountains
●​ The revolution gained traction culminating in the Battle of Santa Clara in 1958,
when Batista's forces were defeated for the first time, turning the guerilla
movement into a full scale army
●​ Eventually by 1959, Batista was overthrown and forced to free Cuba, while
Castro became a nationalist leader striving to remove foreign influence from
the nation
●​ Relations deteriorated with America following the nationalization of US-owned
companies, executions of Batista's supporters, and expropriation of agrarian
land, culminating in a full economic embargo in 1960

Bay of Pigs Invasion

●​ A failed attempt by the US government to overthrow the Castro regime in April

1961
●​ President John F. Kennedy's refusal to send American troops led to the
assembling of a force of Cuban exiles (Batistianos), who attempted a botched
invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba
●​ The Cuban Army's quick response curbed the invasion, as Cuban's citizens'
solidarity with Castro grew after Bay of Pigs
 ●​ Marked a huge American foreign policy failure, further radicalizing Castro
away from America and towards the Soviet Union economically and
ideologically

Events of the Crisis

●​ On 14th October, 1962, American U2 spy planes detected a buildup in Soviet

nuclear missiles in Cuba - Khrushchev used the island as leverage for US
missile buildup in Eastern-European NATO nations like Turkey
●​ Represented a major threat to American strategic position, including giving
the Soviets first strike capability by having the power to deploy shorter range
ballistic missiles
●​ Led to the subsequent formation of ExComm (Executive Committee of the
National Security Council), a contingent of high-ranking US security officials
who advised President Kennedy on the best course of action
●​ Two main plans discussed at ExComm: surgical strikes on the Cuban missiles
and military bases or a more peaceful naval quarantine of the island
●​ Eventually, Kennedy decides to establish a naval quarantine of Cuba on
October 22nd
●​ On October 24th, Soviet ships with submarine escorts approached the US
quarantine zone; while it looked as if the Soviet submarines had given orders
to fire on the American ship sent for inspection, the ships turned around at the
last minute
●​ After conclusive evidence was shown in the United Nations of the Soviet
missile bases, back channel negotiations began between Kennedy and
Khrushchev on October 26th
●​ Eventually, Khrushchev proposed a deal to remove missiles from Cuba if the
Americans removed their nuclear missiles from Turkey and agreed not to
invade Cuba
●​ Americans agreed to remove Turkish missiles in secret, leading to the Soviet
demilitarization of Cuba by October 28th

Outcome of Crisis

●​ Soviet Union lost first-strike capability, while the Americans retained it, having
nuclear submarines stationed on the Eastern Mediterranean
●​ Represented an extreme form of brinkmanship - despite the crisis ending
peacefully, both powers went to extremes before acquiescing for fear of
mutually assured destruction
●​ Strengthened Kennedy's image both domestically and internationally, showing
him as a stronger leader in contrast to his image after Bay of Pigs
 ●​ Establishment of a direct telephone hotline between America and the Kremlin
for more efficient communication
●​ Fear of Castro operating in the Western hemisphere under the nuclear
umbrella reinforced Cuba's global position; however, as a result, the American
economic embargo has continued to remain
●​ The first limited attempts at nuclear demilitarization began in wake of the crisis
(e.g. the Test Ban Treaty in 1963, agreed by both the Soviet Union and the
US, which banned atmospheric and underwater testing of weapons)
●​ Eventually culminated in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Pact in 1968,
preventing the spread of nuclear technology to other countries

End of the Cold War

Post-Cuba Timeline of Tension

●​ In the early 1970s, even after Cuba was resolved, tensions between the US
and the Soviet Union skyrocketed due to the Vietnam War
●​ Under Richard Nixon's term, however, tensions de-escalated in a period
known as détente
●​ Tensions had a resurgence in the Second Cold War, in the late 1970s,
however, as Ronald Reagan adopted antagonistic policies towards the Soviet
Union like the Strategic Defense Initiative
●​ Once the Soviet Union elects a new premier, Mikhail Gorbachev, new policies
of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) bring tension to an all
time low
●​ The Cold War finally ends after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and
subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

Détente

●​ Following the 1969 Sino-Soviet Border War, cementing the Sino-Soviet split,
US senses an opportunity to maximize their Cold War advantage
●​ Both Russia and China feared the other making a deal with America; the US
via Nixon adopted a strategy of triangulation by holding talks with both
countries
●​ Nixon visited both China (in a publicity stint known as ping-pong diplomacy)
and Russia - Premier Leonid Brezhnev was moved to visit the US as a result
●​ Successful through the mid-1970's as relationships between superpowers
remained cordial
●​ Helped the US pull out of the Vietnam War, as China and Russia advised
North Vietnam to accept Nixon's "peace with honor"
 ●​ Reinforced both superpowers' fear of mutually-assured destruction, after
Cuba pushed brinksmanship to the brink
●​ Economies of both countries were weakening, especially the Soviet Union,
due to their prolonged arms race

Achievements

●​ Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (eg. SALT I in 1972), where superpowers

agreed to limit the use of ballistic missiles and defense systems - however, did
not force superpowers to cut back on existing arsenals, and did not include
sanctions on new nuclear technology like MIRVs
●​ The 1975 Helsinki Accords, which led to a series of trade deals between the
USSR and Western Europe and reinforced both superpowers' commitment to
human rights
●​ Led to the 1972 Basic Treaty between East and West Germany, a culmination
of a cooperative initiative in Europe known as ostpolitik, as both Germanies
recognized each other diplomatically for the first time

Reasons for its failure

●​ Each side had differing objectives on a diplomatic scale - USSR wanted better
relations to improve its economy, while the US wanted to force the USSR to
liberalize
●​ SALT II, a furthering of the first SALT negotiations, not ratified by the US
Senate in 1977
●​ USSR invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 - Soviets clearly not caring about their
human rights commitments
●​ Political change in the US - Jimmy Carter's election and commitment towards
ethical foreign policy strained relations, while Ronald Reagan's subsequent
election to president led to anti-détente policies including significant military
buildup
●​ Tensions in Africa - a series of proxy wars in Angola and the Horn of Africa
●​ US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and subsequent 1984 LA Olympics
boycotted by the Soviet Union
●​ Ideological challenges in Eastern Europe - eg. Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia,
an intellectual movement that advocated for more domestic human rights, yet
faced significant backlash from the Moscow-sponsored Czech communists

Soviet Turmoil

●​ In 1968, a major uprising took place in Czechoslovakia, the Prague Spring,

where socialists declared independence from the Soviet Union
 ●​ Led to the adoption of the Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that use of force
was necessary to quell socialist protests in Eastern Europe
●​ Internal unrest as well, as numerous anti-Communist dissidents were sent to
gulags
●​ Soviet society was also in upheaval - most marriages ended in divorce, 80%
of pregnancies ended in abortion, abysmal quality of life for Soviet citizens
●​ Economy was in failure, as 44% of Soviet GDP was defense spending - other
sectors floundered, especially due to lack of incentive structures in the
workforce

Second Cold War

●​ A post-détente buildup in tension, marking one of the most anxious points of

the Cold War - driven by the US military-industrial complex and Soviet
aggression through the Brezhnev Doctrine

Reagan Presidency and the "Evil Empire"

●​ The presidency (20 January 1981- 20 January 1989) was characterized by a

focus on conservative principles, including tax cuts and deregulation.
●​ A central pillar was "Reaganomics," which aimed to reduce the role of
government by cutting taxes and reducing regulations.
●​ Reagan's policy during this period was defined by a confrontational stance
toward the Soviet Union, aiming to "roll back" communist influence rather than
merely contain it.
●​ His administration initiated the largest peacetime military buildup in U.S.
history, including the development of new weapons systems like the B-1B
bomber and the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed
"Star Wars". This was designed to strain the Soviet economy, which was
already in deep trouble, and force them to negotiate from a position of
weakness.
●​ The U.S. provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist resistance
movements in countries like Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua, a policy
known as the "Reagan Doctrine".
●​ The Evil Empire Speech - delivered on 8th March 1983. Reagan famously
denounced the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and "the focus of evil in the
modern world". Deliberate move to frame the conflict as a moral battle and to
reject the idea that both superpowers were equally at fault for the arms race.

SDI

●​ In 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative

(SDI) to protect the United States from nuclear war.
 ●​ Instead of relying on the threat of attacking back, Reagan wanted to build a
"shield" in space using lasers and satellites to shoot down enemy missiles before
they hit Earth.
●​ People nicknamed the program "Star Wars" because the technology sounded like
science fiction.
●​ The full space shield was never built because it was too difficult and expensive.
●​ The plan terrified the Soviet Union and helped speed up the end of the Cold War.

