History

Physical- Farmers were drafted into armed forces, 50% milk and 60% of butter,couldn't do anything because british navy blockaded German ports.3 quarters of a million died.

Psycological- Experience of war made people angry,someone to blame,famous for squabbling

Political- Reichstag was weak, people had little say into the way it was run,opposition were imprisoned,ruled as a military dictatorship by the Kaiser

Anarchy- completely unstable,armed demobilised soldiers returned home to join violent demonstrations against the Kaiser.

25th Oct 1918- Naval commanders sent ships to fight British fleet, sailors mutinied.

26th Oct-5 Nov- Kaiser and govern did not send army to crush munity and it was followed by strikes against war- soldiers joined the strikes.

6Nov 1918- Soldiers and workers had taken control-main aim to end war.The social D were leading party in Reichstag- their leader Ebert even wanted to save the Kaiser but if they did left-wing would take over.

9 Nov- General strike in Berlin,The SD afraid that extremeists would gain control so one of Eberts colleagues announced the abdication of the Kaiser + the setting up of the German Republic- Ebert=chancellor.

10Nov- Kaiser fled to exile in Holland

11Nov- An armistice agreement was made between Germany and allies.

- Start= Eberts governement faced violent opposition (communists/spartacists) who were led by Karl and Rosa. Argued strongly against Ebert's plans- wanted Germany ruled by workers etc..-In 1919, spartacists set up soviets in many towns

-Ebert made an agreement with the army and Friekorps to put down the rebellion- this didn' work and the Friekorps won.

- In march 1920, Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5k into Berlin to rebel. Army refused to attack them but then workers went on strike so Kapp left.

-May 1919 The ToV was released

-Eberts governement struggled to deal 

-In Nov 1923, Hitler led an attempted rebellion (Munich Putsch)- He failed and was sent to prison.

David Lloyd George> Britain > Germany were to be justily punished- lose navy+ colonies, didnt want revenge > PEACE AND PROTECT FROM FUTURE WARS

George Clemenceau> France > Germany to be harshly punished-  pay for France's suffering-feels threatend> CRIPPLE GERMANY

Woodrow WIlson> USA > Not too harsh-scared they would only seek revenge> BETTER MORE PEACEFUL WORLD WHERE NATIONS COULD RULE THEMSELVES

Woodrow Wilson, idealist, he concentrated on keeping USA out of war but when they joined in he made these...

1)NO SECRET TREATIES

2)FREE ACCESS TO THE SEAS IN PEACE/WAR TIME

3)FREE TRADE BETWEEN COUNTRIES

4) ALL COUNTRIES TO WORK TOWARDS DISARMAMENT

5)COLONIES TO HAVE A SAY IN THEIR FUTURE

6) SELF-DETERMINATION FOR THE PEOPLE OF EASTERN EUROPE

7)POLAND TO BECOME AN INDEPENDENT STATE WITH SEA ACCESS

8) LoN 

War Guilt:
-accept blame

Germany's armed forces:
-army limited to 100k men
-conscription banned
-no armoured vehicles
-6 battleship
-demilitirisation of Rhineland 

Reparations:
-Germany to pay 6600 million

Territories + colonies:
-overseas empire was taken away

League Of Nations:
-Police force 

Yes-

-The big 3 had to compromise, noone got exactly what they wanted
-Russia+ Germany had no say
- Terms were too demanding
-Is it fair to blame completely on Germany
-14 points= unrealistic

No-

-Treaty is not unreasonable
-For peace you have to negotiate
-You need a forum (LoN)
-France suffered absolute devastation- deserved
-Fair 

Manchurian Crisis- 1931-1933:
Problem- Japan invaded Manchuria
Response- No action was taken
Effect- LON seemed weak+ ineffective

Disarmament conference- 1932-1934:
Problem- Germany complained the only it had been disarmed
Response- League could not get other members to agree to claim
Effect- Germany left the league and began to rearm openly, noone tried to stop it

Abyssinian Crisis- 1935-1936:
Problem- Italy invaded Abysinnia
Response- League members could not agree= Brit + France tried tot do a secret deal to give most of Abyssinia to Italy
Effect- League was seen as powerless + irrelevant 

-Britain suffered high unemployment-not willing to get involved in sorting out international disputes while its economy was suffering

-In Germany unemployment + poverty led people to elect Nazis who promised to solve economic + social problems. Hitler made it no secret that they were planning to overcome the tov.

