Genesis of WWII:Nations of the Modern World

Germany

Great BritainRise of Japan

Italy Uneasy Peace

Dawes Plan

France THE GREAT

DEPRESSION

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in the notes on 15-18

Recovery

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

Click This Button To Go To The Germany Notes On Page 16

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