Solidarity movement in Poland​

Background

●​ From the late 1970s onwards, Poland experienced severe economic crisis
marked by widespread industrial failures, chronic shortages of consumer
goods, and escalating public discontent with Communist economic policies
●​ This discontent stemmed from the government's systematic failure to improve
living standards despite decades of Socialist rule, a failure that generated
widespread worker dissatisfaction and fueled demands for fundamental
political and economic reform

Formation

●​ The movement emerged during the 1980 Gdańsk Shipyard strikes, a pivotal
moment when workers across Poland mobilized in unprecedented collective
action against state control
●​ The movement was led by Lech Wałęsa, an electrician and trade union
activist who became the charismatic face of Solidarity and its primary
negotiator with the Polish Communist government
●​ The movement's core demands reflected both economic and political
grievances, including recognition of independent trade unions free from state
control, fundamental civil liberties and democratic freedoms, and concrete
improvements in living and working standards for Polish citizens
●​ The historic Gdańsk Agreement of August 1980 formally legalized
Solidarity as an independent trade union, an unprecedented
achievement in the Soviet bloc, and granted it a membership exceeding
ten million workers within just a few months

Threat to Communism

●​ As the first independent trade union ever to emerge and operate within the
Soviet bloc, Solidarity represented an unprecedented challenge to Communist
monopolies on state power and worker representation
●​ The movement's challenge to state authority directly threatened the
Communist Party's monopoly on power, inspiring similar opposition
movements throughout Eastern Europe and demonstrating that resistance to
Soviet-imposed systems was possible
●​ Solidarity received crucial international support and recognition, including
backing from Pope John Paul II (a fellow Pole), Western governments, and
the global media, which amplified the movement's moral and political
influence beyond Poland's borders
Soviet Response

●​ The Soviet leadership viewed Solidarity with profound alarm, recognizing that
the movement's success posed an existential threat to Communist control
throughout Eastern Europe and could precipitate the collapse of the Soviet
satellite system
●​ The Soviet Union pressured the Polish government to take decisive action
against Solidarity, using its superior military and political power to compel
Poland's leadership to suppress the movement through whatever means
necessary
●​ The USSR chose not to invade Poland directly (despite the precedent of
invading Hungary and Afghanistan), partly due to Poland's strategic
importance within NATO's eastern boundary and partly because a full military
occupation would have been economically catastrophic given the Soviet
Union's already precarious economic position

Polish Government Reaction

●​ In response to Soviet pressure, Poland's military government under General

Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in December 1981, instituting
authoritarian rule and temporarily suppressing the Solidarity movement
through legal restrictions
●​ Under martial law, Solidarity was formally banned as an organization, key
leaders including Wałęsa were imprisoned, and the government imposed strict
curfews, media censorship, and limitations on civil liberties to break the
movement's organizational capacity
●​ Despite the severe crackdown, Solidarity persisted as an underground
movement, operating clandestine networks, publishing underground
newspapers, and maintaining organizational structures that kept the
movement alive and capable of resisting Communist control

Outcome

●​ By 1989, with the Soviet Union weakening under Gorbachev's reforms and
mounting economic crisis forcing political concessions, the Polish government
was compelled to negotiate with Solidarity, leading to the historic Round Table
Talks that resulted in semi-free elections
●​ Solidarity's decisive electoral victory in 1989 led directly to Lech Wałęsa's
election as Poland's first non-Communist president, marking the triumph of a
decade-long grassroots struggle against authoritarian rule
●​ Solidarity became a powerful symbol of peaceful resistance to authoritarian
Communist rule, inspiring democratic movements across Eastern Europe and
fundamentally contributing to the collapse of Communist governments
throughout the region in 1989-1991

Soviet Political Drift​

Early 1980s leadership = elderly & ill: Brezhnev → Andropov → Chernenko

●​ Average age of Politburo over 70

●​ Led to slow decision-making + resistance to reform
 ●​ No long-term vision or stable leadership
●​ Economy declining but no reforms
●​ Hardline attitudes remained from earlier Cold War
●​ Leadership interpreted US actions as hostile
●​ Reagan’s rhetoric + military build-up increased Soviet fear
●​ Operation RYAN = Soviet intelligence mission to detect possible US nuclear
strike
●​ Result: rising paranoia, poor communication, increased tensions
●​ USSR’s aging leadership = stagnation + distrust
●​ Contributed strongly to the return of Cold War tensions (1979–85)

Economic Crisis in the USSR

Context / Characteristics:

●​ Late 1970s–mid-1980s: period of renewed East–West tensions after détente

collapsed.
●​ The USSR was facing severe economic stagnation(known as the “Era of
Stagnation”).
●​ Command economy increasingly inefficient, low productivity, and outdated
industrial base.
●​ Heavy focus on military spending despite a shrinking consumer economy.
●​ Declining global oil prices worsened Soviet revenue problems.

Causes / Reasons for the Crisis:

●​ Central planning inefficiency: no competition, no innovation, bureaucratic

paralysis.
●​ Poor performance : Low worker productivity (alcoholism)
●​ Massive military burden: approx. 15–17% of GDP on defence, draining
resources from civilian sectors.
●​ Oil dependency: USSR relied heavily on oil exports; after the early 1980s oil
price crash, income collapsed.
●​ Technological lag: unable to keep up with Western digital/tech advances;
imports were expensive.
●​ Low agricultural output: despite huge farming investment, reliance on grain
imports.
●​ Workforce issues: poor incentives, declining productivity, alcohol abuse,
demographic problems.

Effects:
 ●​ Consumer shortages: food lines, poor quality goods, lack of basic items
increased public frustration.
●​ Budget deficits & debt: state struggled to finance both military and welfare
commitments.
●​ Pressure for reform: led to Gorbachev’s policies (Perestroika + Glasnost).
●​ Weakening of Soviet global influence: inability to sustain proxy wars and arms
race with the US (Reagan buildup).
●​ Political instability: economic failure undermined the legitimacy of Communist
Party.
●​ Contributed directly to the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

War in Afghanistan

-​ The invasion of Afghanistan was the only invasion conducted by the USSR
outside of their sphere of influence
-​ The invasion of Afghanistan marked the end of detente
-​ It eventually turned into a proxy war between the USSR and the US, the US
funded militant groups in Pakistan since they didn’t have a significant
presence in that area as well as to avoid a direct military confrontation with
the USSR.
-​ The Afghan communist party (PDPA) seized power in the 1978 Saur
Revolution but faced internal revolts, compelling Moscow to intervene.
-​ Moscow also feared that the 1979 Islamic Revolution would spread Islamic
fundamentalism to Central Asia.
-​ Soviet Spetsnaz assassinated President Amin and installed pro-Soviet puppet
Babrak Karmal.
-​ Because of their invasion the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics
-​ Soviet tactics (heavy conventional warfare, tanks, aerial bombardment) failed
against guerilla fighters in mountains.
-​ Mujahideen used guerilla tactics and terrain knowledge.
-​ The US introduced Stinger missiles (shoulder-fired anti-aircraft), neutralizing
Soviet air superiority (helicopters).
-​ The US Senate refused to ratify the SALT II arms control treaty.
-​ Establishment of the Carter Doctrine which allowed the US military to use
force to defend Persian Gulf interests.

Operation Able Archer

●​ A military exercise conducted by NATO in November, 1983, designed to

simulate the start of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union
●​ US military simulated a DEFCON (defense-readiness condition) under
fictional conditions starting with a Soviet "invasion" of Yugoslavia
 ●​ Soviet Union misinterpreted these drills as a signal for wartime, and began
preparing for retaliatory attacks
●​ Eventually, however, intelligence sources revealed that Able Archer was an
exercise, and tensions simmered down - however, marked one of the closest
points both superpowers had come to starting a nuclear world war

KAL007

●​ A Korean Airlines flight from New York to Seoul that crashed on September
1st 1983
●​ The flight path deviated for this flight, causing the plane to fly over Soviet
airspace - though some theories claim the flight was a spy mission organized
by the US/South Korea
●​ Soviets initially responded with warning shots, yet eventually shot down the
plan after the flight failed to leave Soviet airspace
●​ Combined with Able Archer, marked one of the all time Cold War highs of
superpower tension, with both the US and Soviet Union increasingly weary of
aggressive militarism

Gorbachev Reforms

●​ Following his election as Soviet Premier in 1984, Mikhail Gorbachev

(reformist) sought policy changes which would eventually help end the Cold
War

Gorbachev's Agenda

●​ Economic reforms through restructuring (perestroika), making managers more

accountable by introducing aspects of a free-market economy
●​ Boost the economy to increase food production leading to more openness
(glasnost), allowing people to criticize the party and state. I.e Transparency
●​ Cut back military spending and focus on consumer goods, improving relations
with the US through trade deals and arms reduction talks
●​ Russian troops' withdrawal from Afghanistan
●​ Restrict availability of alcohol, to prevent perennial alcoholism, which made
Gorbachev socially unfavorable

Abandonment of Brezhnev Doctrine

●​ Gorbachev's late Cold-War policies abandoned Brezhnev's doctrine of using

force to quell unrest and democratization around the Soviet sphere of
influence
●​ First instance of the doctrine's repudiation came in 1988, when Gorbachev
decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan
 ●​ Abandonment of Brezhnev's policies more clearly seen following free
elections in Poland in 1989, when the left-wing Polish United Workers' Party
was defeated by the right-wing Solidarity Party
●​ Despite this democratization blatantly violating the Brezhnev doctrine, no
force was used in Poland - set a precedent that catalyzed democratization
across Eastern Europe and the weakening of the Iron Curtain

Ideological Challenges in the Soviet Union

●​ Rift between reformist (Gorbachev and Yeltsin) and old-communist who felt
the Soviet Union was in danger of the reforms
●​ Allow individuals to run in elections despite not being communists, by 1989 in
republicans, a majority in national parliaments were non communist and were
demanding more democracy, more reforms and independence from the
USSR
●​ Margaret Thatcher “here is a man we can do business with” referring to
Gorbachev

Fall of Cold War Tensions

Tear Down the Wall Speech

●​ A speech delivered by US President Reagan in Berlin on June 12th, 1987

●​ Directly prompts Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin wall, saying "Mr.
Gorbachev, tear down this wall"
●​ Exposed weaknesses in the Soviet Union's power structure through Reagan's
direct challenge, highlighting how the US held the diplomatic upper hand
through the end of the Cold War

