HIS 114 sp08 Ch06

20th Century U.S. History Since World War II: 

20th Century U.S. History Since World War II Introduction – Rise of Totalitarianism and the U.S. Response (BCC Spring ’08)

Overview of the 1930’s: 

Overview of the 1930’s Isolationist Country Many people in the U.S. felt that we should not have been involved in World War I and they wanted to prevent that mistake from happening again After World War I, the U.S. turned to a policy of isolationism which continued through the 1930’s The only exception was in the U.S.’s “sphere of influence,” where the focus was on improving relations with nations within the Americas

Overview of the 1930’s: 

Overview of the 1930’s Decade of Depression October 29, 1929, the NY Stock Market crashed ushering in the Great Depression It was a period of high unemployment, low wages, and high poverty Economic problems became the main concern of the government FDR instituted the New Deal as a way to stabilize and boost the economy Unemployment was the main concern of the people

Slide4: 

Rise of Totalitarianism

Rise of Totalitarianism: 

Rise of Totalitarianism Totalitarianism: This is a system of government in which the ruler(s) of a state control all activities including social, political, economic, intellectual, cultural, and spiritual for their own purposes Fascism - A political ideology that puts nation and often race above the individual It stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

Rise of Totalitarianism: 

Rise of Totalitarianism During the 1930’s, there was the rise of three strong and very dangerous governments that were potential threats to the U.S.: Japan, Germany, and Italy It was not until major aggressions from these powers that the U.S. changed its isolationist policies

Slide7: 

Japanese Emperor Hirohito

Imperial Japan: 

Imperial Japan Imperial Japan was founded in 1889 At this time, most of the governmental powers were given to the emperor During the latter half of the 19th century, Japan went through a period of rapid modernization Because the country is an island, it had limited amounts of necessary raw materials for manufacturing This forced Japan to import a number of raw materials (iron, coal, and oil)

Imperial Japan: 

Imperial Japan By the late 1920s, 23% of Japan’s gross domestic product was in manufacturing and mining By 1930, the Japanese Empire was guided by three principles: Expansionism – To gain raw materials Totalitarianism – The power of the Emperor Militarism

Expansionism: 

Expansionism When the Great Depression hit Japan, the Empire’s main priority was to acquire raw materials Influenced by Western thought, Japan believed that these materials could be gained by colonization They had already acquired Taiwan (1895) and Korea (1910) for agricultural resources They looked towards Manchuria (iron and coal), Indonesia (rubber), and China (agriculture) as future Japanese colonies

Totalitarianism, Nationalism, Militarism: 

Totalitarianism, Nationalism, Militarism Since the Constitution of 1889, popularity and support of the Emperor developed into worship Japanese nationalism was a source of intense pride Japanese history and tradition are saturated with militarism Prior to industrialization, the samurai were held in high esteem With modernization, this esteem moved to the members of the Japanese army and navy

Slide12: 

Japanese Empire Expansion

The Manchurian Crisis: 

The Manchurian Crisis In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria Within five months the Empire had set up a puppet government in the region Many Chinese historians start the Second Sino-Japanese War with this invasion Opinions in the U.S. were mixed about what the U.S. should do: do we get involved and possibly get dragged into another war or do we ignore it?

The Manchurian Crisis: 

The Manchurian Crisis The League of Nations wanted to “investigate” the matter but the U.S. does not participate Hoover refused to take the initiative by enacting an economic embargo against Japan Hoover was afraid that this would ultimately lead to war Also, with the Great Depression worsening, the U.S. could not afford to intervene

The Manchurian Crisis: 

The Manchurian Crisis Stimson Doctrine – January 7, 1932 US Secretary of State Henry Stimson had been angered by Hoover’s lack of action He wrote letters to the Chinese and Japanese governments stating that the U.S. would not recognize any changes made in China that would curtail America’s “open door policy” in China This did nothing to really stop Japanese expansionism into China

The Manchurian Crisis: 

The Manchurian Crisis The League of Nations ordered the Japanese to withdraw its troops from Manchuria The Japanese refused In 1933, Japan left the League of Nations Numerous skirmishes occurred between the Japanese and Chinese from 1931 to 1937 The main war did not begin until 1937

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945): 

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) Battle of Luguo Bridge – July 7, 1937- Japan invaded northern China, including Shanghai and Nanjing The Chinese were overpowered by the Japanese military machine At the time, the Chinese government was in the midst of a civil war with the Communists Many historians regard this as the beginning of the Pacific War

