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The Move to Global War: Italy and Germany, N20: the factors which…

- - - - Italys actions: opportunistic
        Italy was economically and militarily weak, so their actions conducted on a smaller scale
      - 1920s: Italy was economically dependent on Britain, France and US
        Great Depression (1929):
        
        Britain, France and the US erected trade barriers to protect their industries
        
        Italy turned away from Western markets and traded with Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania
        ==> Britain, France and US had less leverage over Italy should Italy go to war against them
        ==> Italy had more freedom to operate its foreign policy and more in line with its fascist policy
      - Strong Government Control:
        i) Industries cooperated with the government
        
        benefitted industries: reduced competition and allowed all major industries to survive the Great Depression
        ==> allowed Italian government to control what they created, allowed Italy to gear towards war production
        
        ii) Government reduced unemployment and recession
        
        Government participated in deficit spending: Borrowed large sums of money to order from industries that cooperated with them
        
        Army and Navy massively expanded --> provided jobs for up to 1 million men by 1935
        
        iii) Autarky (self-sufficiency)
        
        especially in food --> Mussolini emphasized on Italians only consuming what Italy could produce
    - - Mussolini and Italy's beliefs:
        
        Only through warfare and imperialism can a country become a great nation
        
        Italy needed to expand
        
        Conservative gender roles
        
        men should fight in war
        
        women should stay at home and produce children for Italy's future army
        
        Weak territories
        Italian territories (Libya, Eritrea and part ofSomalia) were all
        
        disconnected
        
        smaller in comparison to Britain and France
        
        restricted to Africa
        
        lacked in economic strength and rich resources
        
        desire for Abyssinia:
        
        strategically located beside Italian colonies of Somaliland and Eritrea
        
        borders were loosely defined (if at all)
- - - - Rearmament
        
        Poland - 300 000 active soldiers and 700 000 in reserves
        
        France had identical numbers on Germany's western borders
        
        Germany's vulnerability was seen in France and Belgium's invasion of the Ruhr region
        Germany was also concerned about communism and the growing strength of the Soviet Union --> only Poland lay between the Soviet Union and Germany
        ==>Germany felt the need to prepare the country's defence in case of an invasion
        
        World Disarmament Conference 1932
        France refused to cooperate with disarmament talks
        When it became clear France would not disarm, Germany withdrew from the conference and withdrew from the LON
        
        Rearmament begins (May 1935)
        
        introduction of conscription
        
        construction of 2500 aircraft of various types
        
        expansion of the navy
        
        mass production of guns of all types, tanks and artillery
        
        By 1936:
        Germany had the ability to produce 5000 aircrafts annually
        By 1939:
        Germany had an army of 700 000 with 3 million more in reserves
        
        Stresa Front, April 1935
        Britain, France and Italy to respond to Germany's clear violation of the Treaty of Versailles
        
        All the countries condemned Germany's plans to rebuild its military and promised to work together
        
        Hitler assured these states of Germany's peaceful intentions
        
        Germany proposed non-aggression pacts with its neighbours
        
        Germany promised to observe the Locarno treaties
        
        Germany recognized the borders of neighbouring western states as permanent
        
        Germany would accept limitations on armaments if other countries limited their war capabilities
        
        France's response
        France was the strongest military power at this time
        
        Since Poland's non-aggression agreement with Germany, France no longer saw Poland as a reliable ally
        
        France turned to the Soviet Union
        
        Britain's response:
        the British government were alarmed by Germany's rearmament
        
        there was a strict policy of limited military spending after WW1
        
        there was little support for rearmament as it would increase taxation
        
        Great Depression fostered even less interest in building a large military force
        
        ==> government realized it would only be able to negotiate from a position of military strength
        
        started rearmament on a large scale
        
        mass production of aircraft, artillery and warships, as well as expanding industrial capacity
        
        government built infrastructure (railway lines, shipbuilding facilities, factories, power plants ect.)
        
        gov spending on rearmament increased by 600% between 1935 to 1939
      - Saar Plebiscite (1935)
        Saar: iron and coal rich region of Germany that was placed under the administration of the LON
        
        France was allowed to operate and prosper from the coalmines
        
        LON held a plebiscite in Jan 1935 where residents of the Saar could vote to rejoin Germany, remain under LON or merge with France
        over 90% of voters indicated they wanted to rejoin Germany
      - Anglo-German Naval Treaty (1935)
        contradicted the declarations made in Stresa js 2 months before
        Britain believed it had achieved diplomatic victory as the treaty would limit Germany's navy to 35% of the British navy's size while Britain conducted massive rearmament.
        