Superpower Diplomacy

-​ Geneva Summit 1985​

First real meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev; both cautious but wanting
stability.
-​ Shifted the mood from tension to actual conversation.
-​ They built some personal trust, which mattered a lot later.
-​ No big deals, but they agreed to keep meeting — huge for restarting
diplomacy.
-​ Reykjavík Summit 1986
-​ Fireside meetings, Gorbachev convinced Raegen to drop all nuclear
armaments
-​ Talks suddenly became super ambitious — almost total nuclear disarmament.
 -​ Fell apart because of SDI: Reagan wouldn’t limit it, Gorbachev insisted.​
Even though it failed, it cleared up misunderstandings and pushed both sides
closer.​
Basically set the stage for the next major agreement.
-​ INF (Washington) treaty- 1987-8
-​ INF = arms control agreement that banned all ground launched ballistics and
cruise missiles (ICBMs)
-​ Symbolised peace and eliminated the entire class of nuclear weapons
-​ First treaty that actually removed whole categories of nuclear missiles, not just
capped them.​
Both sides dismantled weapons like the SS-20s and Pershings.
-​ Included real inspections for the first time — big step in trust.
-​ Reduced the nuclear threat in Europe and marked a clear turn toward ending
the Cold War.
-​ Arms control
-​ Malta Summit December 1989
-​ New US President George Bush Sr
-​ Being friendly with the USSR, Gorbachev “We don't consider you our enemy”
-​ Guardian Article by Martin Walker stating the cold war is over, Yalta to Malta​

Developments in the USSR

Developments in Eastern Europe

Gorbachev seen as a hero in the west but a villain in the Soviet Union

Poland

-​ Brezhnev knew he was under pressure from the eastern European countries
-​ Lech Walesa, Solidarity movement in Poland
-​ Gorbachev knew he had to make reforms to reign the eastern countries
-​ Speech by Gorbachev, Brezhnev doctrine is over, no more thanks and
suppression on Eastern Europe when they spoke out against communism
-​ Brezhnev doctrine replaced by Sinatra Doctrine (dubbed by people, unofficial)
as the eastern european countries were free to do their own way in politics
-​ Keeping the Eastern European economies afloat costed the Soviet Union a lot
-​ Solidarity leaders were arrests, but were still allowed to run against Wojtek
Jaruzelski and the communist party
-​ Round table agreements, between Jaruzelski and the communist party
government
 -​ Agreed to democratic elections in Poland, where Solidarity party can run
against the communist
-​ Solidarity won 99/100 in June, Walesa became Prime Minister in Poland

Czechoslovakia
●​ Growing public dissatisfaction with communist regime (economic stagnation,
censorship, lack of reforms)
●​ Influence of reforms abroad: Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost
●​ Rising dissident activity, especially Charter 77

January – Palach Week

●​ Demonstrations commemorating Jan Palach in Prague

●​ Police repression and arrests, including Václav Havel
●​ Marked renewed opposition visibility

Spring–Summer 1989

●​ Regime resisted reforms despite pressure

●​ Increasing underground publications and civic activism
●​ Public frustration deepened

17 November 1989 – Spark Event

●​ Student march in Prague marking 50 years since Nazi crackdown

●​ Police brutality against peaceful protester
●​ Rumors of a student death escalated outrage​

Velvet Revolution (18–27 November)

●​ Mass demonstrations in Prague and major cities

●​ Formation of Civic Forum (Czech lands)
●​ Formation of Public Against Violence (Slovakia)
●​ Media control weakened, open broadcasts began​

Collapse of Communist Power

●​ 24 November: Communist Party leadership resigned

●​ 27 November: Nationwide general strike with huge participation
●​ Negotiations ended single-party rule​
Transition of Government

●​ 10 December: First non-communist government formed

●​ 29 December: Václav Havel elected President
●​ Peaceful transition—“Velvet Revolution”

Matthias Rust:

-​ A 19 year old German aviator who flew from Helsinki to Moscow in a Cessna
and landed in the red square itself. He then served just four years in a general
regime labour camp for this stunt, which highlighted the collapsing state of the
USSR at that point.
-​ Showcased the USSR’s weakness in stopping air attacks
-​ Unexpected as an event was occuring

Armenian Earthquake:

-​ A 6.8 magnitude earthquake took nearly 25,000 lives in Spitak, Leninakan and
Kirovakan
-​ People were chanting for Russians and Gorbachev to go home
-​ German journalists were present to record the event and see the Armenian
protests against the Soviet Union

Chernobyl :

●​ On 26 April 1986, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (in Pripyat,
Ukraine, then part of the USSR) exploded during a safety test, causing a
massive release of radioactive material.
●​ Two workers died that night; 28 more died within weeks from acute radiation
sickness. A radioactive cloud spread across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and
parts of Europe.
●​ Around 300,000 people were evacuated, and a 30 km Exclusion Zone
remains largely uninhabited today. A steel structure called the New Safe
Confinement now covers the ruined reactor to contain radiation.
●​ Tried to be covered up but failed

Hungary
 -​ Hungarians start breaking the Iron Curtain in the border with Austria
-​ Large Number of East German visitors in Lake Balaton, but left eastern
Europe to the west through the Iron Curtain breaches in Hungary and Czech

East Germany:

-​ Led by Eric Honnecker, protests started gaining momentum in East Germany

especially in Leipzig with the Monday Demonstrations which happened on the
4th of September 1989. These protests called for more freedom and reform.
-​ The scale grew rapidly: on 9 October, about 70,000 people demonstrated in
Leipzig; by 4 November, half a million assembled in Alexanderplatz
demanding change.
-​ The unrest forced the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) to reconsider its
leadership; Erich Honecker was replaced by Egon Krenz on 18 October 1989
as pressure mounted for reform
-​ On 7 November, the entire East German Cabinet resigned, indicating collapse
of government control and growing support for fundamental change.
-​ Throughout 1989, thousands of East Germans sought escape to the West via
newly opened borders in Hungary and through embassies in Prague and
other Eastern Bloc countries.
-​ Due to immense popular pressure and confusion among officials, the East
German government announced on 9 November 1989 that citizens were free
to travel to the West, which sparked mass gatherings at the Berlin Wall’s
border crossings.
-​ In December 1989, the Volkskammer ended the constitutional monopoly of
the SED, bringing an end to Communist rule in East Germany.
-​ Free elections were planned, activist groups called for reunification, and
official negotiations began with West Germany under Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
-​ The events of 1989 set the stage for German reunification, officially realized in
October 1990, ending forty years of division between East and West
Germany.

Romania

-​ Nicolae Ceausescu
-​ Strict authoritarian old school communist leader supported by
Securitate (secret police)
-​ Implemented harsh austerity policies to repay foreign debt, causing
major shortages of food, electricity, and heating.
-​ Became isolated internationally for his repressive rule.
-​ Overthrown during the Romanian Revolution of December 1989.
 -​ Protests began by Hungarian minorities in Timisoara and was shot by security
forces
-​ unrest, violence inflamed anti-government sentiment.
-​ Timișoara became the first “free city” from communist control.
-​ Nationwide Protests Begin
-​ Protests spread to other cities, including Bucharest.
-​ Workers and students joined demonstrations demanding Ceaușescu’s
removal.
-​ Ceaușescu’s Failed Speech (Dec 21)
-​ Ceaușescu held a mass rally in Bucharest to show control.
-​ The crowd began booing and chanting against him—broadcast live.
-​ His authority visibly collapsed in real time.
-​ Revolution in Bucharest (Dec 21–22)
-​ Large-scale clashes occurred between protesters and security forces.
-​ The army eventually switched sides and refused to shoot civilians.
-​
-​ Government buildings were stormed by demonstrators.
-​ Fall of the Regime (Dec 22)
-​ Ceaușescu and his wife fled by helicopter.
-​ They were captured later the same day.
-​ The communist regime collapsed within hours.

New Government Formed

-​ The National Salvation Front (FSN), led by Ion Iliescu, took power.
-​ Announced the end of one-party rule and promised democratic reforms.

Trial and Execution (Dec 25)

-​ Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu were tried by a military tribunal.

-​ Found guilty of crimes including ordering mass killings.
-​ Executed on Christmas Day.

Immediate Aftermath

-​ End of 42 years of communist rule in Romania.

-​ Censorship ended; political parties legalized.
-​ Transition toward democracy and a market economy began.
-​ End of 1989, no more communism in Eastern European

Baltic Way
 -​ 2 million protesters, human chain. 430 miles long. In 23 August 1989

Tbilisi and Baku massacres

-​ Gorbachev does not know which way to go, stay on reform or return to
hardline-communist
-​ Eduard Shevardnadze, Soviet foreign minister, tells Gorbachev to keep his
reforms. He resigns and hardline communists believe they win
-​ Yeltsin demands independence in Russia
-​ All-Union treaty, recognition to all the republics. Hardliners see betrayal from
Gorbachev
-​ August Coup 1989, Gorbachev went on holiday and the hardline-communists
-​

Japanese Expansionism
Arrival of Commodore Perry

●​ Until the second half of the 19th century, Japanese society was highly
isolationist
●​ Since 1192, the island had been ruled as a shogunate, a feudal military
dictatorship, with an emperor as a cultural figurehead
●​ The shogunates made deliberate attempts to shield Japan from Western
influence, fearing that their Christian religion would lead to detrimental
impacts on Japanese culture
●​ Isolationist phase ended in 1853 after Commodore Matthew Perry, an
American naval officer, landed on Japanese shores

Treaty of Kanagawa

●​ Intimidated by Perry's large volume of ships and US military might, the ruling
Japanese shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on
March 31st, 1854
●​ Shogunate was further weary because of China's losses in the Opium Wars,
fearing their own destruction by resisting the Western world
●​ Treaty agreed to admit US ships to two Japanese ports, as well as to
establish a permanent US consul at Shimoda

Meiji Restoration

●​ Japan's end of isolation brought on a variety of domestic changes, including

the 1868 Meiji Restoration that largely altered the nation's political dynamics
●​ The figurehead emperor Meiji launched a successful coup against shogunate
rulers, marking the start of Japan's Imperial Period
 ●​ Japanese people supported the Restoration, seeking a centralized
government with a stronger military and economy to combat foreign
encroachment
●​ Led to the Boshin War between 1868 and 1869, where the Tokugawa
shogunate forces attempted unsuccessfully to regain power
●​ Following the Restoration, Japan's army was modernized as they adopted
German military tactics, and navy was improved with the help of the British