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945): 

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) The Japanese did not want to rule these sections of China directly so instead set up puppet governments In the areas of China controlled by Japan, any oppression was put down by severe means They used chemical and biological weapons against civilians This turned international opinion against the Japanese

The U.S. Response: 

The U.S. Response FDR responded to the invasion of northern China with his “Quarantine” speech on October 5, 1937 The speech called for a "quarantine of the aggressor nations" While public opinion was on the side of China, FDR was criticized by the isolationists out of fear of possible involvement At this time, he began to secretly speed up a program to build enough long-range submarines to blockade Japan

Slide20: 

U.S.S. Panay

The U.S.S. Panay: 

The U.S.S. Panay On December 12, 1937, the U.S. gunboat Panay was sunk on the Yangtze River by Japanese planes The Panay was part of the Yangtze River Patrol designed to protect American interests in China The Japanese claimed they had not seen the American flags flying on the ships The Japanese quickly offered a formal apology and paid reparations in the amount of $2.2 million

The U.S.S. Panay: 

The U.S.S. Panay U.S. Navy cryptographers did discover that the attack was planned It was also discovered that the Japanese government did know it was a U.S. ship Even with this clear evidence, it was not enough to bring the U.S. military in The isolationist feelings in the U.S were so strong that the government was pressured to accept the Japanese explanation that this was an accident

Slide23: 

Chinese victims being buried alive by Japanese troops in Nanjing

Nanjing Massacre: 

Nanjing Massacre Nanjing Massacre – (Winter 1937/38) – After the Japanese army took the city of Nanjing, over a six week period the soldiers committed numerous atrocities It is estimated that between 200,000 to 300,000 people were murdered Some were buried alive Over 20,000 women were raped While this story made the front page of the New York Times, it still did not lead to U.S. action against Japan

Slide25: 

Heads of victim’s of the Nanjing Massacre

Slide26: 

Adolph Hitler and the Rise of Germany

Fascism: 

Fascism Fascism is a philosophy of government that believes in: A strong centralized government headed by a dictator Stringent social and economic control Often has a policy of belligerent nationalism Two most powerful fascists of all time were Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini

Germany Prior to World War II: 

Germany Prior to World War II Treaty of Versailles – 1919 – Ended World War I Article 231 – “War Guilt Clause” – This article placed full blame on Germany for the start of the war and ordered it to pay reparations (totaling to over 132 billion marks) to the Allied countries Many Germans saw this as an embarrassment since it left the country economically broke and unarmed

Germany Prior to World War II: 

Germany Prior to World War II In April 1921, the Allies first began demanding payment of war reparations from Germany This led to rapid devaluation of the German mark In 1921, the exchange rate was 75 marks to $1 U.S. In November 1923, it 4 billion marks to $1 U.S. Many lost their life savings due to the devaluation of the mark

Germany in the Great Depression: 

Germany in the Great Depression During the 1930s, the Germany was hit harder than the U.S. by the Depression Germany had a 33% unemployment rate while the U.S. only had a 25% one By 1935, Germany literally ran out of money Before the Crash of 1929, American businesses had invested in the rebuilding of Europe but afterwards stopped Because of the shortage of jobs and food, many Germans were willing to turn to radical groups

Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party: 

Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party In September 1919, Hitler was working as a police spy for the German Army One of his duties was to infiltrate the German Worker’s Party (DAP) He liked the ideas of the party and joined it The party promoted the idea of nationalistic “non-Jewish” socialism This became the foundation of the Nazi party

Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party: 

Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party In October 1920, Hitler creates the Sturm Abteilung (SA), which became his own private army Their job was to protect Hitler and disrupt meetings of political opponents The SA became known as “storm troopers” In July 1921, Hitler was elected to be Führer of the party He renamed it to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), or the Nazi party

Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party: 

Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party By 1923, Germany’s economy was in rough shape In September 1923, Germany resumed making reparation payments to France By November, people would be required to carry billions of marks to buy groceries, of which many could not afford

Munich Beer Hall Putsch: 

Munich Beer Hall Putsch The Nazi party felt this was the perfect opportunity to seize power By November 1923, the Nazi party had over 55,000 members Their plan called for the kidnapping of Bavarian leaders at a Munich beer hall They would then force them at gunpoint to make Hitler their leader They had a famous WWI general on their side who would then help them win over the army

Munich Beer Hall Putsch: 

