genesis of wwii: nations of the modern world
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Genesis of WWII: Nations of the Modern World. Germany. Italy. Great Britain. Japan. The Great Depression. France. The Uneasy Peace. The Treaty of Versailles was really nothing but a patch over a festering wound It did not settle the border disputes that caused WWI - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Genesis of WWII:Nations of the Modern World
Germany
Great Britain Japan
Italy
The Great Depression France
The Treaty of Versailles was really nothing but a patch over a festering wound◦It did not settle the border disputes that
caused WWI◦The industrial and mineral “heart "of
Germany was occupied by France (the Ruhr Valley)
◦French began operating the factories here to pay for the Reparations of the Treaty of Versailles
The Uneasy Peace
THE GERMAN WEIMAR REPUBLIC WAS CREATED IN 1918 AND DID NOT HAVE A STRONG LEADER AT THE OUTSET OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
IT FACED MANY ECONOMIC PROBLEMS◦ INFLATION◦ MILLIONS OF UNEMPLOYED◦ FOOD SHORTAGES AND RIOTS◦ COLLAPSED BANKING SYSTEMS
GOVERNMENT WAS UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING AND THE COUNTRY WAS ON THE BRINK OF SHUTTING DOWN
Germany
German Response German workers
went on Strike Government paid
them by printing more money
This lead to Inflation
By 1923 in took 4 trillion German Marks to = $1.00
Dawes Plan The German People
were suffering badly American Diplomat
H.W. Dawes instituted a plan:◦ America loaned German
$200 Million◦ American investors began
to help German factories ◦ Reduced reparation
payment to what Germany could afford
In 1925 Germany and France signed The Treaty of Locarno. It guaranteed the German Western Borders and return of the Ruhr Region
Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926
Germany signed the Kellogg-Brand Act of 1928, joining 63 nations in outlawing war
However, Germany was still in a lot of Economic trouble and was just starting to get better when October 1929 hit.
Recovery
Just as things started to get better the Great Depression Hit
As Bad as things were before they got worse
Unemployment hit 42% Food riots continued throughout the country People wanted a strong leader and feared a
communist take over
Germany
Depression – a time of low economic activity and high unemployment.
It started in the USA, but quickly spread to Europe and then the world.
American Investors pulled their money out of German Factories and effectively destroyed German production- the country could not afford to keep the factories open
This started the unemployment process
The Great Depression
To protect their own companies and jobs countries started to raise High Tariffs and lower pay for employees
The global trade network shut down, things got worse
This lead to more job loss, in average as high as 25%
Streets started to fill with the poor and unemployed
Governments did not know what to do
The Great Depression
Post WWI it was a strong Imperial and European power
In 1932 it could no longer escape the effects of the great Depression and became politically unstable
In 1936 a group called the Popular Front (A workers communist group) began fighting for workers rights using Collective Bargaining◦ This is a process of Unionization where all employees
are represented by this group and receive the benefits of its work
◦ They got all French workers a 40 hour work week, two weeks of paid vacation and a minimum wage
◦ But all this did was slow down the depression, it did not solve it
France
Britain never really recovered from the loss of life in WWI and had a slow economy going into the Great Depression
At the onset of the depression many more people lost their jobs and demand for goods sank◦ John Maynard Keyes identified this problem and
stated that the reason the depression existed was that people were not buying goods and that as soon as people started buying goods again the depression would dissipate.
Great Britain
He proposed that government start public works jobs◦ Build Highways and power plants◦ This would get people jobs and get people to buy goods◦ Then private industry would need more employees for
its factories as the people will want to buy more goods This would cause governments to take on deficit
spending◦ The spending of money that the government does not
have today but will repay-itself later or going into Debt to itself
Great Britain
Post WWI it was in political, social and economic upheaval
Politically people feared a communist take over like in Russia
Economically they could not get the soldiers coming home the jobs that they needed and lead to high unemployment
Socially the farming system was in chaos as many of the young men died in the war and food was a scarce resource
Italy
Post WWI was a good time for Japan
Industry Increased as did trade
Zaibatsu- large financial and industrial business emerged
4 of these including Mitsubishi and Honda would dominate Japanese Industry
Rise of Japan
To run these industries Japan needed more raw materials
Began more trade with the USA
Helped to enforce China’s “open door policy”
But they wanted more
Rise of Japan
Wealth became concentrated among a few
So when the Great Depression hit it caused◦ food shortages◦ Inflation◦Unemployment
People called for a return to Traditional Values
Rise of Japan
In 1929 a group of Army Officers gained control of Japans political system
They decide to invade all of Manchuria and make it “Japanese”
They wanted to end all contact with the west and make “Asia for Asians”
The people supported these military groups and expanded the role of the Military in Japan
Rise of Japan
With the invasion of Manchuria the threat of Depression did not hit Japan as hard as the rest of the world
Japan then set its sites on China and prepared to wage war for more raw materials and Military greatness
Rise of Japan