League of Nations: Successes and Failures

Successes and Failures of the League of Nations (1920-1939)

• The League of Nations was established in 1920 as part of the Treaty of Versailles.
• The League of Nations aimed to prevent future wars through collective security, disarmament, and diplomacy.
• It was the first international organization designed to resolve conflicts peacefully.
• League Structure consisted of the Assembly, the Council, and the Secretariat.
• Specialized agencies operated within the League: the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Health Organization, and the Permanent Court of International Justice.
• Significant structural weaknesses hindered the League, including a lack of military force.
• Economic sanctions were often ineffective due to member states' reluctance to act against powerful nations.
• The United States never joined, weakening the League's credibility and authority.
• Notable successes included resolving territorial disputes like the Upper Silesia dispute (1921) between Germany and Poland.
• The Aaland Islands dispute (1921) between Sweden and Finland was resolved due to League intervention.
• It played a role in improving social conditions by addressing human trafficking, refugee crises, and disease control.
• The League failed in dealing with major powers seeking to expand aggressively.
• Major failures signaled the League's decline, including the Manchurian Crisis (1931) when Japan invaded Manchuria.
• The Lytton Report (1932) condemned Japan's actions, but Japan ignored the League's ruling and withdrew.
• The Abyssinian Crisis (1935) demonstrated the League's failure when Italy invaded Abyssinia(Ethiopia).
• Ineffective economic sanctions were imposed because Britain and France refused to cut off Italy's oil supply.
• Italy annexed Abyssinia in 1936, and the League was unable to stop it.

Hitler's Foreign Policy (1933-1939)

• After becoming Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, Adolf Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy.
• Three main goals: destroying the Treaty of Versailles, expanding German territory (Lebensraum), and uniting all German-speaking people under one Reich.
• Hitler was determined to reverse the Treaty of Versailles terms, which he viewed as humiliating.
• He sought to expand Germany's borders eastward to conquer land for German settlement.
• His ultimate vision was a Greater Germany that would include all ethnic Germans and provide resources for growth.
• Hitler began the rearmament of Germany secretly in 1933, which became official in 1935 with the reintroduction of conscription.
• The reintroduction of conscription directly violated the Treaty of Versailles, which had limited the German army to 100,000 troops.
• Britain and France did nothing to stop Hitler because of economic issues from the Great Depression, and they wanted to avoid another war.
• Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland in March 1936, a region demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles.
• France chose not to intervene, fearing war, which boosted Hitler's confidence.
• In March 1938, Hitler achieved the Anschluss—the union of Germany and Austria.
• German troops entered Austria with no opposition, and a referendum showed support for annexation.
• In September 1938, Hitler demanded the Sudetenland, a German-speaking region in Czechoslovakia.
• The Munich Conference led to Britain and France giving Hitler the Sudetenland in exchange for his promise not to demand more territory.
• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain claimed he had secured "peace for our time".
• Hitler broke his promise and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

Events Leading to Hitler's Rise to Power (1919-1933)

• Hitler's rise to power resulted from economic hardships, political instability, and Nazi propaganda.
• The Treaty of Versailles (1919) imposed severe penalties on Germany, laying the foundation for Hitler's rise.
• Germany had to accept responsibility for the war, make reparations payments, and endure territorial and military restrictions.
• Many Germans saw the treaty as a national humiliation, fostering resentment.
• Extremist political movements arose, including Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party).
• The democratic Weimar Republic, established in 1919, was weak and struggled with political instability.
• Communist and Right-wing nationalist movements challenged
• Hyperinflation crisis of 1923 led to the currency collapsing.
• Widespread public disillusionment with the Weimar republic made radical political solutions appealing.
• In 1923, Hitler tried to overthrow the Weimar government in the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed coup.
• He was arrested and wrote Mein Kampf in prison, outlining his ideology.
• The coup failed, but Hitler gained attention and focused on propaganda and intimidation tactics.
• The Great Depression (1929) was the turning point in Hitler's rise.
• Millions of Germans were unemployed and lost faith in the Weimar government.
• The Nazi Party capitalized on this unrest, blaming the depression on the Treaty of Versailles, Weimar politicians, etc.
• By 1932, the Nazis had become the largest party in the Reichstag (German Parliament).
• In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg.
• The Reichstag Fire (February 1933) was a critical moment in Hitler's dictatorship, blamed on communists to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree.
• The Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties, allowing Nazis to arrest opponents and suppress opposition parties.
• He pushed through the Enabling Act in March 1933, granting him dictatorial powers.

