Term
| what was the wall street crash |
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Definition
| in 1929 the US economy collapsed as shares became worthless, businesses experienced a huge drop in the number of goods they could sell so the 'laid off' workers and the economy went into a downward spiral |
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Term
| what were the effects of the wall street crash on the rest of the world |
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Definition
| the US made substantial loans to other countries such as Germany to help them rebuild their economies. but after the wall street crash they wanted it back. the phrase goes 'when america sneezes, the world catches a cold.' america could not afford to import goods so all countries suffered. |
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Term
| explain the key features of the Manchuria crisis |
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Definition
the Japanese suffered the greatest in the great depression as they had now raw materials and could not afford to import goods 50% of all factories had shut down by 1931.
on September 18 1931, part of Japanese railway line running through Manchuria (Manchuria was rich with raw materials) was blown up, the Japanese claimed it was Chinese soldiers who had also fired upon the Japanese soldiers protecting it, therefore the army was 'forced' to invade to protect their best interests. no-one know if it was a deliberate attack or not but it is accepted that the Japanese blew up the railway. however the government disapproved of the invasion the Japanese people were enthusiastic about it it and by February 1932 the conquest was finished and a puppet government Pu Yi was put in control of China. the league condemned the action of the Japanese but the Japanese simply left the league. |
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Term
| explain the key features of the invasion of Abyssinia |
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Definition
the Italian dictator Mussolini wanted to expand his Italian empire in Africa Italy already owned Eritrea and Somalia. Abyssinia was one of the few independent countries in Africa.
in December 30 Italian soldiers were killed in a border clash Mussolini had an excuse to invade.
in October 1935 Italy invaded Abyssinia and Haile Selassie appealed for help so the league sold no rubber and iron it did not ban oil as Italy could easily buy oil from the US.
Britain and France did not want to provoke Italy into a war as the saw Mussolini ans a ally against Hitler.
behind the scenes the league agreed that they would give two thirds to Italy if he agreed to stop fighting. |
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Term
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Definition
| when Hitler came to power he secretly started to build up the German army and air force |
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Term
| explain the re militarisation of the Rhineland |
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Definition
| in 1936 Hitler ordered his soldiers to march into the Rhineland. Hitler said German territory should be protected by German troops. this went against the treaty, but he felt he had wasn't protected against the West. the French did nothing because the Germans were no match for the French army and the Germans would back out if France invaded. |
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Term
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Definition
in March 1938 Hitler sent troops to Austria and forced the government to fix a vote to show that the Austrian people did want to unite with Germany.
Britain and France refused to help the Austrian government because they didn't want war. |
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Term
| explain what happened when the Saar rejoins Germany in 1935 |
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Definition
| in 1919 the Saar (an important coal mining area) was placed under control of the league of nations for 15 years. when the period ran out a referendum was held to see if the local people wanted to see if they wanted to see weather they wanted to join with Germany or not. As around 90% of the population voted to return to Germany. |
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Term
| Nazi views on communism and the treaty of Versailles |
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Definition
-Hitler saw Versailles as a symbol of the humiliation that Germans had been forced to suffer in 1919. it must be reversed.
-Hitler hated communism ans was determined to stop it spreading in Germany, one of the aims of his foreign policy, therefore, was to take over large parts of the Soviet Union. |
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Term
| explain what allies the Nazis made in the 1930's |
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Definition
-in 1936 Germany signed the Rome-Berlin Axis with Italy. however it was not a formal agreement.
-in 1936 Germany and Japan signed a pact that said they would work together against communism.
-in 1939 Germany and Italy turned the Rome-Berlin Axis into a formal military alliance. and referred to themselves as the Axis peers. |
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Term
| explain how the Nazis took over the Sudetenland. |
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Definition
in September 1938 Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia join Germany because there were many German speaking people living there.
in the Munich agreement Britain & France agreed that Hitler could have the Sudetrnland if he promised not to take over the rest of Czechoslovakia. |
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Term
| explain how the Nazis took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. |
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Definition
| in march 1939 German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia Britain and France did not help Czechoslovakia but the anticipated Hitler's next move,. Poland and they promised to help Poland if Hitler's troops invaded, this made Britain and France look very weak. |
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Term
| explain the Munich agreement |
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Definition
on the 29 September the four powers (Britain, France, Italy, Germany) met in Munich to resolve the crisis and they agreed that the Sudetnenland should become part of Germany.
but even thought Czechoslovakia was on the Soviet border Stalin was not invited... |
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Term
| explain the Nazi soviet pact |
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Definition
on the 23 August the Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed it seemed shocking that Stalin signed a pact with someone who wanted to wipe out communism. but Stalin didn't want an attack on his country. it also gave time for the soviet Union to Arm for the inevitable was with Germany.
the Nazi-Soviet pact gave Hitler and opportunity to invade Poland without a war as he believed Britain and France would not do anything. furthermore it gave Hitler to avoid fighting 'a war on two fronts' |
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Term
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Definition
Chamberlain had tried to avoid war by making concessions to Hitler in the hope that each demand Hitler made was his last one. but eventually Britain & France had been forced to take a stand and had declared war when Germany invaded Poland.
however appeasement gave Britain and France time to rearm and prepare for war by 1939 Britain had over doubled its spending on the armed forces from approx £200-500m, as well as giving Russia, a natural enemy of, Germany time to make reforms and make the Soviet Union stronger.
however Britain and France could have stopped Hitler before hand without stating a war, Britain and France did not want war but that does not mean that it is justifiable to allow Hitler to break international agreements designed to keep peace. |
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Term
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Definition
| Hitler demanded the areas of Poland that had been taken away from Germany by the treaty of Versailles, Poland refused, on the 1st September 1939 Germany invaded Poland on the 3rd September Britain & France declared war on Germany, although the did not send any troops to poland |
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