-The USA was unwilling to support economic sancitions when its own trade was in such a mess

-Worried about the changing situation in Germany, France began building a series of fronteir defences on its border

- The most powerful countries arent even in the league ( USSR, Germany + USA)

-If anything would be decided to change, noone would be willing to send in their troops to settle it

-Each body supposedly could make a decision but nothing could be passed unless everyone voted for it- everyone has to agree.

Diagram

Causes- 
-Exisiting anger at the weimar government(Hyperinflation, Stresemann called off the strike)
-Growth of the Nazi party(Nazis wanted a rev,Hitler became friends with Ludendorff)
-Bavarian Rebellion( A march of 15k soldiers was planned on Berlin,they postponed rebellion, hitler hoped the putsch would force the to rebel)

Event-
-8th Nov 1923: Hitler interrupted the Beer Hall meeting and forced Kahr at gunpoint to agree to support him.
-The SA took over the army HQ
-Jews were beaten
-9th Nov: Nazis marched on Munich, stopped by police, Hitler and Ludendorf were arrested

Consequences-
-Hitler imprisoned
-Even the judge agreed with Hitler
-Mein Kampf 

Causes:
-Many germans resented the ToV- they saw the weimar politicans as criminals

Events:
-In march 1920, Wolfgang Kapp marched into Berlin and declared a new government, Ebert had to flee to Dresden.

Consequences:
-Those who participated in the putsch were never punished, without the support of the army, othing could be done. 

Causes:
-In 1923, French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr and began to take what was owed them in the form of raw materials and goods. The reparations was £6600 million and the first payment was £50 million but wasnt paid until 1922. French debts became impatient.

Event:
-In 1923, French and Belgian troops entered the ruhr to take the goods and the government ordered passive resistance(strike)- the french then reacted(killing 100 workers and expelling over 100k protests).

Consequences:
-Disastrous
-halt in industrial production
-collapse of german currency 

Organisation:
-Well organised, obedience and teamwork skills were absolute- self discipline
-efficient schemes with highly skilled leaders at almost every level 

Propaganda:
-persuade the people
-anti-communist propaganda

Support the industrialists:
-They would recieve some financial backing from big businesses

Technology:
-Communication was on a wider scale, posters,rallies,parades etc

Promises:
-Everything that they needed, Hitler promised

Flexibility:
-They spoke of what was popular at that particular time

Hitler(superman):
-Excellent skills, good speaker, determined,persuasive etc
-Managed to convince a whole crowd he was talking to them individually

Weaknesses of opposition:
- All other parties were weak

Nazi Strengths:
-Speaking skills
-Propoganda
-Violent treatment of opposition
-Criticisms of Weimar government
-Nazi Policies
-Support from Big businesses

Opposition weaknesses:
-Failure to deal with the depression
-Failure to co-operate with eachother
-Attitudes of Germans to the democratic parties

Other:
-Weaknesses of Weimar Republic
-Scheming of Hindenberg and Von papen
-Impact of depression
-TOV
-Memories of the problems (1923) 

(F) Locarno Treaties- 7 agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland in which WW1 european allied powers and the new states of eastern europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement.
Dawes Plan- Attempt to solve reparation problems- provided an end to the reparations

(E) Hyperinflation- attempt to reduce the strain on industrial workers
Restoring- Stresemann ordered everyone back to work and introduced the new currency the Retenmark

(C) New movements- Modernism and Expressionism shaped the culture. Art/Literature/Theatre/Cinema etc... 

Von Papen's plan was to bring in Hitler while the Nazis still had a mass following them, while the social democrats were doing badly in elections, and before communists gained control

-manipulate Hitler

but then the Reichstag went up in flames (1933) and Hitler got Hindenberg to sign an emergency law which swept away freedom of speech and press.

The depression
Wall street crash- Germany was badly affected 
Nazis entered- Germany needs a strong leader,stop the ToV(no reparations), let the unempoyed join the army and build Germanys armaments. 