Appeasement and the Munich Agreement (1938)

• Appeasement in the 1930s was a policy followed by Britain and France, giving in to Hitler's demands to avoid war.
• The Munich Agreement was a key event of appeasement in September 1938.
• Hitler demanded the Sudetenland, a German-speaking region in Czechoslovakia.
• The Czech government wasn't consulted, and the government was forced to accept the terms for peace.
• Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, breaking his promise.

Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact (1939)

• Signed on August 23, 1939.
• The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact was a non-aggression agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union.
• There was a secret protocol that divided Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union.
• WWII started when Germany invaded Poland.
• A secret protocol divided Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union.
• Stalin saw it as an opportunity to strengthen the Soviet military.
• Hitler betrayed Stalin when he launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded.

Main Events of World War II (1939-1945)

• World War II (1939-1945) involved the Allied Powers (led by Britain, the USSR, the USA, and China) versus the Axis Powers (led by Germany, Italy, and Japan)
• The Invasion of Poland (September 1, 1939) started World War II when Germany invaded.
• Soviets invaded Poland from the east.
• Britain and France declared war on Germany with little military response.
• The Fall of France (May-June 1940) brought the swift victory in which Germany launched an all-out invasion of France and the Low Countries.
• British navy and civilian boats rescued over 330,000 Allied soldiers from Dunkirk.
• The Germans entered Paris on June 14, 1940, and France surrendered on June 22, 1940.
• The Battle of Britain (July-October 1940) was German's planned invasion of Britain in Operation Sea Lion after France fell.
• Germany launched air attacks to weaken defenses, but Britain retaliated and bombed Berlin, and British morale remained strong.
• The pilots and the RAF repelled German attacks by working together.
• Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941) was Germany's Invasion of the Soviet Union after Hitler betrayed Stalin.
• The Soviets retreated and Barbarossa became a turning point in the war
• The Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) was a surprise attack when Japan aimed to cripple the American Pacific Fleet.
• Germany and Italy declared war on the USA, bringing America into the war and balanced power.
• The Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942-February 1943) was one of the deadliest battles in history.
• Germany's first defeat occurred when The Soviets launched Operation Uranus, encircling German troops.
• D-Day (June 6, 1944) marked the Beginning of the End for Germany when the Allies led Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious invasion, landing on the beaches of Normandy.
• The Fall of Berlin (April-May 1945), led by Marshal Zhukov, was the final battle in Europe when Soviets pushed deep into Germany.
• Hitler committed suicide when the Soviet forces entered the city.
• Was declared Victory in Europe (V-E) day was the day the war in Europe ended, but the conflict in the Pacific continued.

The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 & 9, 1945) - Japan Surrenders

• In August 1945, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender.
• With the Manhattan Project, President Truman developed atomic bombs and wanted to end the war without a major invasion.
• Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945.

The Holocaust - The Nazi Genocide of Six Million Jews

• The Holocaust was the Nazi's systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews.
• The Nazi's introduced anti-Jewish laws, such as the Nuremberg Laws (1935), which stripped Jews of German citizenship, persecuted them, and established death camps like Auschwitz.

War Crimes and the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)

• The Allies sought justice for the war crimes and began the Nuremberg Trials in Germany.
• Top Nazi officials were prosecuted, and the Nuremberg Trials established an important precedent in international law, affirming that leaders could be held accountable for war crimes.

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences (1945) – Shaping the Post-War World

• The Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945) in Crimea with the “Big Three.”
• They wanted to figure out the future of Europe and prevent a future conflict.
• They divided Germany into four occupation zones, as well as Berlin.
• The leaders agreed that Germany would be demilitarized, denazified, and disarmed.
• Conference tensions emerged when the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan.
• The Potsdam Conference was held in July 1945 in Germany.
• Tensions began to rise over reparations with Stalin wanting harsh penalties on Germany and the USA opposing excessive reparations.
• It was determined that the Allies would divide Germany and Berlin and divided them into zones.

The Cold War (1945-1991)

• The Cold War was a time of tension stemming from fundamental ideological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union.
• The USA promoted capitalism and democracy, while the USSR followed communism and authoritarian rule.
• Winston Churchill delivered the "Iron Curtain" speech warning that Europe now divided between free democracies and Soviet-controlled states.
• The U.S. came up with the policy of containment, formalized in the Truman Doctrine, which President Truman pledged military and economic aid to countries resisting communism.
• In the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), Stalin sought to take full control of Berlin and cut off all access.
• Instead, the USA and Britain launched the Berlin Airlift, delivering over 2.3 million tons of food and medicine.