What was the • It was the first decisive step to WWI
response to the • Henry Stimson announced that USA wouldn’t recognize gains Japanese seizure of made by armed force Manchuria in 1931? • USA hoped that their lead would be followed, but it wasn’t – force wasn’t met with force • League of Nations sent Lytton Report of 1932 condemning Japanese act as aggression • Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933 – first formal breach What happened • 1933: Hitler withdrew from League of Nations during German • 1935: denounced limits of Treaty of Versailles; began Rearmament (1935- rebuilding German armed forces 1936)? • April 1935: League of Nations condemned Germany’s repudiation; May 1935: France and Soviet Union concluded their treaty of alliance against German aggression; June 1935: British signed agreement limiting German navy • Hitler “reoccupied” Rhineland in 1936, but France and Britain did nothing What was the • Ethiopia had been independent – Britain, France, and Italy Italian-Ethiopian wouldn’t divide it or let one of the three take it whole War (1935)? • Italians humiliated by losing battle of Adowa to Ethiopians in 1896 – wanted to show they could be a revived Roman Empire • 1934: frontier incident in Ethiopia • 1935: Mussolini invaded Ethiopia with good weapons and poison gas – won the war by 1936 How did Britain, • Ready to appease Italy – wanted Mussolini to fight against France, and the Hitler with them League of Nations • Haile Selassie protested, but they offered Mussolini economic react to Italy’s concessions in Ethiopia actions? • Ethiopia belonged to League of Nations – its formal independence had to be observed • League of Nations had condemned Japanese aggression in Manchuria and German rearmament • 1935: League of Nations declared that Italy had violated obligations under Covenant of the League • Urged to move from words to deeds by British, French, Haile Selasse • Economic sanctions imposed against Italy for resorting to war and disregarding the covenant in 1935 What were the • Loopholes – for example, oil wasn’t included sanctions? What were their effects? • Mussolini stated that more drastic sanctions (including oil) wider war • France was too divided to fight; Britain wasn’t prepared for a war – would have acted jointly with France, but French premier was willing to give up Ethiopia to Italy and persuaded Britain to join in that proposal • Recrimination in League of Nations over what should be on prohibition list + failure of Britain and France to watch Italian movement through Suez Canal • There were no rigorous sanctions – effectiveness not tested • Italy withdrew from League of Nations in 1937 What was the • Emotional catalyst pitting fascists/monarchists/conservatives Spanish Civil War against socialists/communists/anarchists – no center (1936-1939)? • Quasi-religious, war of principle • Engaged West – foreign enlistments, covert interventions • Rehearsal for WWII – fascists tested their weapons • 1937: German planes devastated Guernica • Italy and German intervened effectively; Russia intervened less effectively; Britain and France were feeble • 1939: fall of Barcelona, Civil War over, fascists had won What were • 1936: established Rome-Berlin Axis between fascist Italy and Mussolini’s further Nazi Germany actions? • 1938: orchestrated public outcry in Italy for France to hand over Nice, Savoy, Corsica, Tunisia – came to nothing • 1939: Mussolini attacked and subjugated Albania • • • • • • •