Conflict and Tension

• League of Nations was set up in January 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
• Nations were encouraged to disarm by the League of Nations which meant the nations would have collective security.
• If there was a dispute, the League would solve it by:

  • Moral persuasion
  • Economic sanctions
  • Military force (relies on the member state’s army)
• Japan wanted more land because of overcrowding and raw materials after the economic depression.
• League had limited options as Japan was on the other side of the world and neither USA or USSR weren’t members at the time.
• Japan had a permanent seat on the council which is why it was surprising for Japan to invade Manchuria.
• Lytton took a year to form his report.
• Japan walk out of the League in 1937 then invaded Manchuria.
• Article 231 acted on the war guilt cause: Anschluss forbidden, Germany not in the League.
• Japan blew up a railway in Manchuria which gave them an excuse to invade.
• The League tried to get Japan to withdraw from Manchuria using moral persuasion but Japan just ignored the League and left in 1937.
• Abysinnian crisis happened between 1935-1936.
• Hoare-Laval pact: A secret treaty between France, Britain and Mussolini which allowed Mussolini to invade the fertile parts of Abysinnia if Mussolini promised to help if Hitler became a problem.
• The League of Nations couldn’t ban oil from getting to Mussolini as the USA would still trade with them.
• After the Abysinnian crisis, countries couldn’t rely on the League to protect them against dictators so the League became unrespected.
• Hitler wasn’t a cool DUDE:

  • D - Destroy the Treaty of Versailles
  • U - Unite all German speaking people
  • D - Destroy communism
  • E - Expand eastwards and gain Lebensraum (living space)
• Saar plebiscite: In 1935, around 90% of the German population voted to reunite the Saar with Germany and have the region become under German rule.
• If Hitler claimed the sudetenland then it would help him expand eastwards.
• USSR wasn’t invited to the Munich agreement so why should Stalin help Britain and France against Hitler. Stalin also wanted to reclaim parts of Poland he had lost after WW1.
• Hitler signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as he didnt want to fight a war on two fronts.
• Britain promised to defend Poland if Germany invaded which is a main reason WW2 broke out.