INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS RELATIONS (1919-1939)(1919-1939)

INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS RELATIONS (1919-1939)(1919-1939)

OVERVIEWOVERVIEW

CHANGED WORLD AFTER WWI

• COLLAPSE OF AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRENEW COUNTRIES BASED ON

NATIONALITY RATHER THAN MILITARY STRENGTH OR DEFENSIBLE BORDERS

NEW COUNTRIES• AUSTRIA• HUNGARY• CZECHOSLOVAKIA• YUGOSLAVIA• POLAND

Feuding and autarkic

RUSSIAN EMPIREFELL APART

• CREATION OF NEW STATES– ESTONIA– LATVIA– LITHUANIA– POLAND– BESSARABIA– FINLAND

RUSSIA FOLLOWED A NEW SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL SYSTEM

• COMMUNISM– STATE OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF

ECONOMIC RESOURCES– PROMOTION OF WORLD-WIDE

PROLETARIAT REVOLUTION

UNITED STATES• US INTERVENTION DECISIVE TO

OUTCOME OF WWI

• WITHDRAWS IMMEDIATELY INTO ISOLATIONISM

BRITAIN AND FRANCE• LACKED THE MEANS AND DESIRE

TO DIRECT INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

• EUROPE WAS ESSENTIALLY A POWER VACUUM

VICTORIOUS ALLIESAPPROACH PROBLEM OF

EUROPEAN POLITICAL RECONSTRUCTION BASED

ON TWO FALSE ASSMPTIONS

• ALLIES HAD WON THE WAR• GROUND WAS CLEAR FOR JUST

AND ENLIGTENED RE-ORDERING OF POLITICS

GERMANY HAD ONLY BEEN PARTLY DEFEATED

MILITARILY• GERMANY HAD CLEARLY

DEFEATED RUSSIA ON THE EASTERN FRONT

• TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK

GERMANY HAD NOT BEEN DEFEATED IN TWO AREAS

• EONOMIC POTENTIAL• POLITICAL IDEAS THAT HAD

DRIVEN ITS WWI EXPANSION

BITTER RESENTMENT FELT BY GERMANY AT

PEACE TREATY• REPARATIONS• WAR GUILT CLAUSE• LOSS OF TERRITORY TO POLAND,

FRANCE, BELGIUM AND DENMARK• LOSS OF COLONIES

PROBLEM OF ENFORCEMENT OF

HATEDTREATY

• TWO STRATEGIES PARTLY UNSUCCESSFUL– USE OF FORCE (Ruhr Invasion)– PERSUADING GERMANS TO ACCEPT

TERMS

THIRD STRATEGY• USE RESOURCES OF AMERICAN

CAPITALISM TO FUND GERMANY AND THEREFORE EUROPEAN STABILITY

• SUCCESSFUL BETWEEN 1924-1929(Golden Age of Weimar Republic)

RECENT HISTORIANS SEE NAZISM AS A PRODUCT OF THE COMPLEX WORLD CREATED BY THE

ECONOMIC COLLAPSE OF 1929

BRITAIN AND FRANCE FOCUSED ON

DOMESTIC PROBLEMS

• SYMPATHETIC TO DISARMAMENT• INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS IN

THEIR COLONIES• JAPANESE EXPLOITATION OF

THESE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS

DESTABILIZATION OF CAPITALISM

• DEBT CANCELLATION BY RUSSIA• FEARED SPREAD OF COMMUNISM• SUSPICIOUS OF SOVIET UNION

AND THEIR PROMOTION OF WORLD REVOLUTION

NAZISM NOT SEEN IMMEDIATELY AS THE

MAJOR THREAT

• FORMATION OF ALLIANCES TO DETER GERMANY

• NONE OF WESTERN POWERS WANTED A WAR

WESTSERN POWERS WERE LOOKING TOWARD

THEIR OWN NATIONAL SECURITY

• FRANCE RETREATED BEHIND MAGINOT LINE

• APPEASEMENT • ALLIANCE WITH A COMMUNIST SOVIET

UNION TOO PAINFUL TO CONTEMPLATE (memories of Rapallo)

APPEASEMENT• INTENDED TO MAKE GERMANY A

RESPONSIBLE MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

• FAILED-GERMANY WAS ENCOURAGED TO PURSUE ITS POLICIES

THIRD STRATEGY-ALLIGN WITH HITLER

• POLAND SIGNED A NON-AGRESSION PACT(1934)

• ITALY SIGNED THE PACT OF STEEL (1938)

• SOVIET UNION SIGNED A NON-AGRESSION PACT (1939)

• THE VICHY GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE (1940)

(form of appeasement)

FAILURE OF VERSAILLES TREATY

• GERMANY REMAINED A GREAT FORCE EVEN AFTER DEFEAT

• GERMANY STILL HAD POWERFUL FRIENDS IN THE WORLD

• GERMANY KEPT 90% OF ITS RESOURCES

• GERMANY WAS DISARMED BUT WAS THE TECHNOLOGY LEADER OF EUROPE

GERMANY’S POSITION IN BALANCE OF POWER

REMAINED UNCHANGED• NEW NATIONS WERE WEAK• RUSSIA OUTLAWED AFTER 1917

REVOLUTION• WOULD GERMANY BE NEEDED TO

STOP SPREAD OF COMMUNISM?

