Chapter 31 - A Second Global Conflict and the End of the European World Order

Chapter 31
A Second Global Conflict and the End of the European World Order

1. Introduction
   1. World War II
      1. Officially started in 1939 after decade of aggression
      2. Aggression of Axis powers went unchecked - appeasement
   2. Failure to unite
      1. Nationalism plus Red Fear/Scare of Soviets prevented early alliance
      2. W/in each government disagreement on how to respond
         1. Some actually felt guilty about Versailles
      3. League of Nations a joke
         1. Italy and Japan merely left the League after censured
      4. Axis/Fascist leaders laughed at treaties - diplomacy a joke
         1. Brilliant method of delaying intervention of enemy
2. Old and New Causes of a Second World War
   1. China vs. Japan
      1. China looking stronger - Chiang Kai-shek uniting/defeating warlords
         1. Could Nationalist (Guomindang) party pose a threat
         2. Afraid Chinese would retake Manchuria
      2. Japan gradually becomes militaristic
   2. Germany - Weimar Republic weak - blamed for Versailles
      1. Great Depression made life look worse
         1. Adolf Hitler takes advantage
         2. Nazis made a ton of promises
            1. German people back to work
            2. Ignore diktat of Versailles
            3. Turn back Communist push
               1. Actually wants to enslave Slavic peoples
      2. Steps to taking over Europe/becoming poweful
         1. Destroy parliament/political system > totalitarian
         2. Ignore diplomacy of Versailles
         3. Rearm/remilitarize
            1. Not afraid to bomb cities/use poison gas
         4. Forced union with Austria
         5. Annexation of Czechoslovakia
   3. Mussollini - big, bad Italian man gets courage to take over Ethiopia
   4. Spanish Civil War - becomes training ground for new weapons
      1. Franco wins with Axis support, but doesn't help Axis in war
3. Unchecked Aggression and the Coming of War in Europe and the Pacific
   1. Introduction
      1. US, Britain, France appeasment
         1. Sacrifice small nations to protect themselves
         2. Fear of another world war
         3. Want to focus on welfare states, not military states
      2. Japan first to attack - invaded China from Manchukuo
         1. Japanese moderate political leaders silenced
            1. Fear of assassination from military officers
         2. Initially quite successful, but when they lose, they get medieval
            1. Rape of Nanjing - horrific treatment of Chinese civilians - 1937
               1. Symbolic beginning of horrific war of suffering
         3. Japan and China in war for Asia far before 1941
      3. Japan, Germany, Italy did not coordinate attacks
      4. Germany needs to attack Soviet Union - lebensraum - living space
         1. First, signs nonaggression agreement with Soviets
            1. Buys time, splits Poland, can now invade from Poland
      5. British/France declare war once Poland is attacked
         1. Prepare for another trench warfare, unfortunately Hitler doesn't play fair
4. The Conduct of a Second Global War
   1. Introduction
      1. Hitler's victories stunningly fast
         1. West's reluctance to arm/react decisively
      2. War shifts once Germans get stuck in Russian winter
         1. Anglo-American, Soviet alliance has more #s, industry, technology
   2. Nazi Blitzkrieg, Stalemate, and the Long Retreat
      1. Blitzkrieg - lightning fast war
         1. Coordinate tanks, mechanized troop carriers, fighter aircraft/bombers
         2. Penetrate deep into nation - hit capital hard
         3. Severely punished civilian population that didn't surrender
         4. In months, French defeated, British pushed back across the Channel
      2. Why did France lose so quickly?
         1. Gov't couldn't agree on what to do - left vs. right argued
         2. Weapons painfully outdated
         3. Civilian population demoralized
         4. Only Vichy France in South exists - puppet government
      3. Turns to invasion of Britain - strong air force + growingly powerful army
         1. Battle of Britain - Britain actually holds off
            1. Strong leadership of Churchill/war cabinet
            2. Radar detection discovered Nazi flight plans
            3. Bravery of Britain's royal family
            4. High morale of citizens
         2. Land invasion called off, can't fight off British Navy
      4. But Germany had taken over W. Europe, Scandinavia, Mediterrenean, N. Africa
         1. Conguered areas must provide
