March 14th 2012

[5Ashley]

Japan 

Dictatorship also came to Japan

          -not through a political party but the military

History

-rich military tradition

          -feudal clans fought each other for dominance in Japan

-The Emperor presided over the Japanese government (never talked to people of Japan until Emperor said they were surrendering)

          -came form divine origin (from God)

          -descendent of the Sun Goddess

          -played minor role in the government

          -he was above politics

          -shogun had the political power

          -ruled in the name of the Emperor 

Japanese society

1.      Landowning clans dominated (protected by the samurai)

2.      Wealthy merchant class

3.      Peasants (most of the people of Japan)

Japan was very isolated until 1853 when US Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Japan and forced them to open their ports

In the late 1800’s many Japanese were tired of being controlled by foreign countries.

-adopted western ways in hopes to keep Western Powers out of their country

1.     heavy industry (became industrialized)

2.     modern army (modeled army after Germany)

3.     strong navy (modeled navy after Britain)

Showed off new power in several wars

1.     Sino-Japanese War

-1894-1895

-Japan won

2.     Russo-Japanese War

-1904-1905

-Japan shocked the world by beating Russia

-gained partial control of Manchuria 

3.     World War I

-allied with the US

-gained German Islands in the Pacific after the war

1920’s

-gave all men the right to vote

-signed the 4, 5 and 9 Power Pacts

-joined the League of Nations

-signed the Kellog-Briand Pact

 1930’s

-Great Depression changed everything

-people blamed the government for tough times

-military leaders stepped in and took control

          -said Japan had to expand into Asia to help economy

          -assassinated political leaders that opposed them

          -took away people’s rights

Japanese Military Honor

1.     fight to the death

2.     commit suicide rather than surrender

3.     gekokujo (lower military soldiers that invade without permission of commanders)

-open defiance of superior officers by junior officers

     -seen as a positive thing

     -shows the spirit of the soldier

Japanese Invasion of Manchuria

1. United Nations condemned Japanese Invasion of Manchuria, but didn't really couldn't enforce its authority

2. A major power could get away with using force

3. Great Britain and France wanted to avoid war at all costs

4. The League of Nations also lost its most powerful member in the Far East, which was Japan

Good Neighbor Policy

• Roosevelt realized we need to become better neighbors with Latin American countries
• It would benefit us in trade
• To keep Hitler and Mussolini out of Latin America and have allies in Latin America (Western Hemisphere)

Ethiopia invaded by Mussolini in 1936

• Italy lost its Ethiopia colony in Africa at the 1896 Battle of Adua
• One of the worst colonial disasters of modern history
• Feb 23, 1935, Italy  sends large forces into Ethiopia
• Oct 7, 1935, League delared Italy the aggressor

Italy/Ethiopia Invasion

• Leagues sanctions begin- arms embargo, financial embargo, non-importation of Italian Goods
• League couldn't agree on critical oil sanctions mainly because FDR refused- US controlled 50% of world trade
• FDR signed the 1936 Neutrality Act (1. mandatory arms embargo with warring nations. 2. mandatory ban on loans to warring nations)
• Italy occupied Addis Ababa- annexed all Ethiopia

Spanish Civil War- 1936-1939

• Generalisimo Francisco Franco: Spanish leader
• Hitler and Mussolini sent troops and money to Franco to help Franco win, which he did
• Spain was a neutral country, which angered Hitler.
• Hitler thought of Franco as an allie.

Rome-Berlin Axis - 1936

• Hitler and Mussolini became allies (Germany and Italy)
• Axis- Mussolini came up with it because world rotated around their two cities
• China was to Japan as Soviet Union was to Germany

• Rape of Nanking, China- 1937
• Chinese Women and Children were raped by the Japanese, then were killed afterward.

Quarantine Speech- 1937

• Roosevelt's speech was to have Britain and other Allied Powers need to come together and "quarantine" the aggressive countries of the world (Germany, Japan, Italy)

Appeasement Policy-

• a deplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to an aggressor
• Great Britain and France used this policy throughout the 1930's
• Helped give Japan, Italy, and Germany confidence that they would face no consequences for their actions
• Considered to be a huge mistake by historians

Panay Incident- 1937

• Americans went in with gun boats to protect American interests, products and people in China
• Japanese didn't know it was an American ship. They thought it was a Chinese ship.