Enabling act (1923):

-In June 1934 the wiping out of the SA's leadership and others who had angered Hitler took place
-Hitler came to the conclusion that if Rohm and the other SA leaders were removed, the rank and file SA men would be under his power.
-Units of the ** were arressted, 77 were charged with treason and executed, the SA was forced under control of the army
- Hitler recieved an oath of allegience  

Goebbels: Controlled newspapers closely- not allowed to print anti-nazi ideas.

-Posters speaking of success and attacking their opposition
-Radio was made accessible to all germans- incase people didn't have one, loudspeakers were placed in speakers.
-Cinema, adverts were made and films that were showcased carried a Nazi message
-Plays and literature had to conform to Nazi beliefs or they could not be published/performed
-Rallies were common (Nurenberg rally)-bands,marches,speeches,flying etc...
-Olympic Games, used to promote German technical effiency and supremacy of the Aryan race

Youth Movements-
Boys: Ages 6-10 joined the Pimpf(little fellows) for camping activites, wearing SA uniforms, swastica armbands. Ages 10-14 joined the Deutsche Jungvolk (german young people) to learn about the idealology and military matters.Ages 14-18 the hitler youth, military training based on how to be a nazi.

Girls: Ages 6-14 joined young maidens for camping activities and education on health and motherhood. Ages 14-21 joined the league of German maidens with a strong emphasis on motherhood and households.

Education-
Boys:'German,language,History,Geography,Chemistry,Maths must concentrate on military subjects'

Girls: Basically learnt all about personal hygiene/motherhood/household etc...

Aim- Prepare for war within 4 years- hitler was well aware that the naval blockade had starved Germany of the flood and materials it needed. The plan aimed to make Germany self-sufficient in essential materials (oil,rubber,wood). Policy is known as  Autaky.

How it worked:
-increase production of raw materials
-persuade big businesses to produce key synthetic materials
-Tighten wages and prices
-Use force labour
-Build new industrail plants such as the Hermann Goering

Was it successful?
-The government poured billions of Reichmarks into the 4 plan- by 1939 Germany still depended on foreign imports for one third of its raw materials
- Arms had taken precedence over developing agriculture
-The only way for Germany to become fully self suficient was for them to conquer countries

Unskilled workers:
Government programmes got people to work so they could feed and clothe their famalies. The introduction of more affordable housing.
No choice but to complete a request set, if they refused they wouldnt get benefits

Farmers:
All benefitted from an increase in the cost of food>make bigger profit, also debts were paid off
Farmers resented the meddling that came with Hitlers solution> dictated that hens had to produce 45 eggs a year.

Small Businesses:
The value of their trade nearly doubled between 1933 and 1937 (banned department stores)
Between 1936 and 1937 self employed people fell from 1,650,000 to 1,500,000

Big businesses:
Salaries increased
Industrialists had to pay for these benefits-the government took control of prices/wages/profits etc

NO

-Back breaking work
-Poor housing
-slop for food
-working outdoors in all weather
-straw mattresses, in draughty wooden barracks
-wages are constantly decreasing

The law for encouragement of Marriage-
Law gave newlywed couples a loan of 1k marks and allowed them to keep 250 marks for eachc child they had. Mothers who had more than 8 children got a gold medal.

Lebensborn-
Unmarried women were chosen to 'donate a baby to the Fuhrer' by becoming pregnant with 'racially pure' men

The New Marriage Law-
All single and married women up to the age of 35 who do not already have 4 children should be obliged to produce 4 children by racially pure German men.

The duty year-
By 1937 German re-armament was well underway and men were joining the army (leaving occuptions). So they decided to abolish the marriage loans and introduced the duty year for all women in the labouring market. This usually meant working on a farm or in a family home in exchange for a bed but not payed. 

January 1943:
When the war started to go badly in 1943 the Nazis tried to mobilise all women except them with young children. 3 million aged 17-45 were called to work, yet only 1 million actually got jobs. Some deliberatley got pregnant others pretended to be ill.

Divorce Law:
In 1938 they changed the divorce law- a divorce was made possible if a husband or wife could not have children. Even when the husband had made the wife infertile by infecting her with venereal disease he was allowed to divorce her.

Establishment of the Women's Bureau. 1934: 
Gertrude Schlotz-klink was made head of the Women's Bureau. She was seen as the ideal German woman, but she never really had any political power. 