        France and Italy believed German rearmament had been encouraged and the TOV had been violated with British consent
        ==> brought France and Italy temporarily closer together
        
        Stresa Front was severely damaged and collapsed after:
        
        Italian invasion of Abyssinia
        
        Economic sanctions placed on Italy
    - - International response to German aggression (1933–1938)
      - Remilitarization of Rhineland (March 1936)
        Germany saw the demilitarization of Rhineland as a vulnerability as the French could potentially invade Germany with no resistance
        being unable to control its territory was seen as a national humiliation
        
        Italy's attitude was crucial to Hitler's plans
        --> as Mussolini was isolated from Britain and France due to their invasion of Abyssinia, it assured Hitler Italy would not cooperate with Britain and French in opposing the remilitarization
        
        7 March 1936:
        Hitler used the Franco-Soviet Alliance as an excuse that Germany was under threat from France and needed to defend itself
        Germany's rearmament was few in number and troops were lightly equipped with orders to retreat if France stepped in
        
        France and Britain's responses:
        
        France was planning for a defensive war against future German aggression --> was not so concerned about demilitarized zone
        
        France also refused to fight Germany alone and Britain made it clear they would not go to war over a demilitarized zone
      - Anschluss (March 1938)
        Hitler's government wanted Austria to merge with Germany as
        
        Austria had hundreds of factories, large government reserves of golds
        
        many workers
        
        many natural reserves (iron, magnesium)
        
        11 March: Hitler's government announced that riots had broken out against Schuschnigg's government and German forces needed to enter Austria to restore order
        
        Schuschnigg was ordered to hand over all authority to the Austrian Nazi Party officials
        
        Schnuschnigg resigned
        
        12 March: German forces entered the country
        13 March: Austria was officially annexed to Germany
        April: a plebiscite confirmed the annexation
        
        99.75% of voters approved
        
        Britain and France's response:
        neither had sufficient military might to force any changes
        Many in Britain and France continued to believe a strengthened Germany would be useful in any future conflict against communism
        Additionally, few saw the point of preventing Germans living in Germany even if that came at the expense of expansion
      - Sudetenland Crisis (Oct 1938)
        Germans in Czechoslovakia wanted to be included in the expanding, prosperous Germany
        
        over 3 million Germans lived in Czechoslovakia
        
        they saw the Anschluss as an opportunity for Sudetenland to join Germany
        
        Sudetenland was important for Czechoslovakia as
        
        it was an important source of metals and other mined products
        
        Sudetenland acted as a border to Germany where main defences were held
        
        if the government loss control of Sudetenland, the country would be defenceless in the face of an invasion
        
        France's response:
        As France had a military alliance with Czechoslovakia, they were alarmed at the possibility of war
        while their treaty stated France would defend Czechoslovakia, France did not intend to go to war over this
        However, France was not ready for confrontation
        
        Soviet Union's response:
        Soviet Union were also militarily allied with Czechoslovakia, and were supposed to help them in support of France if Czechoslovakia was attacked
        
        However, the French were not willing to cooperate with the communists
        
        As Poland stood between the Soviet Union and Germany, the Soviet Union were also unlikely to step in to help Czechoslovakia
        
        The Munich Agreement (30 Sept 1938)
        
        Germany would receive Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia
        
        German troops would occupy Sudetenland
        
        Plebiscites would be held to determine which country residents wished to be citizens of
        
        Britain's response:
        The British public were enthusiastic about avoiding war and proud of their government's role in resolving the crisis
        
        Soviet Union's response:
        the Soviet Union realized Britain and France were willing to accommodate fascist states
        --> feared they would not intervene, and may even join in, if Germany were to attack them
        
        14 March 1939: Hitler summoned Czechoslovakian president
        
        told him Czechoslovakia would be invaded by Germany or he could agree to become a part of Germany with some autonomy over its own affairs
        ==> Czechoslovakia's independence was signed over
      - Polish Crisis (1938-1939)
        
        Germany wanted to build rail and road links between Germany and East Prussia across the Polish corridor --> would give them control over Danzig
        Poland stated it was not interested in negotiating away any territory
        
        Britain and France's responses:
        
        their publics were outraged, believing German territorial requests ended with the Munich Agreement
        --> led to overwhelming demands for the governments not to negotiate away Polish or League territory and confront Germany if needed
        
        Britain, afraid an isolated France would make diplomatic arrangements for its own security, announced Britain would support France militarily
        
        28 April 1939: Germany withdrew from the Polish-German Non-Aggression Pact
        
        served to threaten Poland so it would negotiate away its territory
        
        Pact of Steel (May 1939)
        Germany responded to British and French pressure by fomalizing its alliance with Italy
        
        follow similar, closely coordinated foreign policies
        
        support each other in war
        
        make war plans together
        
        work together economically
        
        coordinate press, news and other propaganda
        
        Nazi-Soviet Pact (23 Aug 1949)
        secret discussions that called for
        
        Germany and the Soviet Union to not fight each other
        
        allow Germany to do whatever it wanted diplomatically
        
        parts of Poland that initially were a part of Russia would be reabsorbed into the Soviet Union
        
