Chapter 5: World War in Europe

The failure of the League of Nations

During the 1920s the league was successful in dealing with a number of
minor disputes and promoting better standards of health and Social welfare. But
when it faced challenges from the major powers it was not effective.
In 1931 the Japanese invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria. China appealed
to the League of Nations and the league sent an official to investigate. The
commission investigated and found that the attack by Japan was unlawful. But
Japan did not withdraw and though all the Countries voted against Japan she
refused to withdraw. Instead Japan withdrew from the league and a week later
completed the conquest of Manchuria.

This failure of the league was noticed in Italy and she under Benito
Mussolini attacked Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Abyssinia appealed to the league
and the league imposed economic sanctions against Italy. But the British and
French were not in favour of taking strong action against Italy because Italy was a
friend of Hitler and so the sanctions were not effective. As a result the Mussolini
completed his conquest of Abyssinia and in 1937 Italy withdrew from the League.
Thus because the league could not prevent warfare in Manchuria and Abyssinia its
credibility was lost. Furthermore the aggressive foreign policy of Hitler also did
not allow the world’s peacekeeping organization to work effectively.

Hitler’s Expansionist Foreign Policy

The league’s weakness became more obvious in the 1930s. This was the time
when Hitler’s foreign policy was more aggressive. Hitler had clear ideas about
what he wanted for Germany
• Hitler wanted to abolish the treaty of Versailles so that Germany could build
up its armed forces.
• He also wanted all Germans brought together into a greater Germany. This
would involve the Saar, the Polish Corridor and other territories taken away
from Germany by the treaty of Versailles. He also wanted to take Austria
and parts of Czechoslovakia and include them with Germany.
• Hitler claimed that Germany would need “Lebensraum” or living space for
settling an increasing population. He believed that these lands would have to
be won in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

To achieve these aims Hitler followed a policy of rearmament. In the disarmament

conference of 1932 Hitler demanded that Germany was to have an Army the same
size as that of France. This was refused and Hitler withdrew Germany from the

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conference and the league. By 1934 the Disarmament talks had been totally
abandoned.

Hitler also received a huge boost when the people of the Tsaar area voted to
become part of Germany again in a plebiscite. This encouraged Hitler and by
March 1945 conscription into the army was reintroduced. He announced that he
was going to build an army of 600, 000 men which was an open breach to the
treaty of Versailles. Then in 1935 in the Anglo-German Naval Agreement Britain
agreed to Germany building up her Naval strength to 35% of Britain.

The Occupation of the Rhineland

In March 1936 Hitler sent troops to reoccupy the Rhineland. This was again
in direct contravention to the treaty of Versailles. At that time since Britain and
France were preoccupied with the Italian invasion and so they did nothing to stop
Hitler. Hitler had issued instructions to his generals that they were to withdraw if
they were challenged. But other people saw it as Hitler returning back to his own
backyard but Hitler knew that Germany’s western borders were safe from attack..

The Spanish Civil War

In 1936 some Generals revolted against the Spanish republican government

in Spain. It was led by a general called Francisco Franco and he was a fascist.
Fascists’ governments believed in being conservative, strongly nationalistic and in
militancy. They also believed that the individuals had to accept the restrictions of
the State for the good of the Country.

There was a civil war in Spain and Hitler used this opportunity to support
General Franco. He and Mussolini sent troops to support the general but France
and Britain again did not do anything and they stayed neutral. Hitler also ordered
the German Air force to bomb Spain and the British were shocked at the power and
potential of the German Luftwaffe. But both Britain and France did not take any
action giving the impression that they were afraid of Hitler and as a result Both
Italy and Germany drew closer.

The policy of appeasement

Britain and France were reluctant to take any decisive action against German
aggression and they were following a policy of appeasement. This meant that they
wanted to settle disputes through discussions and negotiations rather than war.
They were willing to give into the aggressive powers as long as it was not too

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excessive. Besides this there were also other reasons why these two countries were
reluctant to take any action leading to war.

Economic problems
Britain and France were still struggling with the economic chaos that
followed the Great Depression. They wanted to decrease tax and cut government
spending in order to get out of the depression. This meant that both countries were
not ready to fight a war, as it would lead to staggering expenses. So naturally they
wanted to avoid war and did not stand up to Hitler or Mussolini.