Anschluss with Austria- 1938

• Hitler was uniting Germany with Austria
• Austria wanted to become part of Germany after WWI
• Austria let Hitler take their country to avoid war

Sudentenland/Munich Conference- 1938

• Czech Republic and Slovakia make up Czechlslovakia. Sudentenland was a part of Czechloslovakia and Hitler wanted it "to reunite German speaking people"
• Munich Conference Leaders:
• • Neville Chamberlain (Great Britain)
  • Adolf Hitler (Germany)
  • Benito Mussolini (Italy)
  • Edouard Daladier (France)
• Germany was given the Sudentenland of Czechloslovakia
• Czechloslovakis had the option to accept Pact or deal with Germany itself
• Czechloslovakia lost it's defensible borders and fortifications
• Czechloslovakia also lost 70% of its iron/steel 70% of its electrical power 3.5 million citizens to Germany as a result of the settlement

Munich Conference

• Winston Churchill was seen as a war monitor and was not very popular
• Chamberlain was very popular, but trusted that Germany wouldn't take over the rest of Germany

Hitler Takes the Rest of Czechoslovakia- March 1939

• For a few months, Hitler said that he wouldn't take over the rest of Czechoslovakia and laid low, but then he took it over and seperated it into pieces
• Great Britain and France started mobilizing for war (building up military)
• Winston Churchill had warned about this happening (Hitler taking the rest of Czechoslovakia)
• Chamberlain took Nazi Germany and Hitler much more seriously after this event.

Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact- 1939

• Hitler made a pact with the Soviet Union to eliminate a two-sided war.
• Russia gave raw materials to Germany in exchange for money and weapons
• Both agreed to stay neutral if the other entered the war
• Secretly agreed to invade and split Poland. Germany would get the western half and USSR the eastern half.
• Russia would get Finland, Estonia, and Latvia and Germany would get Lithuania.
• People reacted really shocked, Poland was in a very tough spot.
• Hitler thought it would force Great Britain and France to back out of their promise to help Poland if attacked.

Blitzkrieg-Lightning War

• The goal of the Blitzkreig was to achieve victory as quickly as possible.
• Used: Plane attacks, Infantry, Mechanized Units.
• Cut off the enemy and encircle them on both sides and trap them, forcing the enemy to either be killed or surrender.
• Bombers were given sirens to terrorize and scare people

Sitzkrieg- The Phony War

• "Sitting War" Countries were waiting for war, waiting for winter to get over. Didn't really do much.
• Hitler goes on a rampage with taking countries over in April.
• War was declared, then nothing happened for 6 months.

Tripartite Pact is signed

• This Pact officially formed the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan)
• Other Axis Powers were Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Thailand, Hungary.
• Allied Powers- Great Britain, Soviet Union, US, China, France, Canada, Australia, Latin America.
• Allied Powers won because they had many more countries on their side.

German Invasion of Denmark and Norway- April 1940

• More difficult to take over because it was harder to cross the water.
• It came back to hurt Germany because they didn't have control of the North Sea.

The Battle of France 1940

• Germany took over France after about a month.
• Germany was believed to be unbeatable because they were so strong
• Maginot Line- a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses. France constructed this along its borders with Germany and Italy after what happened to them in WWI. Was built from 1930-1940. French went underground in the line to fight against Germany when they attack.

Miracle of Dunkirk

• City in Belgium where hundreds of thousands of Belgian, French, and British forces were evacuated to Great Britain because even though it was a terrible loss, we still saved thousands of lives.

Hitler Takes France

• Hitler taking over France was his crowning moment because he hated France
• Vichy Government- Government in France that Hitler allowed to remain in control of the Southern part of France. Led by Marshal Henri Petain. Pro-Nazi Germany Government

Free French Underground

• Led by Charles de Gaulle
• Based in London
• Goal was to free France from Germany's control
• Was kind of like the Underground Railroad.

Nazi Goals

1. Destroy the Royal Air Force (before invasion was possible-hopefully by Sept. 15th)
2. Attack and destroy the British Navy
3. Attack British troops
4. After gaining air superiority, the invasion of Great Britain would begin if Great Britain had not already surrendered.

**Germany never succeeded in achieving number 1**

**German bombers did so poorly against the RAF that they started bobing at night only, randomly attacking cities

**Great Britain was aided heavily by the radar and Ultra

United States could decifer German code, but they couldn't decifer ours.

Winston Churchill

• Becomes more popular when he became Prime Minister