WILSON’S FAILURE TO KEEP US INVOLVED IN

EUROPE

• SENATE REJECTS THE VERSAILLES TREATY

• US REJECTS INTERNATIONALISM

FAILURE OF THE LEAGUE

• NO ARMY (IDEA WAS OPPOSED BY BRITISH)

• RELIED ON ECONOMIC SANCTIONS• GERMANY AND SOVIET UNION

WERE NOT INCLUDED UNTIL LATER-US NEVER JOINED

• UNANIMOUS VOTE REQUIRED IN COUNCIL

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (1918-

1929)• FRANCE INVADED THE RUHR TO GET

COAL FOR MISSED REPARATIONS• CAUSED RESENTMENT IN GERMANY

AND UNEASE IN BRITAIN AND US• EXPOSED CONFLICT BETWEEN THE

LEADERS OF THE WEIMAR GOVERNMENT (hyperinflation)

DAWES PLAN 1924• REPARATIONS REDUCED• INVOLVED FRANCE’S ALLIES IN

COLLECTION• “GOLDEN AGE OF REPARATIONS

(1924-1929)

GERMAN COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE DAWES PLAN

• PAYMENTS TOO HIGH• NO FINAL DATE FOR THEIR ENDGERMANY CONTINUED TO PURSUE A

REVISIONIST STRATEGY

YOUNG PLAN 1929• REDUCED THE PAYMENTS• LINKED BRITISH AND FRENCH

DEBTS TO US TO LEVEL OF GERMAN PAYMENTS

• 1988 SET AS FINAL YEAR OF PAYMENT

LOCARNO PACT 1925• SIGNED BY GERMANY, ITALY,

BRITAIN, FRANCE AND BELGIUM• GERMANY ACCEPTED ITS

WESTERN BORDERS• OPPOSED BY SOME IN GERMANY• RECOGNIZED FRANCE’S

COMMITMENT TO POLAND AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA

• GERMANY ALLOWED TO JOIN LEAGUE AS A PERMANENT MEMBER

KELLOGG-BRIAND PACT 1928

• FRANCE’S POLICY CHANGED TO BRINGING GERMANY INTO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

• WAR RENOUNCED AS AN INSTRUMENT OF NATIONAL POLICY (SIGNED BY 62 NATIONS)

HAGUE CONFERENCE 1929

• FRANCE LEFT THE RHINELAND• RECONCILIATION• LOCARNO AND GERMAN ENTRY

INTO LEAGUE SEEMED TO CREATE STABILITY

• DAWES PLAN ALLOWED FOR REGULAR PAYMENT OF REPARATIONS

STABILITY SHATTERED IN 1929

• POINCARE RETIRED• STRESEMANN DIED• BLACK THURSDAY- US STOCK

MARKET CRASHES• THE DEPRESSION BEGINS

POLITICAL IMPACT OF GREAT DEPRESSION

• EVERY NATION FOR HIMSELF• HIGHER TARIFFS• FALLING PRICES (deflation)• RISE OF NATIONALISM• APPEASEMENT-ANOTHER WAR

WAS UNTHINKABLE• CAPITALISM WAS DISCREDITED

HOOVER MORATORIUM 1931

• REPARATIONS AND WAR DEBTS SUSPENDED

• INTENDED AS A TEMPORARY MEASURE BUT BECAME FINAL

• DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE FAILED

FAILURE TO STOP HITLER

• FOUR POWER PACT-BRITAIN, FRANCE, ITALY AND GERMANY AGREED TO MAINTAIN PEACE FOR 10 YEARS (1933)

• HITLER FELT CONFIDENT TO LEAVE LEAGUE AND BEGIN CONSCRIPTION

• EASTERN EUROPE FELT ABANDONED

REACTION TO THE FOUR POWER PACT

• POLAND SIGNED NON-AGGRESSION PACT WITH GERMANY (1934)

• SU NEGOTIATED WITH FRANCE FOR MUTUAL ASSISTANCE PACT

STESA FRONT 1935• SIGNED BY BRITAIN, FRANCE AND

ITALY• OPPOSED UNILATERAL

REPUDIATION OF TREATIES• ITALY SAW THIS AS A CHANCE TO

PURSUE IMPERIAL AIMS

ITALY INVADED ABYSSINIA 1935

• REVENGE FOR EARLIER DEFEAT• BUILD AN EMPIRE LIKE BRITAIN

AND FRANCE• WAR FOR WAR’S SAKE• GLORY OF VICTORY• BADLY NEEDED MARKETS AND

RAW MATERIALS

ECONOMIC SANCTIONS BY LEAGUE

• SANCTIONS INEFFECTIVE• DID NOT INCLUDE OIL• NON-MEMBERS (US, JAPAN AND

GERMANY) WERE NOT COMMITTED• JAPAN WAS NOT PUNISHED FOR

AGGRESSION IN CHINA (1931)