        Germany had no fear of Soviet intervention on behalf of Poland
        
        28 August 1939: Britain issued a formal warning to Germany not to violate Poland's borders
        
        British ships in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas were ordered to leave those areas
        
        British government instituted emergency rationing of food and essential supplies
        Hitler was not convinced Britain would go to war over Poland
        
        29 August 1939: Germany offered the Polish government to return Danzig and the Polish Corridor to German control
        
        The Polish ambassador sent to meet the German government did not have authority to sign treaties on behalf of Poland
        
        German radio stations announced Poland had rejected negotiations
        
        1 September 1939: Poland Invaded
        
        3 massive armies (1.5 million men) attacked from the north, west and south of the country
        
        aircrafts bombed military and civilian positions, disrupted roads and railways, destroyed bridges and attacked factories
        
        thousands of civilians killed
        
        1 more item...
- - - - Nazism foreign policy objectives:
        
        wanted humiliation of the TOV ended:
        a) wanted back territories where Germans once resided --> "pan-Germanism"
        
        Alscace-Lorraine
        
        Polish Corridor
        
        Sudentenland
        
        b) wanted to be able to rearm in order to defend themselves
        
        especially as Poland and France both had huge militaries
    - - New Plan (1934)
        Action: gave the German government more control over the economy
        
        Exchange of goods of equal value and purchasing only essential materials
        
        Exporting increasing amounts of manufactured goods to states that produced raw materials
        
        o/c:
        
        Cheaper food prices
        
        More money to purchase raw materials (for rearmament) as food was imported from central and eastern Europe
        
        Eastern European states became more dependent on Germany for their prosperity and economic stability
        
        Political sway in France and Britain
        ==> Germany's economy recovered more rapidly than any other European state during the Great Depression
      - The Four Year Plan (1936)
        Action:
        
        Increase agricultural and raw material production (production of synthetic oil and rubber) -> Autarky
        
        Government regulation of imports and exports -> emphasis on war material imports
        
        Increase in military production at expense of consumer production [total war]
        
        o/c: strengthened Germany's economy
        
        Fewer consumer goods for purchase
        
        Wages increased
        
        Unemployment decreased
        
        Inflation increases
        
        able to rapidly increase its production of military equipment
      - Impact of Great Depression:
        
        As Germany was an exporting nation that relied on the US market, US trade barriers caused a 61% decline in German industrial production
        
        poor government management led to
        
        other countries' exports being more favourable
        
        unemployment of 6 million people (1932)
- - - - International response to Italian aggression (1935–1936)
        
        LON:
        condemned the Italian invasion of Abyssinia but did the least possible:
        
        League placed no embargo on oil exports to Italy
        
        this would bring the Italian economy to a halt quickly
        
        Britain refused to close the Suez Canal to Italian shipping on the ground
        
        they did this out of fear of war in the Mediterranean
        
        these 2 actions condemned Abyssinia to defear
        
        Failure of the LON:
        After the blatant failure of the LON to address the destruction of a member state, the LON ceased to be an influential body
        
        Mussolini was convinced neither Britain nor France would interfere with Italy's actions in Abyssinia
        
        Britain:
        did not threaten Italy with war or even consider it as an option
        
        Britain was facing elections and the government was under intense pressure to support the LON and its policies
        
        Britain and France were more concerned about Germany's expansion, not remote eastern Africa
        
        did not want to militarily threaten Italy as they attempted to avoid war
        
        o/c: British negotiated an arrangement which would give Italy effective control of Abyssinia without formally annexing it
        
        France:
        France's main concern was Germany
        
        France believed they needed Italy to help guarantee the borders of its central and eastern allies against German
        
        Britain and France were more concerned about Germany's expansion, not remote eastern Africa
        
        did not want to militarily threaten Italy as they attempted to avoid war
        
        USA:
        worked diplomatically to encourage Mussolini not to invade Abyssinia to no avail
        After the invasion:
        US government blocked the sale of weapons, ammunition and other war supplies to both Italy and Abyssinia through its Neutrality Acts
        
        However, this only affected Abyssinia as Italy produced much of its own war material
        
        Once Abyssinia was absorbed into the Italian Empire, the USA refused to recognize this annexation
        
        Italy:
        
        Economically:
        a) Italy was further isolated from the markets and relative wealth of Western Europe
        b) Italian trade was restricted
        
        o/c: encouraged Italy to continue expanding its economic ties with central and southeastern Europe --> more independence in its foreign policy
        