What is the master race?
-Blonde hair, blue eyes would prove to be the 'survival of the fittest', superior

Why did Hitler apply these ideas?
The problems- They were people of different class/religion/race/political belief
The answer- To create a national community where people would be pure aryan, physically and mentally fit, socially useful and welcome nazism
To be achieved by- Selective breeding and rounding up the undesireables
The result- The Aryan race would make Germany achieve world power

What defines an ideal German citizen?

Good Nazi
Loyal
Conformist
Physically fit 

1933:
Nov-Boycott of Jewish shops and businesses 
Law Compulsory sterilisation (July specifically for mentally ill)

1935:
-Law for protection of genetic health of the German people. Scientific attempts to determine suitability to have children-Reich citizenship
-Law for the protection of german blood and german honour
(NUREMBERG RALLIES)

1936:
Berlin Olympics-helped economy and foreign relations

1938:
March- Anschluss (union with Austria)
9/10 Nov- Kristallnacht

1939:
Jan- Reich central office for Jewish emmigration(forced emmigration)
Oct- Euthanasia Programme

1941:
July-Final solution- A decision was made which required jews to wear the star of David, banned emmigration
Jan- Wannsee conference (meeting without Hitler but Himmler was there) Discussions were made about the methods of how to exterminate the 'undesirables' 

1935- Law
1939- Krist
Segregated and Ghettos
1942- Final
exterminated
1945- destroyed 

1933- Goebells ordered a national boycott of jewish businesses
-propoganda increased
-banned from public places

The Nurember Laws(1935)- Deprived citizenship and marriage between between jews and other Germans
1937-Pressure jews to sell businesses and fire jewish employees

By the end of 1938-
Nazi pressure increased
-expelled from most professions

Event
Rounded and deported 15k Jews- Herschel Grynszpan went to German embassy and shot a german diplomat(died), then he made it out as if all Jews were criminals.
Consequences-
275 synagogues,75 hundred businesses,dozens of communial places, 100 jews killed, suicides, deaths in concentration camps. 

Segragation-
All jews to wear the star of david, in poland 1939 but then Germany from 1941
All jews forced to live in ghettos-horrible conditions

Persecution-
Liquidation( breakdown and killed either there and then or in concentration camps ) of their ghettos in 1943.

Extermination-
Surviving jews would be sent to concentration camps, many were starved or worked to death 

Communists and socialists:
-Thrown into concentration camps early in 1934
-Refused to work together therefore they were an easy target for thhe Gestapo

Catholic Church:
-Hitler had antisipated opposition from the catholic church
-Signed a concordant with the pope to leave them in peace, if they stayed out of his politics
-Individuals resisted him- dealt with harshly eg) one church was destroyed by the ** because Cardinal Innitzer gave an anti-nazi sermon his church

Protests:
- Clergys were sent to concentration camps including the famous pastors Niemoller + Dietrich Bon Hoeffer (opponents). Bon Hoeffer organised resistance to Hitler- In 1942 he dared to ask what the terms the allies would give hitler if he was out of power. 

Cardinal Galen:
-Revealed that Nazis were secretly killing mentally and physically ill people, no action was made against him but 3 priests were executed for distributing copies of Galens Sermons to soldiers. 

-March 1936- Hitler took his first really big risk by moving his troops into the Rhineland
-France had just signed a treaty with USSR to protect eachother if attacked and hitler used this as a threat> therefore he should be allowed the Rhineland back
-Despite the rearmament programme, Germany's army was no match for the french
-The attention of the LoN was on the Abyssinian Crisis 

-Insisted on new elections, he was determined to win the absolute majority, and now he could use all the powers of the states against his opponents
-On 4th Feb he got Hindenberg to pass a decree supposedly to ensure free and peaceful elections
- The decree gave the police the authority to prohibit any election meeting where a danger to public security was feared.
-On 17th Feb Goering told his police force that the meetings of the communists must be dealt with all security. On the 22nd he then appointed members of the Nazis free reign as the official police force. 
- They disrupted meetings and beat up opponents
-On 27 feb, the Reichstag building was set on fire (Vander lubbe was arrested for) Hitler used this as evidence that the communists were plotting against him.
-The next day Hitler persuaded Hindenberg to suspend all articles in the constituation which guarenteed freedom of speech,liberty,press 

-When Hitler came to power in 1933 he chose not to provoke a conflict with churches until he was sure he could win
-In june 1933 the catholic church signed a concordant(agreement) with Hitler. Hitler promised the Catholics that they could carry on with their religious work  if they stayed out of his youth groups etc...
-Hitler united with all the protestant churches together into one Reich church under a pro-nazi Reich Bishop, Muller. 