            1. War materials, soldiers, slave labor
   3. Hitler turns on Soviet union
      1. Soviets easily pushed out of Finalnd, Poland, Baltic states, but then winter kicks in
         1. Soviets just won't surrender - body for bullet
         2. Just kept retreating eastward
         3. Nazi mass killings inspire guerilla warfare behind front lines
         4. Stopped at Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad
      2. Fought most severe battles - Kursk, Stalingrad
         1. Momentum shifts - Germany on the run
         2. 1943 Soviets push west, 1944 on doorstep of Berlin
         3. Sacrifices of Soviet soldiers/women/civilians led to victory
   4. From Persecution to Genocide: Hitler's War Against the Jews
      1. First years of war Hitler persecuted non-Aryans
         1. Gypsies, leftist politicians, homosexuals, Jews, Polish intellectuals, communists
      2. Once war seemed lost, and on defensive
         1. Turned to "final solution" - Wannsee Conference - 1942 - extermination camps
         2. Resources from front used or transportation, imprisonment, mass murder
         3. Shipped from all over empire to the East
            1. Physically fit > hard labor
            2. Women, children, ill - murdered immediately
         4. Used for scientific experiments
      3. Holocaust - 12 million killed, 6 million Jews
         1. Armenian genocide the root
         2. Horrific - premeditated, systematic, carried out by the state
         3. Essentially allowed by occupied countries
            1. Only really Danes and Italians resisted in any degree
         4. Also, allied countries refused Jewish emigrants/refugees
            1. Also didn't attack railway lines or extermination camps
      4. Effect - creation of Zionist state in Israel
         1. Emigration to Palestine only option
            1. Some even made deals with Nazis to take to Palestine
   5. Anglo-American Offensives, Encirclement, and the End of the 12-Year Reich
      1. American interaction
         1. Primarily supplies at first - US gov't hesitant, Roosevelt sympathetic
         2. Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 - US enters
         3. Tank divisions and infantry join in Africa
         4. Next attacked Sicily, Italy
            1. Eventually Mussolini toppled, assassinated
         5. June 1944, Western front - invasion of Normandy
            1. Moved East to Germany, stopped only briefly at Battle of the Bulge
      2. By June 1945 US and Soviets divisive over how to divide Germany
         1. Hitler kills himself - goes down believing he was betrayed by German people
   6. The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific War
      1. 1/3 of Japanese forces fight in China throughout war
      2. After Pearl Harbor, Japan takes over Asia
         1. Thailand becomes neutral, cooperates
         2. Australia and New Zealand provide support
         3. But...US on its own
      3. Took over too much, angered all of the European Allies
         1. Colonial regimes worse than European
            1. Needed natural resources, raw materials
         2. Led to resistance movements - requires even more soldiers/resources
            1. Guerrilla forces harassed Japanese
               1. Coordinated w/ Americans and British
      4. Main theaters of conflict islands - "island hopping"
         1. Vicories at Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway Island
         2. Joint air, sea, land assaults against Japan
      5. 1944 America begins firebombing Japanese cities
         1. Destroyed wooden homes, hundreds of thousands of civilians killed
      6. Demanded unconditional surrender
         1. Atomic bombs - August 1945
            1. Threat that Japanese would fight to the death
5. War's End and the Emergence of the Superpower Standoff
   1. Introduction
      1. Wanted to avoid failed peace treaties of World War I
      2. Established United Nations
         1. More representative of world than League of Nations
            1. US actually decides to participate
         2. Security Council made up of victors - US, France, Britain, China, USSR
            1. Though China is really represented by Taiwan, communist gov't not acknowledged
         3. Colonies and defeated powers granted membership
         4. Europe retained control of post-war global policy through 3 votes on security council
         5. Forum for negotiating international disputes
         6. World Court of Justice
         7. Human Rights organizations - food, labor, women
