Blog discussion today!
Shelby watched The Boy in Striped Pajamas.
Starts on Slide #62.
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
- came form divine origin
- descendant 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
2. modern army
3. strong navy
Showed off new power in several wars
1. Sino-Japanese War
- 1894-95
- Japan won
2. Russo-Japanese War
- 1904-05
- 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 Power Pact - limit naval size
- 5 Power Pact- US, Great Britain, France, Japan would respect each other's land and colonies
- 9 Power Pact - Open Door Policy
- joined the League of Nations
- signed the Kellog-Briand Pact - outlawed war
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 in to 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
- open defiance of superior officers by junior officers
- seen as a positive thing
- shows the spirit of the soldier
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
What did this situation prove?
- The League of Nations could not enforce its authority
- A major power could get away with using force
- Great Britain and France wanted to avoid war at all costs
- Other powers would see thsi as a sign that they too could get away with the use of force
- The League also lost its most powerful member in the Far East--Japan
Franklin Roosevelt vs. Herbert Hoover
Good Neighbor Policy
- Roosevelt realized we needed to become better neighbors with Latin American countries
- It would benefit us regarding trade
- Wanted to make sure those countries didn't turn to the 'dark side' and become allies with Italy and Germany
Ethiopia Invaded by Mussolini - 1936
- Italy lost its Ethiopia colony in Africa at the 1896 Battle of Adua
- One of the worst colonial disasters of modern history
- February 23, 1935 - Italy sends large forces into Ethiopia
- October 7, 1935 - League declared Italy the aggressor
Mussolini wanted to control Africa and the Mediterranean.
Italy/Ethiopia Invasion
*Embargo = do not trade with them
- November 18, 1935 - leagues sanctions begin
- Arms embargo, financial embargo, non-importation of Italian goods
- February 1936 - League could not agree on critical oil sanctions mainly because FDR refused - US controlled 50% world oil trade
- February 29,1936 - FDR signed the 1936 Neutrality Act
- Mandatory arms embargo with warring nations
- Mandatory ban on loans to warring nations
- May 5, 1936 - Italy occupied Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) - annexed all Ethiopia May 9
Generalisimo Francisco France and the Spanish Civil War: 1936-39
- Gave Hitler's troops and weapons experience
- Hitler and Mussolini would help Franco win
- Spain was neutral in World War II and Hitler saw them as an Allie
Rome-Berlin Axis - 1936
Official alliance between Germany and Italy (Hitler & Mussolini)
China was to Japan what the Soviet Union was to Germany
Rape of Nanking - 1937
- Japanese invasion of China in Nanking
- Women and children were raped and then killed
- Japanese went on war crime trials for it
- Japanese soldiers were then believed to be horrible people
Quarantine Speech - 1937
- President Roosevelt believed that the good countries needed to form an alliance against the bad countries (Italy, Germany, Japan)
Appeasement Policy
- "A diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to an aggressor"
- Great Britain and France used this policy throughout the 1930s
- 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 so they attacked it. They apologized for it therefore avoided war.
Anschluss with Austria - 1938
Anschless is the German word for union. Hitler was uniting Germany with Austria. Austrians are ethnic Germans that speak German. Hitler was born in Austria. They let Hitler take Austria without any consequences or repercussions because they ultimately didn't want to go to war. Let him because it would be uniting Germans and it was not worth going to war over.
Sudentenland/Munich Conference - 1938
Czech Republic and Slovakia make up Czechoslovakia. Sudetenland was a part of Czechoslovakia and Hitler wanted it "to reunite German speaking people".
- Neville Chamberlain - Great Britain
- Adolf Hitler - Germany
- Benito Mussolini - Italy
- Edouard Daladier - France
Czechoslovakia was not invited or included in the Munich Conference.
Munich Pact - Appeasement
- Germany was given the Sudentenland of Czechoslovakia
- Czechoslovakia had the option to accept Pact or deal with Germany itself
- Czechoslovakia lost its defensible borders and fortifications
- Czechoslovakia also lost 70% of its iron/steel, 70% of its electrical power and 3.5 million citizens to Germany as a result of the settlement
Hitler then decided to take over the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler promised that he would not take anymore land after the Sudentenland area because he already had all the land that had German people in it. Left it with that and the Munich Pact was set and stone.
Munich Conference
Chamberlain: "Peace for our time". He was very popular for preventing war from happening. He also believed that Hitler would not take over anymore land.
Winston Churchill was seen as a war monitor and was not very popular during that time
1939
For a couple months Hitler laid low, in March of 1939 he took over the rest of Czechoslovakia and broke it up into different areas. It sent a message to Great Britain and France that he was a liar and could not be trusted because he took more land than he said he would.
- Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, started taking Nazi Germany and Hitler much more seriously after this
- Winston Churchill had warned about this happening (Hitler taking the rest of Czechoslovakia)
- Great Britain and France started mobilizing/preparing for war because they knew it was close
Nazi/Soviet Non-Aggression Pact - 1939
Hitler realized he didn't want to fight a two-sided war so he made a pact with the Soviet Union. Worked out for both countries very well because they didn't have to worry about being taken over.
- Trade pact
- Russia gave raw materials to Germany in exchange for money and weapons
- Both agreed to stay neutral if the other entered the war (Non-aggression)
- Secretly agreed to invade and split Poland
- Germany would get the western half and the USSR would get the eastern half
- Russia would get Finland, Estonia and Latvia and Germany would get Lithuania
How did the world react to this pact?
- Shock
- 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
Goal was to achieve victory as quickly as possible. First, attack with planes and attack enemy airplanes, communication and transportation. Troops marched into Poland along with tanks. Mechanized units swiftly passed the front lines and stopped to drop off troops and flank the enemy (come from behind and circle on both sides) so they surrender. Poland only last a couple weeks. France only lasted a month. It sent the message that Germany was unbeatable. Can't beat them? Surrender.
Bombers were given sirens in order to terrorize/scare people.
Sitzkrieg - The Phony War
Nothing happened through the end of 1939 and the beginning of 1940. Called it the Phony War or the Sitting War because nothing was happening. It was not a phony war for very long because everyone was preparing for war over the Winter.
Tripartite Pact is signed by Axis Powers
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