Munich Beer Hall Putsch Munich Beer Hall Putsch – November 8, 1923 – Hitler and his SA troops stormed in to the beer hall He managed to convince the leaders to support him However, they were unable to secure the support of the army Hitler was arrested for conspiracy to commit treason

Slide36: 

Leaders of the Beer Hall Putsch

Hitler at Landsberg : 

Hitler at Landsberg Hitler was put on trial in February 1924 The judges at the time were Nazi sympathizers Hitler used the trial to spread Nazi propaganda During the trial he stated "I alone bear the responsibility. But I am not a criminal because of that. If today I stand here as a revolutionary, it is as a revolutionary against the revolution. There is no such thing as high treason against the traitors of 1918." He was still found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison with possibility of parole

Hitler at Landsberg: 

Hitler at Landsberg Hitler was given a large and comfortable cell at Landsberg prison During his time their, he dictated his autobiography Mein Kampf It contained a number of his political ideas In included his belief in lebensraum, “living room,” for Germans It also included the concept of a “superior” race (the Ayrans) and “inferior” races (Jews and Slavs)

Hitler at Landsberg: 

Hitler at Landsberg Hitler was released from prison on December 20, 1924 By this time, he realized his mistake with the Beer Hall Putsch was that he had not gotten the support of the military This time, he was going to get support of the people and the army by using the democratic process to his advantage However, the popularity of the Nazi party had declined It had even been banned in Bavaria after the Putsch

Rebirth of the Nazi Party: 

Rebirth of the Nazi Party Hitler spent the next few years reorganizing the Nazi party and give it a more legitimate appearance He used his oratory skills to win over politicians and masses He reworked his image to appeal to the middle and upper classes Hitler was able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle in Bavaria However, the Nazi party did not have any real power until 1929

Rebirth of the Nazi Party: 

Rebirth of the Nazi Party The Great Depression hit Germany hard Many of the foreign businesses that had invested in post-war Germany pulled their funds German industry came to a grinding halt without the foreign money and that led to job layoffs At its peak, unemployment reached 33% in Germany Once again, inflation skyrocketed and people lost their life savings

Rebirth of the Nazi Party: 

Rebirth of the Nazi Party With the dramatic downturn of the economy, the Nazi party began to rise in popularity Prior to 1929, the Nazi party had a membership of 100,000 (<0.2% of Germany’s 60 million population) The government was so ineffective that in 1930, the German chancellor asked President Paul Von Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for new elections

Rebirth of the Nazi Party: 

Rebirth of the Nazi Party Hitler used these new elections to his party’s advantage He campaigned throughout the country and strongly appealed to the disgruntled masses He promised jobs, a strong economy, and to bring back pride to Germany In the September 1930, the Nazi party won 18.3% of the votes This gave them 107 seats in the Reichstag This moved the Nazi party into the second largest party in Germany

Rebirth of the Nazi Party: 

Rebirth of the Nazi Party Even though the Nazis were a strong party in Germany, they were not given a position in Hindenburg’s cabinet From 1930 to 1932, party members did what they could to disrupt the government and prevent a successful coalition The longer the government was in turmoil, the stronger the Nazi party would become

Slide45: 

German President Paul Von Hindenburg

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic In February 1932, Hitler gained German citizenship This would now allow him to run for president That spring, he ran against President Hindenburg He came in second with 36% of the votes Hindenburg was 85 at the time

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Bruening banned the SA and SS from Germany Many were fearful that the Nazis would use the two groups to seize power Bruening invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution for the ban “In case public safety is seriously threatened or disturbed, the Reich President may take the measures necessary to reestablish law and order, if necessary using armed force. In the pursuit of this aim, he may suspend the civil rights… partially or entirely.

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic By this point, many Germans were frustrated with Bruening and sought a more conservative government In May 1932, Kurt von Schleicher met with Hitler He made a deal with Hitler: if Hitler would support a new nationalistic and conservative government under Schleicher, the ban on the SS and SA would be lifted Included in this was the disposal of Bruening as Chancellor and the call for new elections for the Reichstag

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic On May 29, 1932, Hindenburg asked for Bruening’s resignation Many were upset with Bruening for using Article 48 too many times, including the President Hindenburg appointed Franz von Papen as the new chancellor Papen had been hand-picked by Schleicher The Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were to take place in July