Dislike of War
Memories were still fresh in the minds of the people of Britain and France
about the disastrous consequences and the losses suffered in the 1st WW. Because
of the horrors experienced in the previous war, fighting another war very
unpopular in both the countries. There was a great support for the view put forward
by the then British PM It is better to jaw then to war.

Sympathy for Germany

There were many people both in Britain and France who thought that
Germany had been treated too harshly in the treaty of Versailles. For that reason
they did not object to Hitler building up his armed forces or recovering some of the
land that Germany had lost in the treaty. Besides it was very widely known that
Hitler was strongly opposed to communism. Thus they believed that allowing
Hitler to rebuild a strong Germany would create another strong opponent of
communism and the Soviet Union.

It was for these reasons that Britain was reluctant to fight a war with
Germany. As for France she was caught up with her own political troubles and it
followed Britain’s lead in foreign affairs. Thus these two major powers followed a
policy of appeasement and did not bring any action against Hitler. Hitler on his
part also realised the reluctance and France and Britain and he felt he was free to
redraw the map of Europe and brought more areas under Germany.

Appeasement in Action
Union with Austria
Hitler felt it was the right time to bring Austria also under the control of
Germany. Being Austrian born there was a burning desire in him to join Austria
with Germany and create a greater Germany.

In Germany the Austrian Nazis under the leadership of Artur Seyss-Inquart

tried to overthrow the Austrian government. But they failed. Hitler then met with
the Austrian chancellor and told him that if he did not make Seyss-Inquart the
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Austrian Minister for the Interior then Germany would invade Austria. The
Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg held a referendum but Hitler had ordered his forces
to the Austrian border and replaced Seyss_inquart as the Chancellor of Austria. On
March 12 Seyss-Inquart invited the German soldiers to put down a communist
revolt and soon Austria became a province of Greater Germany. Later a
referendum was held and 99% of Austrians voted in favour of the union with
Germany.

The Czechoslovakian Crisis

Having completed the Austrian unity with Germany next Hitler focused on
Czechoslovakia. He anted to destroy this state and he had an intense hatred for this
state. Why?
The Czech population was mostly made up of Slavs and Hitler considered
them to be an inferior race. It was also democratically run country and Hitler did
not approve of democracy. The Czech province near Germany called the Sudeten
land was made up of German speaking people and he wanted this area also to be
absorbed into the greater Germany.

The destruction of Czechoslovakia would fulfill many of Hitler’s ambition.

Czechoslovakia would provide the living space for Germany. It would also give
Germany control of large armament factories and a valuable supply of coal and
lignite.
In 1938 Germans in the Sudentand land claimed that they were being ill-
treated by the Czechs and staged a demonstration and claimed self-governance.
Hitler placed German troops on the border of Czechoslovakia, ready to invade. In
early September the sudentan Germans again staged a riot and Neville
Chamberlain was concerned it would lead to war because Czechoslovakia and
France had an agreement that they would assist each other if they were attacked.
On 15 September 1938 Chamberlain met Hitler in Germany. He came up wit the
proposal that those parts in Czechoslovakia that contained more than 50% of
Germans must be handed over to Hitler.

Chamberlain then persuaded President Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia to

agree to the proposal. When the president agreed Hitler upped his demand and
insisted that Germany should be given the whole of Sudentenland. Benes objected
to this and mobilized his Army. France also got ready to support Czechoslovakia
and then Mussolini arranged another conference at Munich with Hitler and
Chamberlain. The Czechs were not invited to this conference. In this Chamberlain
agreed to hand over the whole of sudentenland and the other parts that contained
polish and Hungarian minorities were also to be handed over to Poland and
Hungary.
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 Although Benes objected strongly to this, no other European Countries
wanted to support him if it came to war. If there was a war then Czechoslovakia
was to be alone and as a result the treaty was signed. Chamberlain further signed
another treaty with Hitler that said that Britain and Germany would never go to
war with each other again and future differences will be worked out through
negotiations and discussions. With this promise Chamberlain returned to Britain
and he announced that he had achieved “peace for our time”. Sadly this did not
turn out that way and these words would later return to haunt him. But people like
Churchill voiced disapproval. He recognized that Hitler could not be trusted and
that appeasing him was not a long term solution keep peace.

The Failure of appeasement.