Sino-Japanese War

●​ Japan's improved military allowed them to defeat China in the Sino Japanese
War from 1894 to 1895
●​ Both countries engaged in conflict vying for influence in the Korean peninsula,
a Chinese client-state with lucrative coal and iron natural resources
●​ Japan began to sponsor radical reforms in Korea while China continued to
support the conservative elite; domestic unrest between both nations boiled
over into full-scale war in 1894
●​ A weak Chinese Empire, despite having larger forces, was quickly
overwhelmed by the modern Japanese military
●​ The Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed at the end of the war, ceded Korea,
Formosa (Taiwan), and parts of Manchuria to Japan
●​ Fearing over-expansionism, the intervention of Germany, France, and Russia
(the Triple Intervention) forced Japan to give up parts of their newly won
territory back to European powers
●​ The victory in the Sino-Japanese war plus humiliations from the West
bolstered militarism and nationalism in the country - military expansion rapidly
increased while mass industrialization also began

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

●​ A treaty signed between British and the Japanese in 1902

●​ Marked both Britain's exit of their splendid isolationism and Japan's end of
diplomatic isolation
●​ Signed to help bolster security across their global empire, as the British
sought a powerful naval ally to curb the threat of naval expansion in other
European nations like Germany
●​ Furthered Japanese nationalism, vindicating all the progress made in the
nation since the Meiji Restoration

Russo-Japanese War

●​ Both powers went to war in 1904, vying to become the dominant influence in
Manchuria
 ●​ Manchuria provided Japan, a relatively resource-poor but industrialized
society, with raw materials like coal and iron ore
●​ Startling Japanese victory, as Russians were overcome at both land and sea,
leading to the heavily Japanese-favored Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905
●​ Treaty gave the Japanese use of the South Manchurian Railway, allowing
Japanese access to the larger Trans-Siberian Railway network
●​ A mixed armed force of Chinese and Japanese soldiers, known as the
Kwantung Army, was established to patrol this railway zone

Taisho Democracy

●​ Following the rise to power of Emperor Taisho in 1912, Japan underwent a

series of democratic reforms
●​ Marked a turn towards international diplomacy rather than nationalism
●​ Led to the expansion of suffrage, allowing men over 25 to vote
●​ Cooperation with the US and UK, including the Washington Naval Treaty
●​ Furthermore, the 5 Power Treaty with Europe gave Japan greater naval
importance than France and Italy
●​ Formation of party cabinets (eg. Rikken Seiyukai and Rikken Minseito) larger
roles in the government
●​ Promotion of women's youth by national publications
●​ Urbanization of cities like Tokyo and Kyoto
●​ Emphasis on economic expansion, installing zaibatsu - massive corporations
with large political stakes, including association with the yakuza

World War I

●​ Due to alliances with Britain, Japan joined the Entente powers at the start of
World War I
●​ Japan seized German territory taken from them after the Russo-Japanese
war, including the Chinese Shandong Peninsula
●​ With Allies distracted from the war, Japan also issued the Twenty One
Demands to China, demanding extra commercial privileges which were later
forced to be modified once Europe's powers found out
●​ Local economy flourished as Japan was a large supplier of goods to the Allies
●​ At the end of the war, however, most of Japan's demands failed to be met at
the Treaty of Versailles supporting an overtone of racial inequality
●​ Fear of Japanese immigration prevented significant integration with Western
countries

Interests in China
 ●​ In the 1920s, Japan began working with Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin to
keep the Guonmindang weak
●​ During the Northern March, Zhang Zuolin decides to move his army into the
rest of China; in order to curb this threat, the Kwantung army kidnapped and
executed Zhang Zuolin, defying orders given in Tokyo
●​ Represented the first form of military autonomy from the main democratic
government
●​ Prime minister Hamaguchi Osachi was shot in 1931 after trying to send the
main army in to control Kwantung, beginning a spate of political
assassinations signaling the breakdown of democracy in Japan

Manchurian Crisis

Events

●​ On 18th September, 1931, there was an explosion on the Japanese part of

the South Manchurian Railway
●​ Evidence suggests that the Kwantung Army orchestrated the explosion,
however, they blamed it on the Chinese
●​ Used as a pretext for a Kwantung invasion of the entire Manchurian region
●​ Despite the government back in Tokyo declaring a "non-expansion of
hostilities", the Kwantung Army ignored orders and kicked the Chinese Army
out of Manchuria
●​ Surprisingly, Jiang Jieshi decided not to send the Guonmindang Army to fight
the Japanese in Manchuria - instead focused on routing the Jiangxi Soviet
●​ Jieshi appealed to the League of Nations, seeking help under the doctrine of
collective security
●​ The League sent a fact-seeking body led by a British aristocrat, Lord Lytton,
but it took this commission several months to arrive and gather facts

Results

●​ Japan makes its first move towards an attempted takeover of China,

evidenced by the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937
●​ Manchuria became an independent puppet state called Manchukuo, led by
former Chinese Emperor Pu Yi
●​ Exploitation of resources in Manchuria led to Japanese consolidation of
economic independence, moving towards autarky
●​ Weakening of democratic cabinet as Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro
resigned, as Japan enters the "Dark Valley" with further power given towards
the military and towards Emperor Hirohito
 ●​ Led to significant territorial losses in China as Manchukuo became
independent, Jehol taken by Japanese, and Shanghai bombed
●​ Failure to uphold collective security showed ineffectiveness and inefficiencies
(slow Lytton Commission) from the League of Nations, devaluing it as a global
mediating body
●​ Japan, a permanent member of the League of Nations Council, left the
League in retaliation
●​ With the Washington Treaty system in pieces, the invasion hurt relations
between Japan and Europe
●​ However, response of European countries did not directly oppose Japan's
actions, as they were focusing on domestic issues (Great Depression), and
wanted a strong Japan to restrain the USSR
●​ The US government's announcing of the Stimson Doctrine also sparked the
beginning of US-Japanese tension
●​ Army seen as heroes with the government unpopular, causing taxes to be
raised

Military Takeovers

●​ At the start of the Dark Valley years, there were two military factions
attempting to overthrow the Japanese democracy - the kodoha and the
toseiha
●​ Toseiha faction more moderate, seeking legal means to gain power, while the
kodoha was an extremist group of revolutionaries
●​ Kodoha sought to invade the Soviet Union; Japan's failure to do this in 1937
highlighted the upper hand of the toseiha in Japanese politics

Dark Valley Timeline

●​ 1931 - Mukden Incident: Japan's false flag event justifying their takeover of
Manchuria
●​ 1932 - Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi assassinated by the kodoha.
Subsequent trial revealed mass popular support for the kodoha
●​ 1933 - Japan signs the Tanggu Truce with China, establishing official control
over Manchukuo, and leaves League of Nations
●​ 1936 - February 26 Incident, an attempted coup by the kodoha to overthrow
the Japanese government resulting in a bloodbath that significantly diminishes
the kodoha's popularity
●​ 1936 - Japan signs the Anti-Comintern Pact with Axis Powers
●​ 1937 - Hideki Tojo, from the toseiha, appointed head of the Kwantung Army
●​ 1937 - Marco Polo Bridge Incident, a small skirmish between Japanese and
Chinese troops that led to the second Sino-Japanese War
 ●​ 1937 - USS Panay Incident, a Japanese bombing attack on a US Navy River
gunboat
●​ 1937 - Battle of Shanghai, intense fighting and carnage in the city ended with
a complete takeover by the Japanese
●​ 1937 - Rape of Nanjing, an ugly bloodbath and pillage by the Japanese in the
city of Nanjing, highlighting their brutality

Main Features

●​ Increasing political chaos in Japan

●​ Frequent assassinations of Prime Ministers and other government officials
●​ Gradual takeover of civilian government by the military
●​ Toseiha wins battle of the military factions after the kodoha's failed coup and
Tojo's appointment as Kwantung head
●​ Diplomatic realignment towards Germany and Italy (authoritarian states)
●​ Invasion of the whole Chinese mainland after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Exam Revision
Final Exams - Revision

First World War

Sections of Syllabus Covered
●​ Paper 2 - 11: Causes and effects of 20th century wars
○​ Economic, ideological, political, territorial and other causes
○​ Short-term and long-term causes
○​ Technological developments; air, naval and land warfare
○​ The extent of the mobilization of human and economic resources
○​ The influence and/or involvement of foreign powers
○​ The successes and failures of peacemaking
○​ Territorial changes
○​ Political impact: short-term and long-term
●​ Paper 3 - 13: Europe and the First World War (1871–1918)
○​ European diplomacy and the changing balance of power after 1871;
imperial expansion in Africa and Asia, and its impact on European
diplomacy; the Congress of Berlin and European Alliance system
○​ Foreign policy of Kaiser Wilhelm II: domestic conditions that impacted
on German foreign policy; its impact/influence on other countries,
including Britain, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary
○​ Causes of the First World War: short- and long-term causes; relative
importance of causes; the Alliance system; the decline of the Ottoman
Empire; German foreign policy; Austria-Hungary, Russia and Balkan
nationalism; the arms race and diplomatic crises; the July Crisis of
1914
○​ Impact of the First World War on civilian populations of two countries
from the region between 1914 and 1918
○​ Factors leading to the defeat of Germany and the other Central
Powers: strategic errors; economic factors; entry and role of the US;
domestic instability in the Central Powers

