A Short History of World War II

A Short History of World War II James L. Stokesbury Part I: Prologue- Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1 Peace and Rearmament 1. What were the five peace treaties signed after World War I and with whom were they signed? 2. Why might the 5 years after the “Versailles system” was established be termed a “period of settlement?” 3. What three important nations were not members of the League of Nations? 4. What was the purpose of the treaties known as the “Locarno system?” 5. What was agreed to in the Kellogg-Briand Pact? Why was it essentially worthless? 6. What country felt it had the most to fear from Germany? What two countries signed a defensive alliance in 1921? 7. What countries joined in the “Little Entente”? What consequence follows directly from this set of alliances? 8. In what ways was Germany disarmed at the end of World War I? How did the Germans circumvent the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in the 1920’s and 1930’s? 9. Why was the Washington Naval Conference (1922) held? What did the conferees agree to? 10. When did the Allied Control Commission stop overseeing Germany? 11. What were some of the difficulties in general disarmament attempts?

Chapter 2 The European Democracies 1. Why were the winners of World War I as demoralized as the losers? 2. In what ways was France on its way to becoming a second-class power? 3. What were the political divisions in France? What progress was made in solving real problems in finance, industry, social reform and education? 4. Describe the problem in France of manpower. 5. What was Philippe Petain’s status in post-war France? What had it been before and during World War I? 6. What was the Maginot Line? Where was it built? How does this show the French strategy for fighting a future war with Germany? What were the two problems with this strategy? 7. In what two ways was the tank viewed by military French and German planners? What roles did most planners have for the airplane? What was the status, then, of the French military in the 1930’s? 8. How did the British usually plan to fight wars? How was World War I different? 9. How did British and French views on Germany differ after World War I? 10. What internal problems did Great Britain face after World War I? 11. What was agreed to by the British and Germans in the 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement? What was the meaning(s) of this agreement? 12. In what ways was Great Britain weaker militarily in the mid-1930’s than in 1914? 13. What did the theorists, such as the Italian, Giulio Douhet, feel would be the most important weapon of the future? 14. In the end, what was the cause of British and French military weakness in the 1930’s, according to Stokesbury?

Chapter 3 The Revisionist States Italy 1. What were Italy’s World War I costs? How did Italy fare at the Paris Peace Conference? 2. What was Mussolini’s background?

3. How did the Fascists come to rule Italy? What were the rewards of the fascist one party State? 4. What events show Mussolini’s grandiose vision of Italy’s power?

5. Describe the Italian incursion into Ethiopia and its aftermath.

6. Which side did Italy support in the Spanish Civil War? 7. Describe the relationship between Italy and Germany by the end of the Spanish Civil War. Germany 1. What problems did the Weimar Republic need to solve in the 1920’s and early 1930’s in order to maintain itself?

2. What was Hitler’s background? What were his beliefs? 3. Describe the Beer Hall Putsch. What was the result?

4. How did Germany do from 1924-1929? How did the NSDAP do at this time?

5. How did Hitler rise to the position of Chancellor of the German Republic?

6. Describe Hitler’s Nazi Revolution.

7. When and why did Germany leave the League of Nations?

8. What happened during the “Night of the Long Knives?” What was its purpose?

9. When did Hitler re- militarize the Rhineland? What were the German soldiers’ marching orders? What was the reaction from France and Great Britain?

10. Who was purged from the German high command? What was Hitler’s purpose in this purge? 11. Translate: “Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Fuehrer” Japan 1. Where did Japan wish to expand? How did Japan fare at the Paris Peace Conference?

2. Who became Japanese emperor in 1926? What were Japan’s two key problems?

3. Describe the Mukden incident. By February 1932, what new Japanese puppet state was announced? 4. How did the Japanese attempt to dissuade China from its boycott of Japanese goods? Were they successful? 5. When did Japan join Germany in the Anti- Communist Pact (the Axis)? 6. Describe the “China Incident” which began in July, 1937 7. What had already begun in Asia by 1937?

Chapter 4 The Unknown Quantities Russia- 1. What was the Bolshevik rallying cry? Why did it resound with ordinary Russians more than the democratic slogan? 2. Who fought the Civil War in Russia? Who won? Why did the Russians then fight the Poles? Who won? 3. What three facts were firmly in place by the end of the civil war period? 4. Who eventually followed Lenin as head of the communist state? Who was the other contender? What was his fate? 5. How did Russia interact with other countries in the 1920’s and 1930’s? (treaties, alliances? etc.) 6. “Stalin had the same internal problems that other dictators had, and he sought the same kind of solutions (Stokesbury, 49).” What internal problems did Stalin face? How did he deal with them?

The United States 1. What was the military status of the United States in the 1930’s? 2. Why did the U.S. feel it had won World War I for the allies? 3. “Having won, the Americans went home again (Stokesbury, 50). “ Give evidence this was true. 4. Explain the circular cash flow after World War I especially dealing with loans and reparations. 5. Why did the U.S. depend on moral suasion in its dealings in Asia? 6. Describe the Neutrality Acts. 7. What is the deeper meaning of the Neutrality Acts? “Once burned, twice shy (Stokesbury, 53).”

Agreement Chapter 5 The Prewar Series of Crises between ______

March 7, 1936 1938 Fall, 1938

March, 1939 September 1, 1939

Non- Aggression Pact between ______