         8. Unsuccessful at times - large and small nations resent role
         9. But...played important role in humanitarian, refugee relief
         10. Sponsored conferences to deal with social issues
             1. Child labor, women's rights, environmental protection
   2. From Hot War to Cold War
      1. USSR vs. USA - no direct conflict, but tons of related global conflicts
      2. Began with how to decide post-war Europe
         1. USSR wanted territorial gains - tired of getting invaded
      3. Tehran Conference - 1944
         1. By setting up Western front in France, USSR takes over Eastern Europe
            1. USSR doesn't pull out of many occupied lands - Iron Curtain
         2. Doesn't allow nations to "self-determine" themselves
      4. Yalta Conference - 1945
         1. USSR gets Manchuria and northern Japanese islands
         2. Divide Germany into 4 spheres of influence
         3. Germany industry allowed to continue - needed to control Soviets
         4. USSR wants friendly gov'ts in small European nations
            1. West wants democratic gov'ts
            2. Stalin lies
      5. Problems still after Potsdam
         1. Austria divided, occupied then independent in 1956
         2. Poland gain East Germany, but lose land to Russia
         3. USSR/USA sign separate treaties with Japan
         4. German peace treaty not even agreed upon until 1980s
         5. Korea divided between USSR and USA
         6. European colonies returned to Europeans
            1. But...independence movements start right away
         7. China war starts
            1. Soviets aid communists
            2. US aids Nationalists
      6. Independence movements
         1. Middle East, Africa, India want independence
            1. Europe fought nationlism during war, but had to revisit after
      7. Soviet Union pushes boundaries West
         1. New independent nations created in 1918 gobbled up by USSR
      8. US heavily influenced W. Europe
         1. Occupied troops, economic aid (Marshall Plan), policy manipulation
      9. Two movements roots
         1. Occupied people push for independence/decolonization
         2. World's allegiances divided between US and USSR
6. Nationalism and Decolonizatino
   1. Introduction
      1. No more illusions of European dominance
         1. Destroyed by Nazis and Japanese
         2. Japanese victories over Europeans destroyed myth - Pearl Harbor, Singpaore
         3. "death marches" of Europeans
      2. Harsh rule of Japanese inspired nationalism - want to control fate
      3. Harsh total war sapped European desire to maintain empires
      4. US propagandizes notion of anticolonialism
      5. Atlantic Charter of 1941
         1. Roosevelt and Stalin persuaded Churchill to sign clause
            1. Recognize "right of all people to chooce the form of government"
   2. The Winning of Independence in South and Southeast Asia
      1. Indian National Congress demands independence in exchange for fighting
         1. Sir Stafford Cripps sent to India to get a deal, doesn't work
         2. Quit India movement - civil disobediene campaigns 1942
            1. Gandhi, Nehru thrown in jail
         3. British have backing of Communists and Muslim League
            1. Muslim League - Muhammad Ali Jinnah - wartime support
               1. British like him, he wants separate Muslim India
      2. Churchill loses 1945 election, Labor Party ready to deal
         1. 1945-1947 - what type of India
            1. Muslims propagandize that Hindu dominated India would persecute Muslims
            2. Must create Pakistan in northwest and east India
            3. Communal rioting spreads across nation
         2. To avoid civil war, Pakistan and India gain independence in 1947
         3. Summer of violence - Hindu-Muslim and Muslim-Shikh violence
            1. Led to massive refugee movement - moving to safe area
      3. India and civil disobedience inspired independence movements across globe
         1. French and American empires start to fall
            1. Filipino independence comes after help during WWII
         2. Dutch and French fight to keep colonies
   3. The Liberation of Nonsettler Africa
      1. Africa more dramatically affected by WWII
         1. Forced labor
         2. Confiscation of crops/minerals
         3. Inflation/controlled markets > less money for Africans
         4. More chances to kill Europeans with European weapons
         5. Fight for freedom, return to oppression
         6. France controlled by Nazis and Vichy French – who to listen to