Congress of Berlin + European Alliance System

●​ Major diplomatic change prior to WWI was a shift from a balance of power
based system (Concert of Europe) to an alliance system -> key factor was the
unification of Germany in 1871
●​ Alliances pre-dated the Congress of Berlin
○​ 1873 Dreikaiserbund
○​ Bismarck's way of keeping France isolated ('always be 3 of 5') while
avoiding major conflict in the Balkans
●​ Bismarck's alliance system (defensive, all involving Germany) - a significant
development, but should not be mistaken for the alliances that followed under
Wilhelm
 ●​ Congress called because of Russia's victory over the Ottoman Empire in the
1877 Russo-Turkish War and creation of Greater Bulgaria - concerns that
Russia had become too powerful as a result, prevent outbreak of a wider
regional regional war (Austria Hungary vs Russia)
●​ Results of the Congress of Berlin:
○​ Treaty of San Stefano overturned (Bulgaria significantly reduced in
size)
○​ Other new states in Balkans recognized - Romania, Serbia,
Montenegro big rivals of Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary at first, Russia
supported Bulgaria, later switched to Serbia
○​ Serbia becomes a destabilising force, expansionist
○​ Confirmed the weakness of the Ottoman Empire - Balkans became a
source of great tension as the Empire continued to wane
○​ Huge tensions between Austria-Hungary and Russia led to the
breakdown of the Dreikaiserbund
●​ 1879 Dual Alliance - Germany provides Austria-Hungary with reassurance
after Austrian alarm regarding Russian power; led to the alienation of Russia,
which was mitigated by Bismarck's Reinsurance Treaty
●​ 1882 Triple Alliance
○​ Italy joins
○​ Further isolations of France
○​ Reduced tensions in the Adriatic
●​ Ironically, the Congress of Berlin was an expression of traditional Great Power
diplomacy, even though it was a signficant moment in the development of
alliances

Relative Cause of WWI - The Alliance System

●​ Must be distinguished between Bismarck's alliance system, which was
defensive and only involved Germay; both were secretive
●​ Caused by the creation of the Entente as a rival to the Central Powers - result
of German aggression
●​ Caused countries to behave aggressively having support of their allies; for
example, Austria-Hungary's determination to destroy Serbia in 1914, caused
by the knowledge that Germany would support them in the event of a Russian
attack. The Blank Cheque however, limits this argument - Austria-Hungary
needed unconditional support of Germany before deciding to enter the war
●​ System was adversarial - point of each alliance was to oppose the other,
bound to lead to tensions (eg. Balkan Wars, Moroccan crises, Bosnian crisis,
July crisis)
●​ Caused a regional conflict to expand into a continental war due to alliance
obligations
●​ Behavior of allies was often to constrain belligerents, not embolden them; the
only exception: Germany and the Blank Cheque
Imperial Expansion in Africa and Asia + Impact on European Diplomacy
●​ Discovery of minerals like diamonds and gold in South Africa; British fears of
German interest in the region well-founded after the Kruger Telegram
●​ 1898 Fashoda Incident - Britain and France on the brink of full scale conflict,
realized how close they could possibly come to war. Can be argued that
Fashoda eventually led to the Entente Cordiale to insure against Germany’s
rapid, aggressive rise
●​ Construction of the Berlin-Baghdad Railway, an attempt by Germany to gain
influence in Asia and a marker of their economic dominance at the time;
perfect example of Weltpolitik at play
●​ Hobson-Lenin thesis: long depression caused by economic stagnation starting
in 1870s led Europe to invest in new economies, grabbing colonies in Asia
and Africa, thereby starting colonial rivalry which snowballed into total war
●​ German and French rivalry over control in Morocco directly spilled over into
tensions between both powers in Europe
●​ Emergence of Germany as an imperial rival - already under Bismarck,
evidenced by his grabbing of Tanganyika, SWA, Togo, and Kamerun in 1884
●​ Great Game in Asia pitted Russian Empire against the British - fought wars in
buffer regions like Afghanistan; however, later allied under Triple Entente to
prevent common German threat
●​ Kaiser Wilhelm and Weltpolitik:
○​ Naval arms race threatened Britain’s control of global trade and it’s
empire
○​ New challenge of Germany led Britain to reassess its position
regarding splendid isolation, especially it’s rivalry with France
○​ Supports the argument that Britain went to war in 1914 to protect
against the threat to their empire posed by Germany
●​ British India andother Asian territories were central to imperial strategy, with
vast numbers of soldiers from these colonies participating in the war, showing
the global reach of imperial conflict.

Impact of WWI on Civilians

General
●​ More women in the labor force (ammunitions factories, agriculture,
contributing in hospitals); changed the role and status of women in the
long-term by offering work opportunities and eventually, female suffrage
●​ Inflation due to shortages - food sent to the front, fewer imports, resources
[railway rolling stock] diverted to the front
●​ Introduction of food rationing
●​ Loss of loved ones (everyone affected)
●​ Civilians encouraged to spend their savings on war bonds
●​ Surge in patriotism (Sammlungspolitik) - temporary end to social divisions
●​ Hunger and starvation
 ●​ Illness and disease - culminated in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918-19
●​ Aerial bombing, mainly with psychological impacts - demonization of the
enemy
●​ Exposure to propaganda, via recruitment posters and heavy censorship of
letters, increased civilian morale
Britain
●​ Britain becomes a total war state, government had the power to:
○​ Censor the newspaper and letters
○​ Take over land and factories
●​ Labor shortage and workforce change:
○​ Dilution of laber
○​ Longer working hours
○​ Greater use of women in the workforce
●​ Women on the home front
○​ Over 1 million women worked in ammunitions factories, transport,
agriculture
○​ TNT poisoning - "Canary Girls"
●​ Food shortages as German U-boat attacks threatened imports, especially
during their readoption of unrestricted submarine warfare
●​ Civilian morale boosted via propaganda; government used posters,
newspapers, and films to encourage enlistment
●​ Zeppelin and bomber raids targeted cities, but only led to 17,000 casualties
on British soil - comparatively small to those of Germany
Germany
●​ SPD voted for war bonds in 1914, Burgfriedenspolitik achieved, but
reemerged in 1917 with the creation of the USPD (later the Spartacists) and
the Fatherland Party
●​ Chronic shortages in Germany, primarily wrought by the British Naval
Blockade led to the Turnip Winter
○​ Famine-like conditions in 1918 - eventually, 800,000 civilian casualties
during the war, primarily due to starvation
○​ Threat of revolution on the home front led to the armistice
●​ Germany failed to effectively mobilize female labor on the home front, as
women were payed only 50% of men's salaries
●​ Introduction of rationing and ersatz [fake] foods, such as sawdust being added
to bread
●​ Industrial production reduced to a third from 1913 levels
●​ Auxiliary Service Act (December 1916) - mandated compulsory labour for
men aged 17-60, effectively putting the entire adult male population under
military-style direction for war production
●​ Political unrest, with uprisings and strikes culminating in the Kiel Mutiny of
1918, kickstarting the Revolution from Below as working classes gained
militancy
 ●​ The ‘Stab in the back’ myth - many right-wing citizens came to believe that the
military failed due to internal betrayals from Jews and socialists

Weimar Republic
Sections of Syllabus Covered

Foreign Policy
●​ Overall aim: restore German power and the stature of the Republic in Europe
●​ Two strategies: resistance (disobey the Treaty of Versailles because of its
unfair terms), and fulfillment (follow the Treaty of Versailles - most commonly
adopted by Stresemann)
●​ Main focus on domestic policy, but relations with France and Poland were
terrible; some sympathy with the British, but Germany unable to extract
leverage from that
●​ Resentment towards the League of Nations, as Germany felt that plebiscites
in Schleswig and Silesia were unfavorably rigged- helped foment a strong
nationalist sentiment
●​ Resistance took precedent in 1922 with the Rapallo Treaty, a secret
agreement with the Soviet Union - later, chancellor Wilhelm Cuno refused to
pay reparations to France, leading to the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923
●​ Impacts of Ruhr occupation were catastrophic - helped catalyze the
hyperinflation crisis, and undermined the Republic politically as radicals (eg.
Hitler in the Munich Putsch) attempted to take power
●​ However, foreign policy took a different turn under Gustav Stresemann, a
follower of fulfillment, in 1924
●​ Took advantage of his relationship with the French foreign minister, Aristide
Briand, to come out of the cold in the Locarno Pact of 1926, which helped
improve Weimar relations with Western Europe by drawing borders, but
leaving the East ambiguous
●​ Economic plans like Dawes and Young Plans significantly reduced the burden
of reparations on Germany, but the early exit of the Rhineland by the French
shows the early seeds of appeasement
●​ However, following this, the French grew weary of Germany's growing
nationalism, and built the defensive Maginot line in 1929 - signified their
already defeatist mentality

Nazi Germany

Fascist Italy

Second World War

Sections of Syllabus Covered
Remilitarization of Rhineland

Anschluss

Munich Conference

Invasion of Rest of Czechoslovakia and Memel

Invasion of Poland

Appeasement
A policy undertaken by Britain and France to please Nazi Germany and adopt a
passive stance on German foreign policy while encouraging German development
politically and economically.