MUSSOLINI WANTED TO BE ON THE SIDE OF

POWER• BRITAIN AND FRANCE LACKED

WILL TO CONFRONT HITLER• ITALY NEEDED A SECURE EUROPE

FOR CONTINUED EXPANSION• PARTICIPATION IN SPANISH CIVIL

SHOWED WEAKNESS OF ITALIAN ARMIES THOUGH FRANCO WON

• HITLER IMPRESSED HIM

GERMAN-ITALIAN ALLIANCE 1936

• BEGAN AS AN ANTI-BOLSHEVIK RELATIONSHIP

• BECAME BERLIN-ROME AXIS• ITALY JOINED ANTI-COMMINTERN

PACT WITH GERMANY AND JAPAN

GERMAN ANSCHLUSS 1939

• ITALY’S MEEK ACCEPTANCE• HITLER PRESSURED FOR THE PACT

OF STEEL• MUSSOLINI LOST CONTROL OVER

HIS FOREIGN POLICY• GAVE HITLER CARTE-BLANCHE TO

ATTACK POLAND AND PLUNGE INTO WWII

HITLER CHANGED VERSAILLES TREATY

• REMILITARIZED THE RHINELAND• HITLER ACTED AND THEN

NEGOTIATED• FELT JUSTIFIED AS FRANCE HAD

SIGNED MUTUAL ASSISTANCE PACTS WITH SOVIET UNION, CZECHCHOSLOVAKIA AND POLAND

• BRITAIN WOULD NOT SEND AID

RESULTS OF REMILITARIZATION

• WESTERN POWERS UNWILLING TO ACT ON UNILATERAL REVISIONS OF VERSTILLES TREATY

• POLAND AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA-FRANCE UNABLE TO HELP THEM

• END OF LOCARNO TREATY

ANSCHLUSS• PROS

– LANGUAGE– PAST

RELATIONSHIP– GAIN

ECONOMICALLY– ITALY COULD NOT

STOP– AUSTRIAN NAZIS

FORCED ISSUE

• CONS– MANY AUSTRIANS

WANTED TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT

– HOSTILITY OF FRANCE AND BRITAIN

CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND THE SUDETENLAND

• PROS– MOUNTAINOUS,

DEFENSIBLE BORDER– BIG ARMY-WELL

SUPPLIED– ALLIED WITH BRITAIN,

FRANCE, POLAND AND SU

• CONS– MANY MINORITY

GROUPS– IMPORTANT GERMAN

MINORITY LOST PRIVILEGED STATUS

– NO COMMON BORDER WITH FRANCE AND SU

– HAD INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT

MUNICH AND APPEASEMENT

• BRITAIN AND FRANCE TRIED TO PERSUADE BENES TO ACCEPT

• FEARED GENERAL WAR• BRITAIN AND FRANCE RENEWED

GUARANTEES TO POLAND• HITLER DIVIDED AND CONQUERED

REST OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

MUNICH AND SOVIET UNION

• CONFIRMED STALIN’S FEAR THAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE PREFERRED HITLER OVER COMMUNISM

• SHOWED BRITAIN AND FRANCE TOO WEAK TO STOP HITLER

• SHOWED ALLIES CONFIRMED HITLER’S AIM OF LIVING SPACE TO THE EAST

GERMAN-SOVIET PACT OF 1939

• BRITAIN AND FRANCE REFUSED TO ALLOW SOVIETS TO CROSS INTO POLAND IF GERMANY ATTACKED

• HITLER FEARED WAR WITH SU IF BRITAIN AND FRANCE HELPED POLAND

• DIVIDED UP POLAND

DANZIG AND THE POLISH CORRIDOR

• DANZIG WAS A GERMAN CITY• THE CORRIDOR HAD 1 MILLION

GERMANS AND SEPARATED PRUSSIA FROM THE REST OF GERMANY

• RAPALLO AND LOCARNO THREATENED POLAND

• SOUGHT ALLIANCES WITH FRANCE

POLAND• FEARED THE SU MORE THAN

GERMANY• SIGNED NON-AGRESSION PACT

WITH HITLER IN 1934• BECK PARTICIPATED IN THE

PARTITION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

INVASION OF POLAND• BRITAIN AND FRANCE TRIED TO

PERSUADE POLAND TO CEDE DANZIG

• POLAND REFUSED REMEMBERING CZECHOSLOVAKIA

• HITLER INVADED POLAND CLAIMING “BORDER VIOLATIONS”

• TWO DAYS LATER, BRITAIN AND FRANCE DECLARED WAR