Today, in class, we did blog discussions about our movies that we watched, and our countries.
I. Treaty of Versailles
-know what it specifically did and how it helped lead to WWII- Took a lot of land from Germany, as well as make them admit that they were responsible for WWI ("War Guilt Clause") and that they were to pay reparations. The damages to France and Belgium added up to be 33 billion dollars, which obviously bankrupted Germany. Germany lost all overseas colonies, which were taken by the League of Nations. Germany was reduced to 100,000 troops, along with no air force nor tanks and limited to only 6 naval ships. A fifty mile zone was demilitarized on the border of Germany and France for the safety of the allied country.
Germany was also forbidden from uniting with Austria to create one superstate. A League of Nations was created as well, intended to keep world peace.
II. League of Nations
-define-A worldwide peace-keeping organization where countries come together and talk about their problems.
-Weaknesses: USA, perhaps the most powerful country, didn't join. It had no military force. Italy and Germany dropped out, so what the League of Nations did would not apply to them anymore. It was difficult to get anything done, as when they did something, it required unanimous vote.
-Why didn't the US join- They felt that it would pull us into War, which we wanted to steer clear of, because we were practicing Isolationism.
III. Know the basics about the following countries:
-How did WWI/Treaty of Versailles impact this country
-How did this country change in the 1920's/1930's(includes leader coming to power and their goals).
-What was/were this countries military strategies in the 1920's and 1930's.
-How was this country involved on WWII(what alliance did they belong to, how were they involved within the war)
Germany- I should know this. Parliamentary Republic. Hitler was appointed Chancellor (prime minister) by President Hindenburg. He dissolved the Weimar Republic. He gave people jobs to win them over then took over all power of the country. Hitler wanted Sudan-land, as there were German-speaking people residing there.
Italy- The Treaty of Versailles cheated Italy about a bunch of land after WWI. They did, however, get some land from Austria-Hungary. Italy's government was a constitutional monarchy. Benito something something was a fascist dictator, meaning that whatever he does should benefit Italy in some way.
The then-king Victorio Mantelli (or something) allowed Benito to become dictator, as long as he could stay king. This may sound odd, but he DID want a powerful person in charge of Italy, although Victorio wanted to limit any communism. Benito Musselini was appointed. He strengthened the economy, and started giving people jobs and built up the military.
He got a big head and he started trying to conquer other lands, and he tried to make Italy a powerhouse, which it just wasn't. Italy struggled to even take over colonies in Africa, which was already controlled by Germany, Great Britain and France. He had a democratic view. He wanted to make Italy strong, and he built up the Navy and made submarines and lightweight tanks, to dominate the land and sea.
Over the years, Italy would become closer allies with Germany. Musselini was hung and killed, and they looked for a democratic system as opposed to a single person in control, and they were very cautious with whom they elected.
Soviet Union- The Soviet Union became commie after the Bulshevik Revolution. They dropped out of WWI to fight the BR. Someone signed a treaty to give Russia all the land it lost in the Treaty of Versailles. Prior to Communism, the Russian kings were known as czar. The Romanof (sp?) had ruled Russia for dynasties, which ended after WWI.
Josef Stalin took over after Vladimir Lenin died.He became a dictator and took over, and he believed that industry was the answer to any economic problems. They also had a lot of government-operated farms. Stalin had five year plans, which planned to increase industrial and agricultural output within five years.
He also started:
Nationalization- Assets or industry taken control of by the gov't.
Collectivization- Joint farms.
He killed anyone who fought back against these two theories, as well as any political opponents. A lot of people died in Stalin's hands, as he focused on building tanks and junk instead of food and necessities, leading people to starve to death. This is one of the main reasons we won the cold war.
Their military strategy was at first defensive, as people were trying to invade them, such as Germany, but when they fought them off, the USSR started to invade other countries. When Germany invaded them, they would retreat and destroy anything on their way so Germany couldn't use it (a bridge, fields, anything).
The Germany-Soviet Non-agression pact led them to be allies at first, but when the USSR "red army" was struggling against Poland, Germany did not want to be allies anymore. Throughout the rest of the war, they were part of the Allied Powers. After WWII, Stalin was paranoid that they were to be invaded, so he sent over a million troops into Siberia to keep things maintained. The USSR was one of the superpowers, along with the US, (which led to the Cold War).
Japan- Received German territory from the Treaty of Versailles. Emperor Hirohito was in charge. He didn't make many military decisions, which was Hideki Tojo's job. Hirohito was merely the representative, while Tojo. They invaded Mankeria in 1931, and invaded the rest of China in 1937. They wanted to dominate China to become the Asia superpower and retrieve new resources. They went from outlawing war in 1927 to invading China in 1931. They bombed Pearl Harbor because the US was not trading with them.
Great Britain
France
China
US
Canada
Australia
IV. Hitler's Treatment of the Jews
V. Munich Conference-Policy of Appeasement
VI. US Role in the 1920's/1930's
-Washington Naval Conference
-Kellog-Briand Pact
-Neutrality Acts throughout the 1930's
-Quarantine Speech
-Bases for Destroyers
-Lend-Lease Act
VII. Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact
VIII. Outbreak of War--Blitzkrieg!!
-Japan and China
-Germany and Poland
-Germany and France
-Germany and Great Britain
-Germany and the Soviet Union
IX. Pearl Harbor
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