Business:
Businesses closed, if they did manage to stay afloat their income would fall- some people couldnt even afford essentials. To make things worse the government raised taxes to pay for looking after the increasing number of poor people.

Young People:
In 1933 over half of all Germans between the ages of 16 and 30 were unemployed. 60% of new university graduates could not get a job

Farmers:
Prices have been falling since 1925-debt

Factory Workers:
40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932-at the same time the government cut unemployment benefits to save money. 

Business:
Businesses closed, if they did manage to stay afloat their income would fall- some people couldnt even afford essentials. To make things worse the government raised taxes to pay for looking after the increasing number of poor people.

Young People:
In 1933 over half of all Germans between the ages of 16 and 30 were unemployed. 60% of new university graduates could not get a job

Farmers:
Prices have been falling since 1925-debt

Factory Workers:
40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932-at the same time the government cut unemployment benefits to save money. 

Failure of the league of nations
Manchurian Crisis(1931-1933)
Disarmament Conference (1932-1934)
Abyssinian Crisis(1932,1934)
CONCLUSION- The LON was seen as weak and powerless as no quick and effective desicions were made.
The Nazi Soviet Pact-Hitler had openly stated his interest in conquering Russian Land
-Hitler imprisoned and killed communists
-Stalin could not reach any kind of agreement with B and F
-LoN was seen as powerless when Mussolini invaded Abyssinnia 

Peace Treaties- Germany resented the treaty and it caused threat, army hated it the most-hated restrictions, army reduced,unfair etc..

1933:-Took Germany out of the LON
- Began rearming Germany

1934:-Tried to take over Austria but was stopped by Mussolini

1935:-Held massive reaarmament rallie in germany

1936:-Reintroduced conscription in Germany
-German troops sent to Rhineland
-Made an anti-communist alliance with japan

1937:-Tried out Germanys new weapons (Spanish Civil war)
-Made an anti-communist alliance with japan

1938:-Took over austria
-Took over Sudetenland(Czech..)

1939:-Invade the rest of Czech
-Invade Poland 

Problems:
-allowed Germany to be too strong
-Scared the USSR
-encouraged Hitler to be aggressive
-too much trust in Hitler
England was worried that if they didnt give hitler what he wanted he would declare war
Positives:
Hitler stood up to communism,not repeating the horrors of great war,Britain not ready for another war, Economic problems 
 Reasons:
-Communism was biggest threat
-Not ready for war 
-Economic depression
-Spanish Civil War 

In 1935, Mussolini (italian fascists) invaded Abyssinia
-In 1896 itlay had tried to invade but failed miserably- he wanted revenge for this humiliating defeat + that the fertile land would really benefit Itlay
-In 1934 there was a dispute between the italians and the Abyssinians-Wal-Wal oasis was Italian territory=pology and began preparing an army. Haile Selassie appealed to the league 

 Phase 1) In 1935 the British &French signed an agreement with Mussolini, known as the Stresa Pact(formal protest at german rearmament and a commitment to stand up against German aggression).
By the Summer there was public out-cry against Italy's behavior and Mussolini rejected having some land from Abysinnia (he knew people were scared of him)
Phase2) (1935-1936) Mussolini's army was ready-he launched a full-scale invasion of Abysinnia, the abysinnians were no match. The league banned the scale of arms to Italy but not to Abysinnia. The Suez canal was not blocked to Italy (at the same time negotiations between Italy, British and French were going on). The French offered italy 2/3 of Abysinnia in exchange for calling off the invasion (Hoare-level Pact)
Mussolini obtains Abysinnia: 7th March 1936, Hitler marched his troops into Rhineland and in 1936 Muss and Hitler made an agreement (Co-op) Rome-Berlin Axis