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic The ban on the SS and SA was lifted on June 15, 1932 What followed was an immense amount of violence committed throughout Germany by the Nazis "Blood must flow, blood must flow! Blood must flow as cudgel thick as hail! Let's smash it up, let's smash it up! That goddamned Jewish republic!" On July 17th, the Nazis killed 19 and wounded close to 300 in a pro-Communist area near Hamburg and was known as “Bloody Sunday”

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic In response to these atrocities, Papen invoked Article 48 Martial law was declared in Berlin At the July 31st elections, the Nazi party won 37% of the vote This gave them 270 seats in the Reichstag The Nazi party was now the largest party in Germany Hitler demanded the chancellorship from Hindenburg but was refused

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic The government continued to fail passing any meaningful legislation Another election was called for November The Nazis were not able to put together another strong campaign and lost seats in the Reichstag Papen resigned on November 17th Hitler once again demanded the chancellorship, and was again denied

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic On December 2, 1932, Schleicher was appointed Chancellor However, he was not trusted by the people and had difficulty putting together a coalition Papen approached Hitler about kicking Schleicher out of power Papen and Hitler would both then be in control When Papen approached Hindenburg about this alliance, he assured him that he would be able to control Hitler

Fall of the Weimar Republic: 

Fall of the Weimar Republic On January 23, 1933, Schleicher asked Hindenburg for emergency control of the government He had been unable to secure a coalition Hindenburg refused and asked for Schleicher’s resignation On January 30th, Hitler was named Chancellor Papen was named Vice Chancellor as a condition of the appointment

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor One of the first things Hitler did as Chancellor was to Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for new elections Hindenburg reluctantly agreed and elections were set for March 5, 1933 On February 27th, a communist named Marinus van der Lubbe set fire to the Reichstag There is some debate as to whether Lubbe acted alone or if the Nazis also participated in the arson

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor Hitler used the event for his own political plans by promoting the fire as a Communist plot and used this to his advantage Reichstag Fire Decree – February 28, 1933 Hitler invoked Article 48 of the constitution to protect public safety The decree also terminated many civil rights

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor Hitler also used this event to bolster the Nazi party by spreading anti-communist propaganda When the elections were held on March 5, 1933 the Nazi party won 43.9% of the votes Enabling Act – March 23, 1933 – At the meeting of the new Reichstag, Hitler pushed the passing of this It placed legislative powers in the hands of the cabinet for four years It ended democracy in Germany

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor In March 1933, the first concentration camp was set up in Dachau It was originally designed to house opponents to the Nazi government On April 1, 1933, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister, organized a one-day boycott of all Jewish businesses This was the first of many anti-Jewish actions by the Nazi government

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor Also in April 1933, the Gestapo is born It was created by Hermann Göring The name comes from Geheime Staats Polizei (Secret State Police) On May 10, 1933, Hitler organized a massive book burning in Berlin Hundreds of thousands of books containing “un-German” ideas were burned by 20,000 volunteers

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor As Hitler was consolidating his power, he realized that the SA had lost its usefulness and was actually becoming a detriment to his own power The leaders of the SA were becoming too left wing and many feared that they would bring about a Marxist type of revolution Night of the Long Knives – (June 30-July 2, 1934) – A massive purge of the SA ranks in which 85 people were killed

Hitler as Chancellor: 

Hitler as Chancellor August 2, 1934 – Hindenburg died and Hitler’s cabinet passed a law making him Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor) Hitler was made supreme commander of the military and military personnel swore an oath to him and not Germany Almost 85% of the population were shown to approve of these measures in mid-August

The Third Reich: 

The Third Reich In March 1935, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding the army He reintroduced the draft He rebuilt the navy and the air force He violated the Treaty again in March 1936 when Germany reoccupied the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland England and France did nothing in response

The Third Reich: 

The Third Reich October 25, 1936 – Hitler entered into a treaty (Axis) with fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini Anschluss – As part of Hitler’s idea of a “Greater Germany”, Austria was annexed The Austrian Nazi party held a coup just days prior to an election to prevent the annexation to Germany This allowed German forces to enter Austria with no fighting taking place England and France did nothing

Sudeten Crisis: 

Sudeten Crisis Hitler’s next step was the annexation of the Sudetenland, part of western Czechoslovakia There were over three million Germans living in the region at this time Many Germans in Czechoslovakia were antagonistic against the Czech government in Prague They believed the government was discriminating against them Hitler played off of this by rallying German nationalism inside the Sudetenland

Sudeten Crisis: 

