World War Two

1. The League of Nations 6. Impact of WW2 on Germany

Setup after WW1 to keep peace. If threatened
one member you threatened all of them
(collective security). However USA did not join
and Britain & France weak.
Manchurian Crisis: 1931 Japanese army invade
Manchuria. League condemned invasion but
did nothing, thought a strong Japan was a
useful buffer against expansion of the USSR
and communism.
The Abyssinian Crisis: Italy invaded Abyssinia
(in Africa) 1935. League condemned invasion
and sanctions put in place. However, were
token gestures to keep Italy’s friendship. Vital
goods needed (coal, oil, iron and steel) were
not included.
Conclusion: Hitler saw League had no power.
In 1936 he ordered his troops to remilitarise
the Rhineland (an area of Germany boarding
France).
2. Hitler’s foreign policy
Hitler’s aims: Make Germany great again,
unite all German speaking people and gain
territory to provide Lebensraum (living space).
German rearmament: Begins in 1932 - France
and Britain do nothing. In 1935 Anglo-German
Naval Agreement = allowed Germany to build
up navy / submarines.
Return of the Saar to Germany: 1935 plebiscite
(vote) held in the Saar = to return to Germany.
Treaty of Versailles further undone.
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland: 1936,
German soldiers marched into Rhineland, no
consequence.
Anschluss: Union between Germany and
Austria forbidden. Following riots in Austria,
German Army invited to restore order. Austrian
government then hands power over to Hitler.
4. Events of WW2
Battle of the Atlantic: Sept 1939 to May 1945: Naval blockade against Germany.
Battle of Dunkirk from May - June 1940: British and the French retreat, 338,000 men rescued.
Battle of Britain, July to Oct 1940: Luftwaffe try to destroy the British Royal Air Force. Fails
The Blitz, Sept 1940 - May 1941: German bombing of cities and dockyards in the UK.
Operation Barbarossa: 1941: Germany invades Soviet Union during World War II
Pearl Harbour, December 1941: Japanese attack U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbour. U.S. enters WW2.
Battle of Stalingrad, Aug 1942 - Feb 1943: Russian defence of Stalingrad from German attack.
Battle of Normandy, June-Aug 1944: D-Day invasion of Nazi Europe by Western Allies.
Dresden: February 1945: British bomb German city, 100,000 people burned to death.
Battle of Iwo Jima: Feb - March 945: US invasion of Japanese Island. Japanese fight to death
Battle of Berlin, April - May 1945: Russia encircles the city, Hitler suicide / Germany surrenders.
Battle of Okinawa: April - June 1945: WW2 final major battle. US invade Japanese island -civilians’
suicide rather than face U.S occupation
5. Impact WW2 had on British society
‘Total war’= All resources /economy focused on victory. 1940 British introduce
rationing and school children evacuated from cities. Post war – government 8. Impact of WW2 on Russia and origins of the Cold War
want to improve people’s lives - social welfare introduced e.g. NHS created.
Many women worked during the war, led to greater independence for women 20 million Soviet soldiers and civilians died / 25 million made homeless / 3000 towns & cities plus 70,000 villages all destroyed / 32,000
as were self-sufficient. This led to the feminism movement of the 1960s factories and 65,000 kilometres of railway track destroyed. No men, no machinery and no livestock led to famine. Is no doubt that the
USSR took the brunt of the fighting against Nazi Germany.
Short term: People work 7 days a week / 18 hours per day. Rationing increased and propaganda
against Jews intensified. Due to bombings infrastructure (roads, railways, bridges) and utilities (gas /
water / electricity) destroyed. German economy shattered = money worthless. As Russians approach
Berlin, mass migration of Germans westwards trying to escape Russian revenge.
Nuremburg trials: trial of war criminals was held in Nuremburg 1945 / 1946. Not all Nazis made it to
trial, many were executed by the Russians.
Division of Germany: Germany divided in to four zones: American, French, British and Russian. City of
Berlin also.
East Germany: Under Russian control until became its own communist country, ‘The German
Democratic Republic’ in 1949. Had close ties with Russia.
West Germany: Under U.S, British & French control. May 1949 became own county, West Germany
(Federal Republic of Germany).
Unification of Germany: On the 3rd October 1990 East Germany reunited with West Germany.
7. Impact of WW2 on Japan
To force Japanese surrender U.S drop nuclear bombs. Also means Russian military help not
required = no expansion of communism in East Asia. The two A-bombs destroyed two cities in
moments. On 15th August 1945 Japan surrenders to the U.S.
Post War: From 1945 to 1952 Japan under Allied military occupation, however Japanese government
stayed in place. Japanese empire disbanded, armament industries dismantled. 7 executed for war
crimes.
Political reform: New democratic constitution for Japan. Role of emperor as now ceremonial / symbolic
rather than political.
Economic and social changes: To help stability and the economy land ownership is changed.
Landowners forced to sell their land to the government. This land then sold to tenants for a fair price.
Done to avoid revolution such as that in Russia in 1917
Educational reforms: Allies believed democracy best taught through education, length of compulsory
education from six to nine years / both men and women.
Return of sovereignty: April 28th, 1952, full sovereignty was restored to Japan. Impact of
American culture now everywhere. American jazz and rock music, pinball machines, soft drinks, fast
foods, baseball all popular as were fashions of dress and grooming.

3. Appeasement (giving someone what they want in order to avoid war)
Arguments ‘for’: Britain / France wish to avoid war. Versailles too harsh / British forces were not strong / A strong Germany seen as
‘buffer state’ against communism. Arguments ‘against’: Encouraged Hitler to be aggressive / Germany grow too strong / betrays
lands and people.
The Sudetenland crisis 1938: Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia - inhabited by 3 million German speaking people. Hitler told he
would get it to avoid war. However, Hitler now demanded all of the Sudetenland.
The Munich Conference (30th September 1938): Appeasement used. Agreed Sudetenland would become German, but NO MORE. This
ignored, Czechoslovakia invaded by Germany.
Poland and war: Hitler wants area in Poland called Danzig, population 90% German. 1st Sept 1939 German invade, Britain declared
war on Germany.
Soviet Sphere of Influence created – agreed due to huge part Soviet Union played in defeat of Nazi Germany. Soviet territory expanded
nearly 500 kilometres westwards and gained control of over 20 million people.
This division of Europe between Western Allies and the Soviet Union was the beginning of the Cold War – a period in which both the USA
and the USSR believed the other was trying to spread their ideology worldwide. (Communism V Capitalism). Division described as an Iron
Curtain across Europe, a metaphor for where Europe was divided between West and East.
The Truman Doctrine: USA would send money and military help to any country under communist threat. Cold War Begins: In 1949, USSR
test nuclear bomb. In response the USA, Britain, France, Belgium and Canada joined forces to create an alliance known as the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Communist countries responded by forming the ‘Warsaw Pact’, a military alliance involving USSR,
Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. An ‘arms race’ had begun with each alliance building
more and more nuclear and conventional weaponry – should the Cold War ever turn ‘hot’. The Cold War ended with the collapse of the
Soviet Union on December 31, 1991. When the price of oil fell from $120 a barrel to $24 a barrel its capital (money) dried up and it main
export was no longer worth what it once was, meaning it could no longer compete in an arms race against the USA.