The Road to WWII (Part 2)
The League of Nations & Appeasement
Following WWI the victorious nations (including Britain & France) had formed an international peacekeeping
organization called the League of Nations. (The U.S. had refused to join this organization because they were angry with
Wilson over the Treaty of Versailles.) The League of Nations was meant to be a group of countries that would police the
globe and make sure that one country didn’t get too aggressive and start another world war.
Hitler knew that he might have trouble with the League of Nations when he
started re-building Germany’s military. After all, in doing so he was in direct violation
of the Treaty of Versailles. However, in the 1930s two events occurred that gave
Hitler the confidence to try out his newly minted military on surrounding countries.
The first event came in 1931when Japan invaded the Chinese province of
Manchuria and re-named in Manchukuo. This was against the rules set by the League
of Nations, and the world watched with baited breath to see what punishment the
League of Nations would enact. Rather than punish Japan, the LON formally
“condemned” Japan (the equivalent of saying, “bad Japan!”), and Japan suffered no
real punishment for its actions.
The idea of giving in to an aggressor in the hopes that they will stop being
aggressive is called appeasement. And unfortunately in the 1930s the world saw the
LON do nothing but appease aggressive nations. In 1935 Italy, emboldened by
Japan’s success with Manchukuo, invaded Ethiopia. The League of Nations
threatened punishment, but only enacted an ineffective economic boycott. This meant
that both Japan & Italy had gotten away with taking over neighboring countries by force. It was becoming clear that the
LON was not willing to stand up to aggressive nations.
Hitler & Lebensraum
Hitler watched eagerly as both Japan & Italy took over more countries for their empires. However, Hitler was
smart. He decided to test the waters before jumping in. In 1936 Spain erupted in a civil war. Hitler decided to support
fascist leader Francisco Franco and used the Spanish Civil War as a testing ground for
his new and improved German military and weapons. In other words, Hitler paraded his
giant new military that he wasn’t supposed to have in
front of the entire world and waited to see if the LON
would do anything about it.
They didn’t.
Hitler then convinced the German people that
they need more “lebensraum” or “living space” and
began to take over several surrounding countries. In 1936
Hitler moved his troops into a demilitarized zone between Germany and France called the
Rhineland. In 1938 Hitler took over Austria by proclaiming “anschluss” or “union” with
the Austrians. That same year Hitler positioned his troops in the Sudetenland and prepared
to take over Czechoslovakia.
The Munich Agreement
Up to this point, the LON had yet to respond to any of Germany’s aggressive take overs. However, in 1938 the
leaders of Britain and France began to worry that perhaps Germany was getting a little too power-hungry, so they set up a
meeting with Hitler in Munich, Switzerland. During this meeting Hitler promised
Neville Chamberlain (prime minister of Britain) and Edouard Deladier (leader of
France) that the Sudetenland would be his “last territorial demand”. Both
Chamberlain and Deladier, desperate to avoid another war, chose to believe Hitler and
the three leaders signed the Munich Agreement. This agreement gave Hitler the
Sudetenland in exchange for his promise not to invade Czechoslovakia. Neville
Chamberlain returned to Britain thrilled and told the British people that the Munich
Agreement guaranteed “peace with honor”. He even went so far as to promise the
British people that he had achieved “peace in our time.”
Of course, Hitler did not keep his promise in the Munich Agreement. Six months later Hitler proceeded to invade
Czechoslovakia. He then set his sights on the nation of Poland.
The Poland Pledge & Non Aggression Pact
Britain and France knew that they could not appease Hitler again
when he blatantly broke the Munich Agreement. So, as a form of
retribution against Germany, Britain and France promised to defend
Poland if Hitler attacked. However, Britain and France were convinced
that there was no way that they would actually have to act on their
promise. After all, just on the other side of Poland was the powerful and
terrible Soviet Union. If Hitler invaded Poland he would have to fight a
two front war, with Britain & France on one side and the Soviet Union
on the other. Britain and France were convinced that this was not
something that Hitler would want to do.
However, Hitler and the leader of the Soviet Union, a man
named Joseph Stalin, were about to make a deal that would change the
game. In 1939 Hitler and Stalin signed the Non Aggression Pact. This pact stated that neither country would attack the
other, effectively opening the door for Hitler to invade Poland.
The Invasion of Poland & Start of WWII
Indeed, with the Soviet Union out of the way Hitler felt absolutely free to invade
Poland. Hitler’s troops went marching into Poland on September 1st, 1939, just two
weeks after Hitler and Stalin signed the Non Aggression Pact.Thanks to their promise
both Britain and France had to act, and both nations declared war on Germany on
September 3rd, 1939. Britain, France, and Germany were once again locked in
another world war.