The World From 1919 to 2nd World War

HISTORY CHAPTER 12 - THE WORLD FROM 1919 TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR.


1) What were the main features of the fascist and Nazi movements?

The world scenario after the First World War led to far reaching changes all over the world. The situation was tense and though after the First World War there had been treaties which had been signed, but the building up of war fare and ignoring of treaties ultimately led to the First World War. The countries of Asia and Africa started to fight for their independence and it culminated in their achieving their independence after the First World War. Another important factor was the rise of fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany.
The main features of fascist and Nazi movements were they were both hostile towards democracy and socialism and had a dictatorship type of government. They influenced many countries and occupied many countries of Europe. Fascism succeeded because of the bad economy and due to the death of the workers, soldiers and farmers in World War I but Nazism succeeded because of the 1929 crisis. They had the support of the capitalists and the landlords and they thrived on terror and murder. In the countries of Italy and Germany, elections were held but not party could gain majority. While Mussolini was invited by the king to form the government, Hitler through intrigues, became the chancellor of Germany. In both the countries as soon as the dictators took over the power, terror was let loose. Both glorified war and the unification that took place in both the countries led to the glorification of war. Mussolini’s party was called the Fascist party and Hitler’s party in Germany was called the Nazi party.

2) Explain the consequences of the economic crisis of 1929-33?

The Great depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the crash of New York’s stock marked on 29th October 1929 known as the “Black Tuesday”. It began in the US and quickly spread to Europe and every part or the world in the industrialized countries and those which exported the raw materials. In short all the countries of the world were affected by the Great Depression. The consequences were as follows:-
International trade declined sharply.
Personal incomes crashed drastically.
Revenue from taxes reduced significantly affecting the economy of the countries.
The prices and the profits also reduced considerably. Millions of tones of wheat were burnt to prevent its price from falling further.
Many business establishments and factories had to shut down.
Construction in many countries was halted.
Farmers suffered in rural areas as crop prices fell by 40 – 60%
Mining and logging was the worst affected as the demand for coal, minerals, logs of wood declined dramatically. These people had not many alternatives in terms of job.
Democracy weakened and leaders like Hitler and Mussolini took advantage of this situation to spread their propaganda.
The Great Depression finally ended with the reform programme started by President Roosevelt called the NEW DEAL.

3) What is meant by the term axis power?

The Second World War had two sides fighting against each other one was the Allies and the other was the Axis. The major fascist powers like Italy and Germany and their ally, the military regime of Japan by 1930 were completely opposed to socialism and communism. Due to this similarity of ideology and forms of Governments, was the reason that they came together. Basically they were dictators and fascists at heart. Their main policies were aggression and imperialism in Asia, Africa and Europe and were united in 1937 under the Anti-Co intern Pact. They were the deadliest of enemies of the Allies. It was their vested interest of expansion and exploitation that created the conditions for the start of the wars of conquest which ultimately led to the First World War. Thus Germany, Italy, and Japan came to be known as Axis powers.

4) Describe the consequences of the victory of fascism on Italy and Germany?

The success of fascism in Italy and Germany and military regime in Japan led to a series of conquests in Asia, Africa and Europe. All the three countries claimed that they were fighting against communism and became united under the Anti-co intern pact. Under the proclamation that they were trying to end communism in the world these fascist countries started aggressing the countries of Asia Africa and Europe. The west European countries followed a policy of appeasement though Soviet Union and the other aggressed countries demanded that all the countries unite and put an end to the policy of aggression by these fascist countries.
The west European countries were fearful of the rise of communism in Russia and other east European countries and thus did not try to heartily stop the policy of aggression by these fascist countries and only passed resolutions and followed a policy of appeasement. Hitler used this excuse that is stopping of communism to expand the empire of Germany. The capitalists, landowners, bankers, churchmen etc. of western Europe were also fearful of the fact that their workers would ultimately demand a communist type of government and thus did not want a spread of communism. All these reasons led to the free hand given to Italy, Germany and Japan to follow a policy of aggression.
Thus as a consequence, the victory of fascism in Italy and Germany, led to the scene to be set for the start of the First World War barely thirty years after the end of the First World War.