Reasons

· ​ Implemented by the British as they felt the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
were too harsh on Germany

· ​ Despite German foreign policy growing more aggressive between 1936

and 1939, Western powers continued to appease Hitler to prevent the
outbreak of another catastrophic war across the continent

· ​ Shared fear of communism between Germany and Western Europe; a

stronger Germany could be a buffer against the westward spread of Soviet
communism

· ​ Right-wingers in Britain and France admired many of Hitler’s policies

including his economic recovery, hate for the left, restoration of national
pride, and strong leadership

· ​ Germany had begun its rearmament program before Britain and France,
and appeasement allowed Western European powers time to arm up to an
equal level

· ​ Preoccupation of Western European powers with other ongoing

international affairs like the Abyssinian Crisis
 · ​ Failure of collective security, as the League of Nations failed to stop
aggression across numerous instances like the Manchurian Invasion and
Abyssinian Crisis

· ​ Sense that Germany’s demands were limited and could be satisfied with
appeasement

· ​ Misunderstanding of the psychology and character of Nazism and Hitler

himself; Western European leaders like Neville Chamberlain believed he
could be tamed, and felt him to be a reliable partner in negotiations

Results

· ​ Inaction gave Germany a blank check; silence from Western Powers,

especially the British, gave them support to adopt increasingly risky foreign
policy tactics such as the Rhineland remilitarization and Anschluss

· ​ Led to the eventual degradation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles -

the British themselves helped support Hitler in negating numerous treaty
terms, removing the largest internationally agreed upon checks and
balances of German power

· ​ The main aim of appeasement failed drastically; policy simply delayed war
and allowed Germany to rearm into a stronger position

· ​ Can be argued that appeasement allowed Britain time to fully rearm, as

they eventually ended up winning the war in 1945

· ​ Moral cowardice as Western Europe caved in to Hitler’s demands by

sacrificing innocent countries such as Czechoslovakia

· ​ Alienated Stalin and the Soviet Union, eventually leading to the signing of
the Nazi-Soviet Pact

· ​ Allowed Germany to grow stronger as lack of resistance led them to gain

land and key resources like oil from Romania

· ​ Made war inevitable, as there would come a point where appeasement

would have to stop complying with Hitler’s demands
Japanese Expansionism
Causes of expansion
●​ The impact of Japanese nationalism and militarism on foreign policy
○​ Samurai-style bushido culture permeating Japanese society since the
start of the Shogunate Era (1192)
○​ Meiji Restoration led to a centralized government with a stronger
military and economy to combat foreign encroachment → Japan weary
of China's losses in the Opium Wars
○​ Modernization of Japan's army as they adopted German military
tactics, and navy was improved with the help of the British
○​ Led to victories against China (1895) and Russia (1905), which granted
the Japanese access to more land and resources to improve their war
machine, and made them the dominant power in East Asia
○​ Formation of the semi-autonomous Kwantung Army → eventually led
to Manchurian Crisis as Kwantung kickstarted the 1931 Mukden
Incident without consent from Tokyo
○​ Assassination of Prime Ministers Hamaguchi Osachi (1931) and Inukai
Tsuyoshi (1932) by kodoha → Japan effectively a military-controlled
state
○​ Appointment of General Tojo from the toseiha as Kwantung head in
1937 radicalized foreign policy
○​ Marco Polo Bridge Incident (1937) → almost a repeat cause of
Manchurian Crisis
●​ Japanese domestic issues: political and economic issues, and their impact on
foreign relations
○​ Fear of Western military might and economic dominance initially
convinced Japanese to sign Treaty of Kanagawa (1854), opening the
nation up to trade
○​ Meiji Restoration successful, but only after the Boshin War → early
signs of political instability → sense that militarism would always
permeate Japanese society
○​ Mass industrialization and militarization in Imperial Period made
economy geared towards total war → other sectors suffered as a
result, Japan fought over Manchuria and Korea to gain access to coal,
iron ore, etc.
○​ Taisho democracy liberalized Japan, but lost control of Kwantung army
as a result → centralized zaibatsu corporations (mainly yakuza run)
only served to exacerbate economic issues
○​ Weakness of the central Japanese government, effectively becoming a
military-run state by 1931, prompts Kwantung invasion of Manchuria
○​ Rise of the kodoha and toseiha - both extremely radical military
factions vying for power - at the start of the Dark Valley years
 ○​ Assassination of Prime Minsters Osachi and Tsuyoshi in 1932, followed
by kodoha's unsuccessful coup in 1936 → kodoha wanted to invade
Soviet Union
○​ Tojo takeover still led to radicalization → eventual alignment with
militaristic foreign powers (Axis), eventual attack on Pearl Harbor
●​ Political instability in China
○​ Overthrow of Emperor Pu Yi by Guonmindang in 1911
○​ Consolidation of power by Jiang Jieshi → expelling the Communists
during 1927 White Terror, but failing to destroy their outpost in Jiangxi
○​ Jiang Jieshi deciding not to send army to fight Japanese in Manchuria
(1931), instead focused on routing the Jiangxi Soviet
○​ Jiang Jieshi kidnapped by warlord Zhang Xueliang in 1936 →
Guonmindang weakening
○​ Weak Chinese military led to a ravaged nation after 1937 → Battle of
Shanghai, Rape of Nanjing
Events
●​ Japanese invasion of Manchuria and northern China (1931)
○​ Causes
■​ Economic survival → Great Depression wrecked Japanese
exports leading to mass unemployment → Manchurian invasion
would kickstart economy with its railway and its richness in coal
and iron
■​ Kwantung Army out of control → explicitly defied orders from
Tokyo to refrain from invasion → weakness of Japanese central
government, militarization of society with their bushido
influenced culture
■​ China was weak and divided → Guonmindang preoccupied with
Jiangxi Soviet → Manchurian invasion was low risk, high reward
■​ Nationalism and racial ideology → Japan seeking to maintain its
status as the dominant regional power → imperialism framed in
context of liberating Asia
○​ Effects
■​ Establishment of Manchukuo as a Japanese puppet state with
Pu Yi as its head
■​ Failure of collective security → Lytton comission was slow and
ineffective → Japan left League of Nations in 1933
■​ Manchuria proved that a great power could invade other nations
and set up puppet states with limited consequences → formed a
template for aggressive foreign policy adopted by Hitler
(Rhineland) and Mussolini (Abyssinia)
■​ Army gained prestige at home → Japan effectively turned into a
military state
 ■​ Escalation of conflict in China → nationalists and communists
more willing to cooperate against Japan → laid groundwork for
Second Sino-Japanese War
●​ Sino-Japanese War (1937–1941)
○​ Natural progression of the Manchurian Crisis → Japan seeking more
resources, Kwantung Army seeking more prestige and dominance in
Asia
○​ Led to massive human suffering in China, with 15-20 million Chinese
deaths
○​ Temporary unity as nationalists and communists formed the Second
United Front → nationalists fought major battles while communists
used guerilla tactics → support for communists in rural areas
eventually helped them win the Chinese Civil War
○​ Japan stuck in a war of attrition, longer than expected → economy and
manpower drained → more dependent on oil and scrap metal from the
United States, which was cut off following the 1941 US Oil Embargo
○​ Forced to seize resource-rich territories in the South, seeking to
establish the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere → overcoming
British and Dutch colonies in the East Indies was necessary, which
were protected by US naval dominance in the Pacific → Pearl Harbor
to weaken US Naval Fleet
●​ The Three Power/Tripartite Pact; the outbreak of war; Pearl Harbor (1941)
○​ Oil embargo and overstretching of Japanese resources during the
Second Sino-Japanese War are key causes
○​ Japan's growing alignment with the Axis powers, as evidenced during
their signing of the Tripartite Pact → downstream effects was
polarization of East Asia → attacking Pearl Harbor would significantly
weaken a pseudo-Allied power
○​ US support for Guonmindang through the Flying Tigers volunteer group
○​ Immediate US entry into WWII following the attack → domino effect as
Germany and Italy declare war on US soon after → US inevitably
enters war in Europe as well
○​ Japan's opening surge of expansionism across East Asia → took
Phillipines, Guam, and Wake Island quickly
Responses
●​ League of Nations and the Lytton report
○​ League of Nations agreed to send a commission in 1931 to investigate
the Manchurian Crisis
○​ Led by the Earl of Lytton, acted incredibly slowly → only reached
Manchuria in 1932 to investigate
○​ While the Commission condemned the Japanese invasion, refusing to
recognize Manchukuo, it was too late → Japan had already
consolidated power in the region by then
 ○​ Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933 with limited
diplomatic consequences
●​ Political developments within China—the Second United Front [discussed
above]
●​ International response, including US initiatives and increasing tensions
between the US and Japan
○​ US-Japan relationship initially on unequal terms, after Commodore
Matthew Perry forced Japan to open to trade (1853) → subsequent
treaties (like Kanagawa) were unequal with fixed low tariffs, and
extraterritorial rights for foreigners
○​ Japanese victories over China and Russia led US to fear their
dominance in the Pacific → US mediates peace after Russo-Japanese
War
○​ Washington Treaty System (1921-22) balances power in the Pacific
with naval limits imposed (5:5:3 for US, Britain, and Japan) → Japan
feels deliberately constrained by Western powers
○​ US-Japanese relations began to sour after Manchurian Crisis →
Stimson Doctrine (1932) acted as moral condemnation of the invasion
→ US eventually sides with China in the Second Sino-Japanese War
(eg. through Flying Tigers)
○​ Japanese need for resources → promotion of Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere → rejection of Western powers' dominance →
US Oil Embargo (1941), demanding immediate Japanese withdrawal
from China
○​ Tensions as US insists on rollback of Japanese expansionism, while
Japan insists on maintaining its sphere of influence → polarization of
both powers eventually culminates in Pearl Harbor

Cold War
January Cover Work
Key:
My own knowledge
Knowledge from notes
Knowledge from online

