World_History_Volume_2-WEB_LdwoslB-107

Prévia do material em texto

10. Which countries gained former German territories in Africa after World War I?
11. To what extent did Britain allow for greater Indian self-rule in the 1930s?
12. How did the Great Kanto Earthquake affect Japan?
13. In what ways did Turkey become Westernized?
14. How did the movies and radio create mass culture in the 1920s?
12 • Assessments 521
Application and Reflection Questions
1. How did the Paris Peace Conference and the Washington Naval Conference reestablish the international
order in Europe and Asia?
2. What were the long-ranging effects of World War I on the global economy? How did actions taken in the
immediate aftermath of the war influence these outcomes?
3. How did the average Russian worker’s life change under Stalin? Did workers regard Stalin as a villain or a
savior? Why?
4. Is loss of personal freedom in exchange for an improved standard of living an acceptable trade-off? Why or
why not? What might a Russian in the 1930s have said?
5. To what extent should a government help its citizens in times of economic crisis? Why?
6. Is a planned economy a solution to the problem of economic depression? Why or why not? If it is, should
Western countries soften their commitment to free enterprise? Why or why not?
7. How do the European decisions made in the aftermath of World War I continue to affect Asia and Africa
today?
8. Was the current conflict between the Jewish people and the Palestinians inevitable? Why or why not?
9. How did liberties and civil rights expand in Asia during the 1920s and 1930s?
10. What would have drawn people in China to either the Nationalist or the Communist cause? What type of
person may have been drawn to each? Why?
11. In what ways were the new forms of culture in the 1920s and 1930s reflections of people’s political
concerns?
12. In what ways were flappers a reaction to World War I?
522 12 • Assessments
Access for free at openstax.org
FIGURE 13.1 The Battlefields of WWII. A German soldier prepares to throw a grenade at opposing Russian forces
during Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. (credit: modification of work “German troops in Russia” by
National Archives at College Park/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER OUTLINE
13.1 An Unstable Peace
13.2 Theaters of War
13.3 Keeping the Home Fires Burning
13.4 Out of the Ashes
The devastation and dislocations of World War I were so profound that much of Europe was
hard-pressed to recover in its aftermath. Through the tumultuous 1920s, voters worldwide looked to
authoritative leaders and parties to solve their country’s problems. This tendency spawned a new approach to
governance in the form of fascism and totalitarianism, which gained power and influence in many places
across the globe. The resulting regimes propelled the world to a bloodier and more devastating sequel to World
War I—World War II. The second global conflict in less than half a century began with Germany’s invasion of
Poland in 1939 and Britain and France’s decision to oppose it. By the summer of 1940, western Europe had
fallen to German armies, and in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union (Figure 13.1). As Europe erupted in
flames, on the other side of the world, the armies of the Empire of Japan swept through Asia and the Pacific,
enmeshing millions more in a brutal conflict.
13The Causes and Consequences of
World War II
FIGURE 13.2 Timeline: The Causes and Consequences of World War II. (credit “Mar 1933”: modification of work
“Concentration camp dachau aerial view” by USHMM, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration,
College Park/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Sep 1939”: modification of work “The German-soviet
Invasion of Poland, 1939” by Imperial War Museums/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Dec 1941”:
modification of work “WWII Pearl Harbor Attack (286467015)” by National Archives and Records Administration/
Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Feb 1942”: modification of work “Japanese internment detainees” by
War Relocation Authority/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Feb 1945”: modification of work “‘Big Three’
met at Yalta” by National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain; credit “Sep
1945”: modification of work “Japanese surrender, Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945” by U.S. National Archives/
Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
524 13 • The Causes and Consequences of World War II
Access for free at openstax.org
FIGURE 13.3 Locator Map: The Causes and Consequences of World War II. (credit: modification of work “World
map blank shorelines” by Maciej Jaros/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
13.1 An Unstable Peace
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• Analyze Japan’s efforts to expand its empire in Asia and the Pacific
• Discuss Hitler’s actions in the 1930s and how they led to World War II
• Explain how and why the United States was less engaged in responding to threats to peace in the
1930s
• Discuss why Japan eventually decided to attack the United States
The attempts by Western nations to build a structure of world peace with the Treaty of Versailles and the
League of Nations ultimately unraveled during the 1930s. National and international grievances, competing
ideologies, and economic self-interest all hammered away at the fragile international order.
Asia for Asians
The fight between Japan and China in the 1930s lit the fuse that made World War II a global conflict. The spark
may have been Japan’s long-standing perception of Western racism, dating back to the nineteenth century and
shown more recently in the rejection of Japan’s proposed racial equality amendment to the Treaty of
Versailles. This had been done at the insistence of Australia and the British delegation. Part of Japan’s
underlying thinking was to rid Asia of Western colonial influences, although it also clearly saw itself as the new
leader of the region.
Since the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan had held the right to lease the South Manchuria
Railway in northeastern China, a privilege previously held by Russia. However, Japan now claimed rights to
control extensive territory in northeastern China outside the railway zone and stationed its troops in the
region. In 1931, these troops detonated explosives along the track of the South Manchuria Railway and blamed
the act on Chinese saboteurs. This gave Japan an excuse to invade and annex Manchuria (also called
Manchukuo) on the pretext that it was defending Japanese interests. To deflect international attention from
13.1 • An Unstable Peace 525
	Chapter 13 The Causes and Consequences of World War II
	Introduction
	13.1 An Unstable Peace