Lessons in American History Using Primary Sources
A Series of Webquests
By Laura Thompson
UPS 10: The Road to WWII
Historical Context – The 1920s began with a favorable
outlook for peace. However, toward the end of the decade and throughout the
1930s, the clouds of war were forming. Economic troubles, political turmoil,
and the failures of the WWI peace settlement led to the rise of Fascism in
Italy and Germany. Neither the League of Nations nor the democratic countries
were willing or able to stop the aggressive actions of such countries. On a
sunny Sunday morning, Japanese aerial forces attacked US Naval Forces stationed
at Pearl Harbor—a day that will live in infamy.
Driving
Question: Why did the world plunge into World War II in 1939? What is the most
effective response to aggression—appeasement, isolationism, or collective
security?
Part A |
The following documents present information about
the steps leading to American involvement in World War II. Examine each
document carefully. In the space provided, answer the question or questions
that follow each document. |
Document
1 - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf,
1925, (adapted). In this excerpt, Adolph Hitler explains some of his ideas.
One blood demands one Reich. Never will the German
nation have the moral right to enter into colonial politics until; at least,
it includes its own sons within a single state….Oppressed territories are led
back to the bosom of a common Reich, not by flaming protests, but by a mighty
sword. |
What did
Hitler suggest was needed for Germany? How would that lead to war?
Document
2 - http://xcady.tumblr.com/post/32271391/god-and-history-will-remember-your-judgement-it.
Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935. Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, asked the
Legion of Nations for help in stopping the invasion. He asked for military
sanctions. Here is part of his appeal.
God and history will remember your judgment…It is us
today. It will be you tomorrow. |
According to
Emperor Selassie, who should stop the aggression?
What would
happen if the aggressors were not stopped?
Document
3 - New York Times, March 8,
1936 (adapted). Hitler promised to tear up the Versailles Treaty. One article
of the treaty forbade German troops from entering the Rhineland, a buffer zone
between Germany and France. Two headlines and articles from the New York
Times of March 8, 1936, are excerpted below. They explain this issue from
the German and French points of view.
HITLER SENDS GERMAN TROOPS INTO RHINELAND Berlin, March 7—Germany today cast off the last
shackles fastened upon her by the Treaty of Versailles when Adolph Hitler, as
commander-in-chief of the Reich defense forces, sent his new battalions into
the Rhineland's demilitarized zone…"After three years of ceaseless
battle," Hitler concluded, "I look upon this day as marking the
close of the struggle for German equality status and with that re-won equality the path is now
clear for Germany's return to European collective cooperation." PARIS APPEALS TO THE LEAGUE Paris, March 7—France has laid Germany's latest
treaty violation before the Council of the League of Nations. At the same
time the French Government made it quite clear that there could be no
negotiation with Germany…as long as a single German soldier remained in the
Rhineland in contravention of Germany's signed undertakings…What is
essential, in the French view, is that the German government must be
compelled by diplomatic pressure first, and by stronger pressure if need be
to withdraw from the Rhineland. |
What action
did Hitler take in defiance of the Versailles Treaty? How did he explain his
actions?
What was the
reaction of the French? How might this have led to war?
Document
4 - William Shirer, CBS broadcast, 1938, (adapted). German
aggression continued in 1938. Britain, France, and Italy met with Hitler to
discuss his demands for the Sudentenland, a section of Czechoslovakia. This
radio broadcast by William Shirer describes what happed at this meeting.
It took the Big Four just five hours and twenty-five
minutes here in Munich today to dispel the clouds of war and come to an
agreement over the partition of Czechoslovakia. There is to be no European
war…the price of that peace is…the ceding by Czechoslovakia of the Sudenten
territory to Herr Hitler's Germany. The German Fuhrer gets what he wanted…His
waiting ten short days has saved Europe from a world war…most of the peoples
of Europe are happy that they won't have to go marching off to war…Probably
only the Czechs…are not happy. But there seems very little that they can do
about it in face of all the might and power represented there. |
What happened
at this Munich Conference, according to Shirer? What did he feel was the
reaction in Czechoslovakia and in the rest of Europe?
Document
5 - Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain, The British Parliamentary
Debate on the Munich Agreement, House of Commons, October 3, 1938
(available at: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/munich.htm).
This excerpt is from a speech that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
gave to Parliament in 1938. In it, Chamberlain explains why he favored a policy
of appeasement in dealing with Hitler in Munich.
With a little good will and determination, it is
possible to remove grievances and clear away suspicion…We must try to bring
these four nations into friendly discussion. If they can settle their
difference, we shall save the peace of Europe for a generation. And, in The
Times [London]: I shall not give up the hope of a peaceful solution…We
sympathize with a small nation faced by a big and powerful neighbor. But we
cannot involve the British Empire in war simply on her account. If we have to
fight, it must on larger issues than that…I am a man of peace…Yet if I were
sure that any nation had made up its mind to dominate the world by fear of
its force., I should feel that it must be resisted…But war is a fearful
thing. |
Why did
Chamberlain suggest appeasement?
Under what
conditions would he fight?
Document
6 - Winston Churchill, The British Parliamentary Debate on the
Munich Agreement, House of Commons, October 5, 1938 (available at: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/munich.htm).
Winston Churchill disagreed with Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. In this
speech to Parliament in 1938, Churchill warns England about following a policy
of appeasement
I have always held the view that keeping peace
depends on holding back the aggressor. After Hitler's seizure of Austria in
March, I appealed to the government. I asked that Britain, together with
France and other powers, guarantee the security of Czechoslovakia. If that
course had been followed, events would not have fallen into this disastrous
state…[I]n time, Czechoslovakia will be swallowed by
the Nazi regime…I think of all the opportunities to stop the growth of Nazi
power which have been thrown away. The responsibility must rest with those
who have control of our political affairs. They neither prevented Germany
from re-arming, nor did they re-arm us in time. They weakened the League of
Nations…Thus they left us in the hour of trial without a strong national
defense of system on international security. |
What strategy
did Churchill suggest for keeping peace and stopping the growth of Nazi power?
In his opinion,
what opportunities had been lost in the quest for peace?
Who is
responsible for these lost opportunities?
Part B |
Why did the world plunge into World War II in 1939?
What is the most effective response to aggression—appeasement, isolationism,
or collective security? |