Remilitarization of Rhineland
Reasons for:
●​ Hitler's desire to upend the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
●​ European powers' preoccupation with the Abyssinian crisis -> failure of collective
security
●​ France's weakness owing to their failed coalition government
●​ Rhineland was the industrial heart of Germany; regaining would offer a significant
boost to the German economy and military
●​ Propaganda - buying into popular nationalist sentiment
●​ Defense purposes - Siegfried Line built shortly after remilitarization
What happened:
●​ Thousands of German troops marched into the Rhineland in 1936
●​ Lack of inaction from the French caused a successful takeover
●​ German soldiers ordered to leave should they even encounter a single French soldier
-> did not end up happening
Significance:
●​ Lack of diplomatic repercussions for Hitler signals the beginnings of appeasement
●​ Highlights weakness of the French
●​ Construction of the Siegfried Line - a formidable match to the Maginot Line-
demonstrates Germany's preparedness and military upper hand
Anschluss
Reasons for:
●​ Principle of lebensraum - creating more living space for the German Volk
●​ Historical sentiment of Grosdeutschland - the need for the reunification of all German
speaking populations
●​ Mussolini's alliance with Hitler and his relative subordination, considering he blocked
the first attempted Anschluss in 1934
●​ Entry point into Eastern Europe, as Austria shared significantly larger borders with
nations like Czechoslovakia
What happened:
●​ Nazis ordered Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to rig a plebiscite in their favor,
or threatened action from the S.S
●​ This false plebiscite was held in 1938, and led to the peaceful occupation of Austria
by German troops
●​ Britain and France did not get involved despite major violations of the treaties of
Trianon and Saint Germain
Significance:
●​ Represented the extent to which Hitler was driven by ideology, seeking to satisfy his
grander lebensraum and Grosdeutschland goals
●​ Confirmed Italy’s position as a strong German ally in stark contrast to the failed
Anschluss attempt in 1934
 ●​ Highlighted Britain and France’s weakness owing to appeasement and domestic
instability (France’s failed coalitions)
●​ Reinforced Hitler’s domestic position, as Großdeutschland was seen as a show of
strength which appealed to German politicians and public
●​ Led to the spread of antisemitism in Austria, as Jews were immediately persecuted
following the Anschluss [celebrated by most non-Jewish Austrians]
●​ Furthered German expansionism; Anschluss gave Germany a larger border with
nations like Czechoslovakia, whose frontiers with Austria were less defensible than
those with Germany
●​ Germany absorbed all of Austria’s resources, boosting rearmament and production of
other war resources like iron ore

Munich Conference
Reasons for:
●​ Hitler's desire to reunite all German speaking populations, including minorities that
were scattered because of Versailles
●​ Lebensraum (again), combined with a desire to enslave the Slavic populations of
Europe
●​ Access to the human and economic resources of the Sudetenland -> especially
necessary (with the Tim Mason argument) as German economic policy was
unsustainable
What happened:
●​ A 1939 meeting between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy; notable exclusion of
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union
●​ Germany demands the Sudetenland, citing Grosdeutschland, which is eventually
agreed upon at the conference
●​ Hitler threatened war with Western Europe if the Sudetenland is not united with
Germany. He encouraged Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudeten Nazis, to rebel, and
demand a union with Germany

Significance:
●​ Alienated Stalin from the Western European Powers -> eventual catalyst of the
Nazi-Soviet Pact
●​ Demonstrated moral cowardice of Britain and France, who were willing to sacrifice
smaller European nations for appeasement
●​ Germany gaining free access to Czechoslovakia by bypassing the formidable Czech
defense positions in the Sudetenland
●​ Blank-check mentality signalled to Hitler, who felt that Western Europe is cornered
into complying with his demands indefinitely
●​ Death of collective security, as Munich shows how Great Powers began to work
actively against it

Invasion of the rest of Czechoslovakia

Reasons for:
●​ Czechoslovak weakness after losing their main defensive fortifications in the
Sudetenland
Nazi-Soviet Pact

Invasion of Poland

First World War

Second World War

Early Cold War - Class Activity
Cold War
Historiography

Orthodox position - Soviet aggression including takeovers of Eastern Europe and

Stalin’s reneging on agreements made at Yalta and Potsdam led to the outbreak of
the Cold War. Given the nature of Stalin and the Communist system, the US had no
alternative but to intervene and stop the Soviet takeover of not just Eastern Europe,
but the whole world, in order to protect freedom and democracy.

Mainstream in the US until the 1960s.

Revisionist position - Stalin’s takeover of Eastern Europe marked an attempt to

further his sphere of influence. However, this takeover was not to gain territorial
control or to spread communism, but to establish a defensive buffer between
Germany and the capitalist Western Europe. US failure to recognize these legitimate
worries and deliberate exaggeration of the Soviet threat justified their proxy wars
during the Cold War.

Emerged in the US after the 1960s, as American discontent and questioning during
the Vietnam War was on the rise.

Historians:

-​ Gar Alperovitz (argued that US dropped the atomic bomb not to end the war,
but to warn the Russians)

Post-revisionist position - A Hegelian-style synthesis of both the orthodox and

revisionist positions. Argues that the Cold War was inevitable given the massive
sizes and available resources of both powers. Hitler was a rare exception bringing
the US and the Soviets together, but a clash for global supremacy was always to
come. Blames both powers to some extent for the actions propagating the war.
Further argues that the actions of both powers were driven by mutual fear and
misunderstanding.

Emerges in the 1980s, dominant historiographical position today.

Dropping of the Atomic Bomb

Truman authorized the use of the A bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ( 6 August and 9
August) with the aim of ending the war quickly and avoiding enormous casualties that a land
invasion of Japan was expected to cause. “It was an awful responsibility that has come to
us”.

Japanese response to the potsdam

However at the same time, The US sought to force Japan into surrender and to assert its
power on a global scale, particularly in relation to the Soviet Union.

Iron Curtain Speech

-​ Delivered at Westminster College in Missouri, U.S.A. after WWII, with

tensions rising between soviet and western powers
-​ [Link]
-​ Coined the term iron curtain - separated Europe down a line which put the
spotlight on the alliance’s downfall (start of Cold War rhetoric)
-​ Stressed the threat of communism spreading with soviet expansion
-​ Angered Stalin to the point of comparing Churchill to Hitler

German Zonal Developments

●​ Following the establishment of four zones of control in post-war Germany, the

Socialist (SPD) and Communist (KPD) parties merged in the East in 1946
 ●​ Represented Stalin’s attempt to spread communism in his German zone
instead of promoting democracy as agreed at Yalta
●​ While the Western zones were thriving economically, Stalin’s zone was poor
to the extent that East Germany was forced to trade food to the West for
specialized goods
●​ The West consolidated German control with Bizonia, the merging of the
British and American occupation zones on 1st January, 1947
●​ Differences in management and objectives led to the breakdown of the Allied
Control Council (ACC) with the Soviet Union leaving by March, 1948
●​ Eventually France included its control zone as a part of a larger Trizonia with
the West, while East Germany remained behind the Iron Curtain, cut off from
the other Allied zones

Turkish Crisis/Turkish Straits Crisis

 -​ Soviet pressure on Turkey to allow Soviet shipping to flow freely to flow freely
through the Turkish Straits and joint control of the straits.
-​ The Turkish Government did comply with the Soviet demands which
increased tensions between the two nations leading to a naval standoff at the
straits. The US dispatched military aid to ensure the control of the straits
remained Turkish.
-​ Turkey received $100 million in economic and military aid and the U.S. Navy
sent the modern Midway-class aircraft carrier, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt

Iranian Crisis
August 25th 1941, British and Soviet forces conducted a joint invasion of Iran
through Operation Countenance. During the WW2 Iran provided a passage for
supply between the British and the Soviets. And protected Iran’s rich oil fields
against German control. The Allied occupation was formalized through the Tripartite
Treaty Alliance that said that within 6 months of the destruction of Germany and it’s
allies the Allied military would withdraw from Iran. During this time the northern
regions (including Azerbaijan) were under Soviet Control with approximately 40,000
troops stationed there.

On March 2nd 1946 the United States and Britain withdrew their troops and
honoured the agreement, however Stalin refused to withdraw and even expanded
southward. This was one of the first issues to be brought before the United Nations
Security Council, and led:

-​ Resolution 2: Urged Iran and the USSR to resolve the crisis through
negotiations
-​ Resolution 3: Noted Soviet assurances of troop withdrawal and deferred
further proceedings.

We can see hints of the Cold War as an ideological struggle was developed in Iran.
The US supported Official protests and Iran’s UN complaint, provided diplomatic
backing in the UN, military support and encouraged concessions regarding Oil. This
also became an early test case for the Truman Doctrine. In the end it was resolved
through negotiations with the USSR.

This supports the Orthodox position because we can see Stalin’s aggressive nature
in expanding into Southern Iran when he should be withdrawing and not adhering to
a treaty that he agreed to.
 Kennan’s Long Telegram

●​ George Kennan’s long telegram was an 8000

word message sent to the US government to
proposed for the containment of the Russian
expansion.
●​ Described the Soviet Union as hostile to the
West and driven by communist ideology.
●​ USSR would seek to expand its influence
globally, not through open war but through sabotage,
propaganda, and political pressure.
●​ Warned that the Soviets would exploit
divisions in the West to spread communism.
●​ Recommended a policy of “containment” —
resistance to Soviet expansion
●​ Foundation for the Truman Doctrine

Greek Civil War

-Germany + Italy + bulgari tak greece

-2 resistance groups form, Communists (ELAS) and Monarchists (EDES)

- Brutal Famine

- 1944: Axis pulls out of athens, allies pull up

- Brits bring back papandreou, King George II is still in exile (NOT THE ENGLISH
ONE)

-ELAS already controls most of greece = power vacuum, tension between govt and
communists

-Govt tells ELAS to drop their weapons. They do not like it.

-British backed govt forces and communists fight outside (Dekemvriana)

-Varkiza Agreement: ELAS disarms, communists are betrayed

-White terror

-1946: Democratic army of greece

-Fighting spreads across countryside

-UK weakened from WWII, US steps in (truman doctrine)

-Actual civil war beings: UK, pro-monarchy, withdraws 1947

-US helps intensively (Marshall plan, truman doctrine, advisors, weapons

-Yugoslavia helps until Tito-stalin split

-US Aid strengthens govt forces

-Communists weak after yugoslavia closes border

-Final battle: communists defeated in Grammos mountains

-Many communists flee to eastern europe

-Greece is strongly pro-western, joins NATO in 52’

-100,000 died, many displaced, villages burned, greece polarized into left vs right for
rest of the cold war

-Mainly post-revisionist as was initially domestic conflict but foreign powers turned it
into Cold War Proxy war

Truman Doctrine

●​ Established by President Harry S. Truman in 1947

●​ Announced to Congress on 12 March 1947

●​ The United States would provide political, economic and military aid to
democratic nations to counter the threat of communism and Soviet expansion.
●​ Departure from US Isolationism and head towards globalism
●​ Containment of communist expansion
●​ "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."
 ●​
●​ Started with financial aid to Greece and Turkey
●​ Led to broader collective security efforts and the formation of NATO.