Tof Portsmouth granted Japan the lease of the south Manchurian Railway.
-On 18th Sept: explosion of the railway(not significant) but Japanese blamed Chinese= an aexcuse to invade china. Japan had PuYi as their emperor.
Why did they begin to expand overseas?
-Could not buy needed raw goods (depression)
-Not enough land to feed everyone
- people who wanted to emmigrate to the USA couldn't.
Then...
China appealed to the judgement of that organisation>appointed Lord Lytton to lead a commission to investigate the situation. His report was balanced but concluded that Manchuko was illegitimate
In Feb 1933 Japan resigned from the league and they invaded Jehol leading to a major assault on china (beginning of the total war between 2 countries)
 Sir John Simon= British Foriegn Secretary

MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AS A PEACE KEEPING FORCE.

- Relatively peaceful 1920s
-1930's cracks begin to appear
why? 
(1)Wall street crash (1929)> economic chaos worldwide + every man for himself (country)
(2) Manchuria
(3) Abysinnia                                                        ( Worldwide dictatorships +expansion of empire)
(4)German Foreign Policy                                     
(5) Bilateral agreements
(6) Policy of Appeasements
 1+2+3+4+5+6= WW2

Between 1924 and 1929 Germany and other major powers had steadily been improving (Stresemann)- economic depression caused chaos and Hitler took advantage.
-He immediatley took Germany out of the LON
-Saw TOV as a major problem so he promised he would reverse it (remilitirastion)
-In long run he planned to expand into Eastern Europe (Lebensraum)
-every time he took over more terrority he assured them no further demands
-Some Historians argue that he planned war from the beginning, others believe he was an opportunist who tried things out.
-He was helped with his aims by Mussolini  ( he was suspicious of Hitler until they helped eachother-Abysinnia) 
Hitler's challenge (TOV) 1933-1938) 
The saar 1935- Industrial area was taken- a plebiscite(vote) was made on whether it should be returned to Germany- 90% yes.
German recoccuption of Rhineland: Risk because= germany's army wasnt strong enough + breach of TOV but in 1936 France was occupied and Britain didnt want to provoke Germany. French were unwilling to act without Britain.
This success convinced Hitler he was good + beginning of the policy of appeasement (giving someone something in the hope that they wont as for more) 

Development of a pan German empire
-stirred up trouble
-Schushnigg(Plebiscite)- No support from B+F
-Hitlers response= sent his troops in to pressure Austria
-Triump for Hitler?- Showed people wanted to support union
-Significance= greatly increased Germany's prestige and prepared for Hitler's takeover of the Sudetenland. 
Takeover of Austria (1938):
-pressured Schushnigg= he ordered a plebiscite (austrians with germans?)(political union)
-Seyys became chancellor=Germans moved into Vienna.
- Appeasement had allowed Hitlers aggresive diplomacy to triump 

Encouraged by his successes Hitler set his eyes on Czechoclovakia
-Hitler ordered Henlein to stir up trouble
-Germany produced allegations of crimes apparently committed by Czechs against Sudeten Germans
-Hitler threatend war
-Chamberlain(BPM) believed that peaceful solution could be found (tried to persuade the Czech president Benes to accept self-government  and he agreed but Hitler produced new demands)
-22nd Sept:Meeting at Godesberg- Benes refused to accept the Germans demands. On 29th Chamberlain tried to create peace again.
-The czechs were forced to give the sudetenland up- G+B agreed not to go to war(MA)
-B+F increased remarmament
Czech 1939:
-Hitler invaded what was left
End of appeasement:
-Hitler's promises=worthless
-war was on its way 

The Pact of steel 1939:
-Hitler forced Lithuanians to hand over Memel and a portion of land along the SW border>
-General Francos nationalist forces took power in spain
IN MAY HITLER AND MUSSOLINI SIGNED POFS-PROMISED TO ACT SIDE BY SIDE

Poland 1939:
-Poland was Hitler's next target
-Following Czech success, Hitler demanded the return of Danzig and the polish corridor
-F+B gave guarantees of support against german aggression to the polish,greek and romanian governments
-increased arms production

Nazi Soviet Pact 1939:Removed threats
-German Foreign minister Ribbentrop and soviet foreign minister Molotov signed the NSP
-soviets and germans agreed not to fight eachother
-Hitler gave Stalin a free hand to occupy part of Romania, states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania

The outbreak of war, 1939
-Soon after the signing of the Nazi soviet pact, Hitler decided to invade Poland.
What gave him the confidence?
-Nazi Soviet pact allowed him to deal with the polish problem
-B+F guarantees support for Poland
-policy of appeasement had given him the impression that the B+F governments would agree to most things incase of war
-Poland was far too far away for B+F to help
-On 1st Sept: Germany invaded Poland= B+F declared war. 