5) What were the main aims of the foreign policy of Italy and Germany & of Japan?

The fascist government of Italy and Germany and the military government of Japan followed a foreign policy which in today’s’ world would be unthinkable. Their foreign policy consisted of re dividing the world through acts of aggression on other countries. These countries had entered the race for colonies late and at the end of First World War had had to pay a huge war indemnity and were thus waiting to become the most powerful countries of the world. The success of fascism in these countries made the dreams of these countries come true.
Their foreign policy mainly proclaimed that they were trying to stop the spread of communism but in reality they were using this method of expansion and aggression and the western countries, fearful of the rise of communism in their own countries followed a policy of appeasement which helped these fascist countries to become more powerful. Through treaties, through wars, they started expanding their countries and thus over a period of time, the fascist government of Italy and Germany and the Military regime of Japan were able to give a new map to the world and thus set the stage for the start of the First World War.

6) Describe the main events between 1936 and 1939 which created conditions for another world war?

Ø Japanese Invasion of China: A small incident involving a railway line in Manchuria led to the invasion of Japan into China. Soon Japan which was militarily more progressive when compared to China was able to occupy Manchuria and install a puppet government there. The western powers followed a policy of appeasement though China demanded helps the stop the Japanese aggression. The main reason being, that the west European countries did not want to loose the trade colonies in China.
Ø German Militarization: Germany, after the success of Nazism quit the League of Nations and started extensive militarization. Children as young as the age of 10 were groomed to be future soldiers. The act of German re-militarization created insecurities among the west European countries especially France. The area of Rhineland had been demilitarized after the First World War but Germany which had to keep strength of 1 lakh troops ignored the treaty of Versailles and increased the strength to 8 lacs. Germany with the consent of Britain started building a strong navy.
Ø Italian invasion to Ethiopia: In 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia; the western powers instead of stopping the aggression issued economic sanctions against Italy including the ban of arms. By 1936, the annexation of Ethiopia was complete.
Ø The Spanish civil war: In 1931 Spain became a republic and by 1936, a popular front government comprising of Socialists, communists, and other anti-fascist powers came to power. A section of army headed by General Franco with the support of Germany and Italy revolted and thus resulted in the Spanish Civil war. This war is a unique example of internationalism where people from different parts of the world came to save the government of Spain from the fascist aggression. The civil war raged for nearly three years and finally General Franco was able to crush the popular front government of Spain. He was able to do so because of the armed support of Germany and Italy and Hitler used the latest warfare that he was to use in the event of First World War.
Ø The Munich Pact: The final act of appeasement by the west European countries towards fascist countries can be seen in the Munich Pact. Hitler claimed Sudetenland because of the majority of the German population but in reality it contained one of the largest ammunition factories. The Prime Ministers of Britain and France without consulting Czechoslovakia met Hitler and Mussolini at Munich and gave away Sudetenland, soon after Hitler took over the whole of Czechoslovakia. This final act made Soviet Union aware that the western powers were not interested in crushing the growing fascist powers and thus signed a non aggression treaty with Germany and Britain and France promised to help Poland, Greece, Romania and Turkey if their independence was threatened.

Besides the above, there other factors that contributed to the start of the First World War and they are as follows:

· There was no effective organization that could control the countries and prevent the outbreak of another war.
· The European countries were still hankering for more colonies to get raw materials and sell their finished goods.
· Strong feelings of nationalism were also responsible for starting the war.
· The immediate cause for the start of the First World War was with the invasion of Poland by Germany on 1st September 1939. Though Poland request Britain and France for help, help arrived late and the annexation of Poland was complete within 3 weeks and thus led to the start of the First World War.

7) What did the western powers do to counter the aggressive acts of Japan, Italy and Germany between 1931 and 1938?