Marshall Plan

●​ Proposed by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall in 1947, officially called the
European Recovery Program (ERP). The plan was in effect for four years, starting in
April 1948.
●​ Aimed to rebuild war-torn Europe after WWII, stabilize economies, and prevent the
spread of communism.
●​ Provided over $13 billion in aid to Western European countries (16 countries).
●​ Assistance included food, fuel, raw materials, machinery, and loans to modernize
industry.
●​ Promoted European cooperation and integration.
●​ The USSR and Eastern Bloc countries were invited but rejected participation,
deepening Cold War divisions.
●​ Primary Goals:
○​ Economic recovery: To rebuild infrastructure, industries, and agriculture in
war-torn Europe.
○​ Containment of communism: To prevent the spread of Soviet influence by
fostering stable, prosperous economies.
○​ U.S. economic interests: To create strong trading partners and new markets
for American goods.
●​ Aid Distribution:
○​ The aid was a mix of grants and loans.
○​ Funds were used to purchase goods from the U.S., such as food, machinery,
and raw materials.
●​ Recipient Countries:
○​ Sixteen Western European countries participated, including major recipients
like the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany.
○​ The Soviet Union and its satellite states were invited but rejected the offer,
viewing it as a tool of U.S. imperialism (Dollar Imperialism).
●​ Impact and Legacy:
○​ It is widely considered a great success, contributing significantly to a rapid
economic recovery in Western Europe.
○​ It fostered greater economic cooperation among European nations, laying the
groundwork for organizations like the European Coal and Steel Community
and eventually the European Union.
○​ The plan helped solidify the U.S. as a global superpower and a key leader in
the post-war world.
 (Against the Plan)

Coup in Czechoslovakia

The Czechoslovak coup d’état of February 1948 marked the decisive seizure of power by
the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), led by Klement Gottwald and supported by
the Soviet Union. The crisis began when twelve non-Communist ministers resigned from
government in protest against Communist dominance, anticipating that President Edvard
Beneš would call for new elections. Instead, the Communists mobilized worker militias,
organized mass demonstrations, and secured control over key state institutions. Under
intense pressure, Beneš accepted the formation of a new Communist-dominated
government on 25 February 1948.

In the aftermath, Beneš resigned in June and Gottwald assumed the presidency.
Czechoslovakia was thereby transformed into a one-party Communist state, initiating more
than four decades of authoritarian rule. Internationally, the coup served as a turning point in
the early Cold War, convincing Western nations of the need for greater unity and
accelerating the adoption of the Marshall Plan and the establishment of NATO.
Cartoons
Adi -

Morgan Eliott-
Amaira -
deetya-

Published by the Republicans- against the Congress/Truman Government

- Adam

-Albert
-​ Ayush
October Cover Work
Arrival of Commodore Perry

●​ Until the second half of the 19th century, Japanese society was highly
isolationist
●​ Since 1192, the island had been ruled as a shogunate, a feudal military
dictatorship, with an emperor as a cultural figurehead
●​ The shogunates made deliberate attempts to shield Japan from Western
influence, fearing that their Christian religion would lead to detrimental
impacts on Japanese culture
●​ Isolationist phase ended in 1853 after Commodore Matthew Perry, an
American naval officer, landed on Japanese shores

Treaty of Kanagawa

●​ Intimidated by Perry's large volume of ships and US military might, the ruling
Japanese shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on
March 31st, 1854
●​ Shogunate was further weary because of China's losses in the Opium Wars,
fearing their own destruction by resisting the Western world
●​ Treaty agreed to admit US ships to two Japanese ports, as well as to
establish a permanent US consul at Shimoda

Meiji Restoration

●​ Japan's end of isolation brought on a variety of domestic changes, including

the 1868 Meiji Restoration that largely altered the nation's political dynamics
●​ The figurehead emperor Meiji launched a successful coup against shogunate
rulers, marking the start of Japan's Imperial Period
●​ Japanese people supported the Restoration, seeking a centralized
government with a stronger military and economy to combat foreign
encroachment
●​ Led to the Boshin War between 1868 and 1869, where the Tokugawa
shogunate forces attempted unsuccessfully to regain power
●​ Following the Restoration, Japan's army was modernized as they adopted
German military tactics, and navy was improved with the help of the British

Sino-Japanese War

●​ Japan's improved military allowed them to defeat China in the Sino Japanese
War from 1894 to 1895
●​ Both countries engaged in conflict vying for influence in the Korean peninsula,
a Chinese client-state with lucrative coal and iron natural resources
 ●​ Japan began to sponsor radical reforms in Korea while China continued to
support the conservative elite; domestic unrest between both nations boiled
over into full-scale war in 1894
●​ A weak Chinese Empire, despite having larger forces, was quickly
overwhelmed by the modern Japanese military
●​ The Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed at the end of the war, ceded Korea,
Formosa (Taiwan), and parts of Manchuria to Japan
●​ Fearing over-expansionism, the intervention of Germany, France, and Russia
(the Triple Intervention) forced Japan to give up parts of their newly won
territory back to European powers
●​ The victory in the Sino-Japanese war plus humiliations from the West
bolstered militarism and nationalism in the country - military expansion rapidly
increased while mass industrialization also began

With reference to its origin, purpose and content, assess the values and limitations of
Source A for historians studying the impact of the Sino–Japanese War of 1895.

The source has the benefit of hindsight since it was written in 1931 allowing the author to
analyze long-term impacts as well as include newer perspectives and analysis. The contents
of the source also directly addresses the local impact of the Sino-Japanese war. Source A is
also a primary source since the author lived through the war and is documenting his own
experiences.

However the contents of the source doesn’t address the economical, political and
international impact of the war which leads to a limited usefulness when looking at the war in
the larger context. Additionally the purpose of this memoir is to document the personal
experiences of the author, and hence isn’t analytical in nature. Toshiro was only a teenager
at the start of the war, hence it is likely that some details may not be accurate or correctly
recollected.
Third Question
Compare and contrast the views expressed in Source C and Source D regarding the
views of the Japanese towards Western countries.

Similarities:
 -​ Both sources show that Japan admired Western strength and sought to emulate
Western methods
-​ Both sources acknowledge that Western nations were dominant, and Japan needed
to strengthen itself to gain equal standing
Differences:
-​ Source C is optimistic and strategic, encouraging Japan to reform patiently and build
its power to eventually rival the West, while Source D is retrospective and critical,
showing Japanese disillusionment after realising that Western imperialism was unjust
and racially biased
-​ Source C views Western powers as models to learn from, not moral equals or
enemies. On the other hand, Source D portrays Western nations as hypocritical and
exclusionary, denying Japan equal respect despite modernisation
-​ Source C promotes adaptation and preparation to rectify Japan’s weaknesses and
quietly strengthen, while Source D shows resentment and cynicism. Japan had
realised that international law and modernisation alone would not ensure equality.

Russo-Japanese War
-​ Japan’s and Russia’s interests clashed in Korea and Manchuaria; Which lead to a
Japanese surprise attack against the Russians in 1904.
-​ Manchuria especially was an geographically important for Japan because it was an
area of China that was closest to Japan, it was agriculturally rich and also provided
additional space and resources for Japanese expansion. It also acted as a buffer
between Japan and Russia.
-​ The Russian fleet sailed from their base in the Baltic Sea to Vladivostok, however
when it reached the Tsushima Strait it was destroyed by Japan’s new fleet the
Admiral Togo.

-​ The Russians were forced to accept the Treaty of Portsmouth, however many in
Japan were disappointed with its terms since they hoped for more territorial gains.
 -​ Japan gained control of Korea and much of South Manchuria. It also gained control
of Port Arthur, and railway rights along Manchuria and the southern half of Sakhlin
Islands.
-​ The war earned Japan respect with the west, and it acted as a framework for other
Asian countries to take on the West.

The First World War

Developments
-​ Japan seized German colonies in China (Shandong Peninsula) and the South Pacific
islands after declaring war on Germany in 1914.
-​ Japan pressured China to accept greater Japanese control in Manchuria and
Shandong, as well as the right to send political, financial and military advisors.
However, Britain and the -USA objected, seeing this as overreach, forcing Japan to
modify the demands.
-​ The war disrupted Western exports, giving Japan the chance to supply goods to both
the Allies and Asian markets. Led to an industrial boom in industries such as textiles,
shipbuilding and heavy industry, thus making Japan more economically self-reliant.
Impacts
-​ At the Versailles Conference, Japan gained the former German Pacific islands as
mandates and retained economic rights in Shandong, securing Japan’s position as a
major regional power and the leading naval power in the Western Pacific
-​ Japan’s proposal for a racial equality clause in the League of Nations Charter was
rejected by Britain and the USA, highlighting their continued exclusion from the
Western imperialists.
-​ Rapid industrialisation led to urbanisation, inflation and labour unrest in Japan.

Washington Treaty
Developments
●​ A treaty signed by the major Allies of World War I in 1922 including Japan
●​ Represented an attempt to end arms races by curbing naval expansion
●​ The Japanese navy had, in 1920, authorized the construction of numerous warships,
all which were to be curbed as the result of signing this treaty
●​ Marked the end of the Anglo-Japanese alliance as need for naval assistance ceased
to exist
Impacts
●​ Japan began to fear the existing might of the American and British navies in
comparison to their own; felt that the Washington Treaty stunted them from arming up
to equal military stature
●​ Led to their official termination of the Treaty in 1934
●​ Marked a significant change in Japanese expansionist policy; for the first time, Japan
was willing to oppose the West to grow in military might, spelling out overtly
aggressive and militaristic foreign policy for the future