History League of Nations and Hitler’s Foreign Policy Flashcards
(16 cards)
Why didn’t the USA join the League of Nations?
- Wilson, the creator, lost the election
- Republicans favored isolationism (self-sufficiency)
- Hostility to Britain and France
Why did Germany remilitarise the Rhineland in 1936?
- Attack on the ToV, popular with Germans
- Believed actions would not be challenged as Britain and France were preoccupied with general election/Abyssinian crisis
-Fear of encirclement by France and USSR
-Felt it was reasonable to remilitarise and place troops on own frontier
What was the Lytton Commission?
- Commission of enquiry into Japan’s invasion of Manchuria
- Aimed to clearly condemn Japan’s actions, force to return 2/3 of land to China
- Ineffective, took 7 months to be published
-Japan had already claimed all area
What were some weaknesses in the structure of the League of Nations?
- Assembly only met once a year, decisions had to be unanimous, did not have the power to make decisions themselves
- Council did not represent whole of the league, all imperial nations, small nations were undermined
- Court of International Justice could not ensure countries followed rulings
What were some strengths in the structure of the League of Nations?
- Representatives from many countries united to address global issues- like a ‘global parliament’
- Aimed to resolve conflicts peacefully
- Tackled other major problems on top of disputes through agencies, commissions or committees
What was the Aaland Islands dispute of 1921?
- Islands located between Finland and Sweden, Finnish territory but population Swedish
- Islanders wanted independence from Finland, almost led to conflict
-League gave islands to Finland but ordered removal of Finnish troops and protections for Swedish Islanders - Both countries accepted
What was the Corfu crisis of 1923?
-Mussolini retaliated to an Italian general and his team being killed by killing 15 people in Corfu
-Britain and France could not agree on action as they supported opposite sides
- Mussolini got his way and Greece apologised and paid compensation to Italy
Why did Italy invade Abyssinia in 1935?
- Mussolini wanted revenge for Italy’s defeat in 1896: poorly equipped tribesmen had defeated troops in the Battle of Adowa
- Mussolini wanted to emulate Roman empire, style of leadership required military victories
Why did Japan invade Manchuria in 1931?
- Close proximity to other parts of empire: it already had troops in Korea and invading area nearby was convenient
- Abundance of natural resources, wanted to claim a decaying part of the Chinese empire
What was the Hoare- Laval Pact?
- Secret agreement by French and British Foreign ministers
- Aimed to give Italy 2/3 of Abyssinia to stop its invasion
- Pact leaked to the public, causing widespread outrage
- Ultimately failed and both resigned
What were the positive impacts of the Locarno Pact of 1926?
- Led to advances on the evacuation of the Rhineland
- Germany voluntarily accepted Western borders to gain liberty to secure its borders in the East
- Eased tension between Germany and France
- Allowed for acceptance into the international community (joined the LoN)
What did the League of Nations do in the Refugee crisis of 1922?
- Agencies returned ~400,000 prisoners of war to their homes
- Stamped out diseases such as dysentery, cholera and smallpox
-Gave out Nansen passports, legal identity for refugees who did not have a country
Why did the Depression make the work of the League of Nations more difficult in the 1930s?
- Impacts on Germany: unemployment and poverty
- Germans unconvinced by weak leaders and began to support Nazis, with the threat of invasion and war
-Countries less willing to cooperate to avoid endangering own interests
-Shrinking economies made sanctions more difficult
What was the disarmament conference of 1932 and why did it fail?
- LoN aimed to prohibit bombing of civillian nations, limit the size of artillery and tonnage of tanks and prevent chemical warfare, to make war less likely
- Each country was focused on itself and ignoring the League
-Reluctance to allow Germany to rearm to the level of other powers, countries knew Hitler was doing this and secretly rebuilt their own armaments
Was appeasement justified?
NO:
- Britain and France fundamentally misunderstood Hitler’s personality: as a risk taker, this bolstered Hitler’s confidence as he did not fear consequences. They also overestimated German armed forces
- Appeasement made Britain and France look weak
-Led to the sacrifice of Czechoslovakia
YES:
- Appeasement was inevitable as Britain was not ready to go to war. Italy was allied with Germany, they lacked armaments, support and strength of the axis, so it was the only option
-Britain had colonies around the world and empire to defend
- Threat of Soviet Russia and world communism
What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 and what were its impacts?
- Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin to divide Poland between them and agree not to attack each other for 10 years
-Hitler gained confidence that he could not face war on two fronts, and half of Poland
-Stalin gained time to build up forces to protect the USSR from future attack, as well as former Russian territory