      2. Change in colonial policy
         1. Industrialization created in colony
         2. Rapid urbanization to take advantage of work
            1. But…few jobs…millions of people living together and angry
      3. Paths to independence
         1. Kwamee Nkrumah – radical African leader – British Gold Coast
            1. Establishes Convention People’s Party
            2. Mass rallies, boycotts, strikes
            3. Doesn’t back down regardless of threats, imprisonment
            4. By 1957, Ghana created – after decade of gradual concessions
         2. Peaceful devolution of power
            1. Worked with French, tired of fighting, maintaining colonies
            2. France gradually pulls out and leaves moderate leaders in place
         3. Belgian get out and run plan
            1. No western educated elite to lead – 16 college graduates/13 million
            2. Heads into chaos
   4. Repression and Guerrilla War: The Struggle for the Settler Colonies
      1. Gradual withdrawal tough in settler colonies – Europeans live there
         1. Blocked nationalistic movements and concessions on part of overlords
         2. Fought attempts to turn power over
         3. African leaders forced to turn to violent, revolutionary struggles
      2. Kenya – Land Freedom Army – 1950s – guerilla warfare against British
         1. British react with violence
         2. Kenyatta forms Kenya in 1963 – British tired of fighting
      3. Algeria – French – National Liberation Front
         1. French fight back – make up for defeat in Vietnam
         2. After years of fighting Charles de Gaulle – France – wants to get out
            1. Huge financial drain on country
         3. But…unlike in Kenya, Algerian residents fight back
            1. Secret Army Organization
            2. Eventually Parisian gov’t overthrown – end of 4th Republic
         4. Settlers + Algerian sympathizers have to move to France
            1. Too much hatred violence between them
   5. The Persistence of White Supremacy in South Africa
      1. Why did South Africa remain white dominated?
         1. Larger white settler population – Afrikaners + British
         2. Afrikaners have no nation to return to – two centuries in S. Africa
         3. White racist supremacy ideology
            1. Afrikaner racism elaborate and explicit – written, detailed
         4. British made concessions to Afrikaners – felt guilty after Boer War
            1. Gave political control to Afrikaners
         5. Afrikaner National Party
            1. Independence from Britain
            2. Establish lasting white domination
      2. Apartheid
         1. Thousands of laws to separate
            1. Best jobs for whites
            2. Africans/colored denied vote/political representation
            3. Limited educational opportunities
         2. Vigilant/brutal police force to enforce
         3. Kept populations geographically separated
   6. Conflicting Nationalisms: Arabs, Israelis, and the Palestinian Question
      1. Egypt, Syria, Iraq gained independence during Interwar Period
         1. Others all liberated by 1960s, but…
      2. Palestine
         1. Zionist movement gains momentum due to Holocaust
            1. International sympathy
            2. US/Britain reluctant to accept Jews
            3. Palestinian violence forces British to try and slow immigration
         2. Jews/Zionists create military – Haganah + terrorist organizations to fight Brits
      3. Deadly stalemate
         1. Zionists want independent Jewish nation
         2. Palestinians want multireligious nation w/ Palestinians dominating
         3. Britain just wants to get out of unsolvable situation
      4. United Nations suggests partition
         1. But…all out war ensues…Jews win – 1) better weapons, 2) better prepared
         2. Led to thousands of Palestinian Arab refugees
7. Global Connections
   1. Were there really revolutions?
      1. Or merely transfer of power from one elite group to another w/ new nation name attached
         1. Western-educated African and Asian classes merely took over
            1. Both jobs and homes
         2. For the most part big landholders kept land and didn’t redistribute
            1. Acceptions – Algeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe
      2. Culturally kept many Western ideas
         1. Western sciences now taught
         2. Administration often conducted in English
      3. Western dominance of trade maintained
         1. One of criteria for independence was protection of existing merchants/traders