Sudeten Crisis The Germany political parties merged together, under Hitler’s advice, to form the Sudeten-German Party Their rallying cry was for their separation from Czechoslovakia and annexation by Germany The Czechoslovakian government turned to violence as a means to suppress these separatists Hitler called for German annexation of the Sudetenland

Sudeten Crisis: 

Sudeten Crisis In August 1938, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain attempted to reconcile the conflict between the Sudeten-German Party and the Czech government peaceably However, the Sudeten-German Party refused to negotiate In September 1938, Chamberlain met with Hitler to find an amicable agreement

Munich Agreement: 

Munich Agreement Munich Agreement – September 30, 1938 – Britain, France, Italy and Germany agreed to divide up Czechoslovakia The territories were given to Germany, Poland, and Hungary The British and French governments “allowed” Germany to annex the Sudetenland for “the sake of peace” First case of official appeasement to Hitler

Munich Agreement: 

Munich Agreement The Czechoslovakian government was not allowed to participate in talks However they did acquiesce and agreed to abide by the terms of the agreement One of the main points of the deal was that Hitler was not to make any further claims for European territory On March 15, 1939, Hitler’s troops marched into Prague and took the rest of Czechoslovakia

Munich Agreement: 

Munich Agreement Stalin was angry with the Munich Agreement The Soviets had not invited to the negotiations He had also wanted Britain and France to join in an anti-fascist popular front Stalin feared the western countries would continue their policy of appeasement with Hitler He believed they would either encourage or ignore a German attack against the USSR

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: 

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact – August 23, 1939 – Non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany It included a secret break down of countries in eastern Europe into “spheres of influence,” some for the Soviets, the rest for Germany By 1940, those countries mentioned were either occupied or ceded part of their territories to either Germany or the Soviet Union

Slide72: 

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. President (1932-1945)

Neutrality Acts: 

Neutrality Acts Starting in 1935, the still very isolationist Congress began passing a series of Neutrality Acts They were designed to prevent U.S. involvement with any belligerent countries Neutrality Act of 1935 – It banned shipment of war materials to belligerent countries

Neutrality Acts: 

Neutrality Acts In 1936, Italy leaves the League of Nations and formalizes an alliance with Germany FDR asks Congress for greater discretion in applying the Neutrality Act but was denied Neutrality Act of 1936 – Expanded upon the Act of 1935 by prohibiting credits or loans to belligerent countries

Neutrality Acts: 

Neutrality Acts Neutrality Acts of 1937 – These were enacted in response to the Spanish Civil War The original Neutrality Acts only included conflicts between nations and not within them; this act amended this Americans (both individuals and businesses) were restricted from assisting belligerents and were even prohibited to travel on ships owned by belligerents

Neutrality Acts: 

Neutrality Acts Many criticized the Neutrality Acts Some believed that these acts actually helped Germany It it showed that the U.S. was not going to get involved in Europe This encouraged Anglo-French appeasement policies Others argued that the Acts also gave the advantage to Germany Germany had no need to buy arms while France and England had great need

From Isolationism to Intervention: 

From Isolationism to Intervention The expansionist policies of Japan and Hitler’s anschluss of Austria, FDR was able to persuade Congress that they needed to protect the interests of the U.S. As part of this, FDR began preparing the U.S. military for war In 1937, he worked on a program to build long range submarines to possibly blockade Japan In 1938, he got congress to pass a bill creating a large enough navy to fight in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

Slide78: 

Germany After World War I

Danzig Problem: 

Danzig Problem In 1918, Treaty of Versailles gave Poland a “corridor” through Germany, which included the port city of Danzig This corridor divided up Germany into two parts Because of this, there were increasing tensions between Germany and Poland After Germany’s annexation of Czechoslovakia, Hitler focused his attention on retaking the city of Danzig

Danzig Problem: 

Danzig Problem Beginning in March 1939, Hitler attempts negotiations to return the Danzig to Germany Poland had no plans to give up the city Hitler even offered land to Poland from other sections of eastern Europe for the city After Hitler and Stalin signed their Non-Aggression Pact, both France and Britain signed mutual assistance treaties with Poland in August 1939

Invasion of Poland: 

Invasion of Poland September 1, 1939 – Hitler declared that it had “exhausted diplomatic options with Poland” and invaded it England and France stated that they would stand by their treaties with Poland and issued an ultimatum to Germany: withdraw or we will declare war September 17, 1939 – The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east

Invasion of Poland: 

Invasion of Poland When Germany would not leave, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada declared war against Germany September 17, 1939 – The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east Thus begins the European theater of World War II