The western powers did nothing to stop the growing acts of aggression by the fascist governments of Japan, Italy and Germany. The incidents are clear enough that though these countries invaded the neighboring countries and formed colonies and built up warfare and went in for extensive military programmes, the western powers went in only for a policy of appeasement. Even when Italy aggressed Ethiopia, the Western powers just imposed economic and arms sanctions on Italy and did nothing to stop the growing power of the fascist government. When Hitler demanded Sudetenland, the Prime Ministers of Britain and France did not consult Czechoslovakia and gave away Sudetenland to Germany.
The west European countries were feeling insecure with the growing powers of the communist countries especially Soviet Union and China and felt that if they would let the fascist powers to grow then they could break the growing powers of the communism and another factor was that they wanted communism to be a failure for the fear that they did not want the workers of their countries to demand a communist type of government. Though Soviet Union and China demanded that they be united against the fascist powers and create a check for the growing powers of Hitler and Mussolini, the west European powers turned a deaf ear to the call and went in for a policy of appeasement that is at the cost of other countries trying to satisfy the fascist powers.

8) What was the basic reason for the policy of appeasement? The answer is same as that of Q: 7.

9) What were the consequences of the Second World War?

The consequences of the Second World War are as follows:

Ø Resistance movements: In all those countries where fascists had spread their rule, resistance movements started. For e.g., In France, when the government surrendered, the people protested against the German soldiers. General De-Gauble organized an army outside France to get rid of German soldiers. In Yugoslavakia and Greece, Guerilla warfare had started. In Poland, the polish people revolted in Warsaw. In Italy, and Germany, Resistance movements were organized. Marshall Tito led the movement in Yugoslavakia.
Ø The most destructive war: This war converted a large part of Europe into a vast graveyard and a slave camp. Millions of Jews were exterminated and millions more died in the concentration camps. Buchenwald and Dechan were two such hostile camps. People were burnt in gas chambers, massacres were conducted and goods were made from human skin and bones.
Ø Unprecedented loss of human life: More than 50 million people lost their lives out of which 22 million were soldiers and the rest were civilians. Poland lost 6 million people which were 20% of its population. Soviet Union and Germany both lost 10% of their population.

Ø The economy of the world was shattered: The Second World War destroyed the economy of many countries of the world. Instability crept in and the nations that were once rich became paupers. A lot of cities were destroyed.
Ø New weapons of mass destruction: The atom bomb was used over Japan at the two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This happened after Germany had already surrendered in a few months time. Thousands of people were killed, millions became handicapped and millions are still suffering genetically due to the effects of radiation.
Ø Birth of more communist countries: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Yugoslavia all became communist countries. Earlier only the Soviet Union was a communist country.
Ø Division of Germany into two parts: After four years of war, the allies who had occupied Germany realized that there was a lot of confusion as to how each area had to be governed. In September 1949 the capitalist countries among the allies formed western Germany into one nation and gave it the name Federal Republic of Germany and eastern Germany was under the Soviet Union and in October 1949, it became the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Thus Germany was divided into two countries and the Berlin wall separated them.

In 1946 monarchy was abolished and Italy became a republic. In England, Winston Churchill lost the election and the Labour Party came to power.

10) Explain the terms:

Ø Phoney war: On 1st September 1939, Germany declared war on Poland. Poland appealed to Britain and France for help and on 3rd September they declared war on Germany. The German armies finished the annexation of Poland within 3 weeks before help could reach Poland and thus Poland was taken over by Germans without even firing a shot and this war is called a Phoney war and is also the start of the First World War because after the annexation of Poland, Britain and France became wary of Germany and tension started building up in Europe.
Ø The Battle of Britain: After the fall of France and Poland, Germany now turned her attention towards Britain and Britain was the only major power which could resist Germany. In August 1940, Germany started bombing Britain in a view of terrorizing her into surrender but the Royal Air force of Britain played a heroic role in the defense against the air raids and conducted counter air raids on German territories. Under the leadership of Winston Churchill the then prime minister of Britain, the people of Britain were able to successfully ward off the attacks of Germans.The Second Front: During the First World War, Soviet Union had put in great resistance against German troops and had lost lots of property and lives in this war. Soviet Union had been demanding that Britain and USA attack Germany from the other side which would weaken the Germans. On 6th June 1944, British and American troops landed on the coast of Normandy in France and they numbered nearly one lakh and by September the number had reached 2 lacs. This attack on Germany from other ends is called as opening of the Second Front as now the Germans had to ward off their enemies from all sides and this turned the tide of the First World War.