Chapter 19 - Changing Balance of Power

• What happened in October 1922?

  Mussolini becomes PM of Italy
• What happened on 25th December 1926?

  Accession of Emperor Hirohito in Japan
• What happened on 18th September 1931?

  Japanese owned railway in Manchuria bombed
• What happened on 30th January 1933?

  Hitler becomes German Chancellor
• What happened in July 1933?

  Four Power Pact agreed
• What happened in July 1934?

  Italy prevents Anschluss
• What happened in April 1935?

  Stresa conference
• The ambitions of which three powers significantly challenged the post-war balance of power in the 1930s and why?

  • Italy, Japan and Germany
  • Though Mussolini cooperated with the democracies in the 1920s and even up to 1935 with the Stresa Pact, the expansionist aims of Hitler and the Japanese provided a strong catalyst for significant changes in the global balance of power
• How had the new realities of the global economic situation in the aftermath of the Depression changed International Relations?

  • Encouraged the revision of key terms in the post-war peace settlements
  • Western democracies continued to conduct IR as they had in the 1920s and began to accept the grievances of the defeated powers
• What were the ambitions of Italy overall?

  • Aspired to be Great Power status before and after WW1
  • However, it was not treated as an equal by Britain and France
  • The importance of Italy to European peace, however, grew in response to the growing threat of both Nazi Germany and the communist USSR, giving Italy's dictator, Mussolini, considerable leverage in the 1920s and 30s
• What is meant by the term "leverage"?

  A strong negotiating position; a person who has good leverage is able to influence others
• How had the First World War impacted Italy?

  • Had intervened on the side of the Allies but found itself heavily defeated by Austria in the Battle of Caparetto in 1917- 1918 armistice was a relief to Italy, but Mussolini referred to it as a "mutilated victory" when it became clear that the Treaty of London 1915 promises would not all be fulfilled
• What was the mood in Italy like as a result of its treatment post-war?

  • It was one of anger and fear of revolution
  • Strikes, looting, demonstrations and riots were commonplace
  • In 1919 Mussolini and other disillusioned former soldiers formed a new movement, the Fasci di Combattimento, later shortened to fascism
• What happened on 29th October 1922?

  In response to growing support for the Italian fascist movement, King Victor Emmanuel invited Mussolini to form a government. Mussolini had transformed Italy into a one-party state
• What were Mussolini's foreign policy aims?

  • Hoped to gain greater control over Italy's spheres of influence in the Balkans and around the Mediterranean
  • Also involved claiming the "unredeemed" territory around the Adriatic which was promised to Italy in 1915 but not granted under the 1919 treaties
• What have historians said about Mussolini's foreign policy aims?

  • Some historians have argued that Mussolini's increasingly aggressive policies were meant to serve as a distraction from domestic problems
  • More recently, historians have concluded that he was in fact responding to circumstances as they arose, such as the impact of the Great Depression and the growing strength of Nazi Germany
  • The nature and consistency of Italy's FP aims have been contested, but it is unlikely that he had to stick to a pre-defined set of objectives, unlike Hitler
• What did the fascist commitment to strength and violence demand?

  • A foreign policy with concurrent values
  • Mussolini himself declared "it is a crime not to be strong", which explains Italy's involvement in Libya from 1922 onwards
• What caused Italy to get involved on Libya?

  • Libya had been an Italian colony since 1912
  • However, revolts by the native population were frequent and often severe, and the previous liberal gov had been unable to keep the area under control
• How did Italy begin to regain control over Libya under Mussolini's control?

  • Italian troops began to use a more decisive and aggressive course of action towards Libya
  • However, guerrilla troops stopped Italy being able to claim full power over Libya
• What did Mussolini do in Libya in 1928?

  • Mussolini escalated his army's involvement and Libyans were subjected to barbaric treatment
  • This included the rounding up of civilians into concentration camps, the desecration of mosques and the use of chemical weapons
• What did the Italian governor of Libya do in January 1932?

  Declared the "Pacification of Libya" complete
• When was the Four Power Pact signed?

  July 1933
• Who was the Four Power Pact signed between?

  Britain, France, Italy and Germany
• Why was Hitler included in the signing of the Four Power Pact in 1933?

  At this stage, Hitler was still trying to gain approval as a statesman by cooperating with his foreign counterparts while attempting to keep his rearmament plans secret
• What did the 1933 Four Power Pact state?

  The powers promised they would keep the peace for 10 years
• Who broke the Four Power Pact immediately and how?

  • Germany
  • They withdrew from the Disarmament Conference in 1933 and publicly announced their rearmament programme 16th March 1933
• What was the outcome of the 1933 Four Power Pact?

  • It was never ratified
  • However, it alienated the USSR, which was still being excluded from major agreements 15 years after the Bolshevik Revolution
• When were the Rome Agreements?

  January 1935
• What was agreed in the 1935 Rome Agreements?

  Italy and France agreed to respect each other's European and colonial borders, a move championed by the pro-Italian French FM, Pierre Laval
• When was Germany's first attempt to take over Austria?

  1934
• Why did Germany's first attempt to take over Austria in 1934 alarm Mussolini?

  • Italy shared a border with Austria
  • He was also concerned that the Italian sphere of influence around the Balkans was being threatened
• When was the Stresa Conference?

  April 1935
• What was agreed as a part of the "Stresa Front" in 1935?

  Britain, Italy and France agreed to oppose "by all practical means, any unilateral repudiation of treaties, which may endanger the peace of Europe"
• What was the outcome of the Stresa Conference 1935?

  While the paperwork did little to discourage Hitler, Mussolini felt assured that Britain and France would not intervene in his planned invasion of Abyssinia
• How was Japan ruled?

  • By an Emperor, a hereditary title which bestowed upon the incumbent huge power and the status of arahitogami
  • This made him a God to the people according to the teachings of the State Shinto religion founded in 1868
• What was the Japanese political system like?

  • Established in 1889 under the Meiji Constitution
  • Comprised two parliamentary houses along similar lines to European govs
  • Although constitution contained some liberal elements and the Emperor did not have absolute power, he appointed PMs and had the power to dissolve the lower house
  • He was also able to allow his inner circle of advisers to wield considerable influence
• How did Japanese nationalism have clear expansionist aims?

  • In reflection of its extremely hierarchical society, Japanese school children were taught they were the superior race and racist attitudes towards the Chinese were encouraged
  • There was also to be a backlash against Westernisation, sparking a particular hatred towards the USA
  • This master race ideology became particularly prevalent in the army, which by the late 1920s enjoyed a strong influence on gov policy
• How was Japan affected by the Depression?

  • It was hit very hard
  • With its population growing by 1mil p/y, the gov soon found itself unable to feed its people
  • Even subsistence farmers struggled to feed their families
  • As a small nation with scarce natural resources, it relied on imports and relied on exports to maintain a balance of trade
  • Rice had to be imported from 1929 to prevent starvation and Japan's main export, silk, suffered a collapse in prices
  • To make matters worse, tariffs were imposed by America and much of Europe, meaning Japan's exports sank to their lowest ever level, dropping by 40% between 1929-30
• What exacerbated the Japanese desire for expansionism?

  Gov ministers hoped to solve Japan's problems with emigration, but this failed and the prospect of expansion became a popular alternative
• What were the expansionist aims of Japan?

  To colonise China, exploit its natural resources and relieve the overcrowding in Japan