        Politically:
        a) diplomatically isolated
        
        refused to participate in London Naval Treaty conference
        
        b) Italy began envisioning the possibility of Italy and Germany cooperating to create a joint navy capable of challenging Britain and France
        o/c: complete breakdown of the Stresa Front
        
        Oct 1936: creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis
      - Italian expansion: Abyssinia (1935–1936)
        
        Wal-Wal incident (5 Dec 1934):
        clash between Italian and Abyssinian troops
        
        2 Italian dead
        
        over 100 Abyssinian troops dead
        
        o/c:
        
        Italy demanded $100 000 and an official apology from the Abyssinian government
        
        Abyssinia appealed to the League of Nations
        
        in the meantime, Mussolini directed the Italian army to prepare for the invasion of Abyssinia
        
        Britain and France were aware of Italy's plans, but were unwilling to jeopardize their relationship with Italy (who they believed was important for opposing German foreign policies)
        
        The Abyssinian Crisis (1935-1936):
        relatively-modern Italian forces annihilated the Abyssinian armies that used "antique weapons"
        
        over 750 000 people were killed in Abyssinia during the war
        
        inhabitants and livestock of whole villages were completely destroyed
        
        Italians were especially cruel
        
        Mussolini ordered prisoners to be shot
        
        various villages were gassed where resistance was discovered
        
        priests and others suspected of complicity in armed resistance were executed without hesitation
        
        Why Italy wanted Abyssinia:
        
        strategically located beside Italian colonies of Somaliland and Eritrea
        
        borders were loosely defined (if at all)
    - - Italian expansion: Albania; entry into the Second World War
        
        Why Italy wanted Albania:
        
        Loss money, troops and supplies through aid in the Spanish Civil War
        
        Natural resources (forests, fields, metals and petroleum)
        
        Wanted to prove themselves to Germany
        
        Hitler had just annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia
        
        Had a historical claim over Albania
        
        siezed Albania in 1915 during WW1
        
        1932-1933:
        
        Zog closed all schools operated by Italians
        
        Zog removed Italian military instructors and advisors
        
        In response, Mussolini suspended all loans of money granted to Albania
        
        led to suspension of government projects and unemployment
        
        June 1934: Mussolini landed military troops in Durres
        
        he demanded Zog allow Italians military instructors and advisors back into Albania's military
        
        he forbade the country to join any alliances outside of the one it had with Italy
        
        he wanted Albania to end all trade restrictions with it
        
        he wanted the construction of an improved port at Durres to serve as a future Italian naval base
        
        March 1939: Italy sent Albania an ultimatum:
        
        Italian troops be garrisoned in various parts of the cuntry
        
        Albania grant land to Italian colonist who would automatically become Albanian citizens
        
        Zog's government contain an Italian minister to represent Italy's interests
        
        TLDR: Italy wanted almost complete control over the country
        Zog's responded by proposing few, limited concessions to Italy --> rejected
        
        7 April 1939:
        30 000 soldiers, supported by aircrafts, marine and ships anded at Durres and other ports
        
        Albania's army and volunteer fighters were overwhelmed
        
        10 April 1939:
        All of Albania was occupied
        
        Albania was annexed to Italy
        
        Italy's king was now King of the Albanians
      - International response to Italian aggression (1935-1936)
        
        International response:
        
        Britain and France were preoccupied with Germany's demands in Poland ==> did not protest
        
        Neighbouring states (Greece and Yugoslavia) were afraid of Italian attack, but hoped to regain slices of Albania ==> did not protest
        
        LON proved ineffective earlier, so it ignored the situation in Albania
    - - Italian expansion: Second World War
        
        May 1939: Italy and Germany signed a formal military alliance ==> Pact of Steel
        
        both states pledged to support each other in case of war
        
        there was a call for mutual cooperation in economic areas and sharing of military aid (weapons)
        
        Germany: did not take the Pact of Steel seriously
        
        possible that the Pact was aimed to prevent Mussolini from building relations with France and Britain
        
        did not assist Italy in any war with war preparations
        
        did not inform Italy that war may break out until August 1939
        
        Italy: not prepared for war
        
        Its economy was weak in comparison to other European states
        
        Its military was smaller and its military supplies had been consumed in conflicts
      - International response
        
        Italy panicked:
        Italy handed over an enormous list of military needs
        aimed to:
        
        demonstrate to Germany how unprepared they were
        
        show their displeasure with Germany's probable war with Poland
        
        Germany declined to supply Italy and granted Italy the right to remain in the alliance but not fight
        Instead, Italy was to supply diplomatic and political support to Germany
        ==> Italy readily agreed - hoped Germany's war with Poland would be limited in terms of time, involvement and impact on international diplomacy
        
        By 1940, Germany conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and most of France
        19 June 1940: Italy declared war and began the invasion of France's southeast provinces and Corsica