The break up of Czechoslovakia

In march 1939 Hitler ordered the new president of Czechoslovakia Emil
Hacha to place his country under German control. Hacha had no choice but to
allow Germans to enter his country. A shocked chamberlain denounced Hitler’s
actions and recalled the ambassador from Berlin but this did not have any effect on
Hitler. After this he turned his attention to Poland.

The polish crisis

Poland was created at the treaty of Versailles from Germany and Russian
territory. To gain access to the sea a polish corridor was created and was given to
Poland. This strip of land split Germany into two and therefore was an obvious
target for Hitler. At the head of the Polish Corridor there was a place called Danzig
and it was made a free city under the League of Nations. Hitler claimed that the
Danzig was made of German speaking people and rightfully belonged to Germany.
After Czechoslovakia was taken over Chamberlain realised that his appeasements
had failed and that the time has come to stand up against Hitler. He and Daldier
announced that if Poland was attacked Britain and France would come to its
support. Hitler responded by signing the pact of steel with Italy in which both the
leaders agreed to help each other against any other country.

The Nazi-Soviet pact

People did not really expect Hitler to attack Poland because Poland was also
created from Russian lands and Stalin would never allow Russian lands to be taken
by Hitler. Moreover the Soviet Union was a bitter opponent of Germany and Hitler
made no attempt to hide his contempt for Communism. There seemed little chance
of Hitler invading Poland and risking a war with France and Italy in the West and
the Soviet Union in the East. Although Britain tried to sign an agreement with
Stalin yet Stalin did not trust the British. But in August 1939 Hitler and Stalin had
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signed an agreement not to fight with each other. For Hitler the Russians would not
attack him when he attacks Poland and for Stalin he was able to obtain some
territory from Poland and could concentrate on improving the Soviet Armed Forces
without worrying about Germany.

The Outbreak of War

The Nazi-Soviet pact made the war almost inevitable. The Germans tried to
persuade the British that their demands for Denzeig were justified. They hope that
Britain would trade off Poland for peace but they were wrong. So when the
Germans invaded Poland on the 1st of September using a method of warfare known
as Blitzkrieg or lightning war, an outraged Chamberlain gave Hitler 48 hours
withdraw and when the ultimatum was France and Britain declared war on
Germany on the 3rd of September 1939. WW2 had begun.

The war started in 1939 and finally ended in April 1945. In the initial years the
Germans were victorious and captured most of the European countries, but during
the latter part they suffered a series of setbacks. Finally they were defeated and on
May 7th the Germans offered unconditional surrender. Hitler and his wife Eva
Braun committed suicide.

Reasons for the allied victory

Better Resources
The axis powers comprised of Germany, Italy and Japan. The populations of these
countries were just 200 million while the allies’ population was 340 million. The
Soviet Union alone sacrificed 20 million in the war. The axis powers also lost out
in terms of resources and military supplies. They faced increasing setbacks once
the war machines of the USA and the USSR had time to organize themselves. The
US and Russia pumped billions of dollars and vast amounts of machinery to t5o
support the war effort.

Tactical errors
The axis powers also made a number of tactical errors. Hitler’s decision to
abandon the plans for the conquest of Britain when the RAF was close to defeat,
underestimating the size and winter of Russia were some of the few errors that was
committed by Hitler.

Allied control of the sea

The British navy slowly but surely gained control of the seas. Although at first
Britain was threatened by German submarines, it began to use a convoy system
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and then later the radar. These helped to overcome the threat from submarines. The
British also placed a blockade on Germany and brought it to the point of starvation.

Allied air supremacy

The allies also had air supremacy from 1942 onwards. Towards the end of the war
German cities were heavily bombed and many cities were destroyed. This caused
the morale of the German population to drop further.

High British morale

Even during the darkest and most difficult periods of war the morale of the British
was high. Much of this was due to the inspirational speeches of Winston Churchill
who was the Prime Minister of Britain. They also received support from many of
the countries under the British Empire and this was another important reason for
the victory of the British.

Work of resistance movements

At one stage Germany had conquered much of Europe. This meant that it faced a
lot of hostile population resentful of German rule. To control these people Hitler
used the secret police and tortured and punished those people who opposed him.
Yet within the occupied countries there were resistance groups that operated in
secret and they also helped the allied victory.