CAPITALISM                                      COMMUNISM

American society was based on 2 key ideas- democracy and capitalism
Soviet society was based on communist ideas (1 party state)- elections but only elect comm 

Americans= rights + freedoms of individuals were more important than everyone being equal
State kept close control over press,radio,film and art> as hostile as religion 

Capitalism meant that property + busines were owned by private individuals/companies
Industry was organised/run by the state> unemp was rare but L standard of living 

Personalities:
>Disagreement over germany:
-Stalin= cripple Germany
-Truman didn't want to repeat TofV

>Disagreement over reparations:
-20mil russians had died at war+ soviet union was devastated ( $10bill compensation)
- Truman didn't want that to happen again because didn't want to repeat TofV

>Disagreement over soviet policy in Eastern E:
 -Stalin- won agreement from allies that he could set up pro-soviet government in East E(saw this as an easy way of protecting the USSR)
-Truman saw it as evidence that Stalin wanted to build up a soviet empire in Europe.

Actions by the USA:
>Truman replaced Roosevelt-much more anticommunism- very suspicious of Stalin
>Truman saw soviet actions in eastern Europe as preparations for a soviet takeover of the rest of Europe
>Americans had developed ans successfully tested a new weapon of awesome power (affecting future relations between superpowers)

Actions by USSR:
>Soviet troops- liberated country after country in Eastern E and didn't withdraw his troops
>Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland (ignoring the wishes of the majority of poles) Britain +USA protested but Stalin defended himself 

Damaged caused by the second world war:
> millions of lives were lost on all sides
-USSR lost millions of citizens and Stalin was determined to make USSR secure in the future

The rise of the superpowers:
>USA and USSR were in a league of their own (military strength and resources)

Conflicting ideologies: Communism and capitalism
> During the war USSR (com) and USA (capi) had united to defeat facism
> Com and capi were very different economic systems, strrongly opposed
> differences of opinion emergered
 

Political changes in Europe: occupation, resistance and liberation:
> In Europe most countries had been occupied by German army 
>Defeating the germans had been the main aim of all the resistance movements
>outside powers might get involved to support either the communists or non--comm
> By 1947= this was the cause of great tension between the superpowers

The allied conferences at Yalta and Potsdam:
>By early 1945 it was clear that Germany would be defeated- everyone concentrated on the problems peace would bring
-What to do with germany and its leaders
-What was to happen to the occupied countries after they had been liberated
- How to bring the war with japa to a speedy end
-Create and maintain peace

The Yalta conference (1945):
> Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin got together
-Germany would be divided into 4 zones ( run by USA, France,Britain and the USSR)
-Berlin would be divided into 4 zones and the countries of eastern e= hold free elections
-USSR would join in the war against  Japan in return for territory in Manchuria and Sakhalin

Potsdam Conference (1945):
>In 1945 Roosevelt died> Harry Truman + Churchill was replaced by Clement Attlee
> NEW LEADERS DID NOT GET ON AS WELL 
-Nazi party was to be banned and leaders to be tried as war criminals
- The oder-Neisse (two rivers) line was to form part of the border between Pol+Germ

Tensions at Potsdam:
1) Britain and USA denied Stalin a naval base in the med
-no need
-Stalin saw this as evidence that his allies mistrusted him

2)Stalin wanted more reparations from Germany that Brit and USA
-USA + Brit did not wish to cripple Germany
-Stalin was suspicious about why his allies wanted to help Germany

3)Stalin had set up a communist government in Poland

The differences between the superpowers:

1) THE USA
> Democratic system of government( president and congress chosen by free dem elect)
>Capitalist economy
>Usa was the world's wealthiest country but some were very rich, others very poor

IN 1920s and 1930s, USA has a policy of isolationism (staying out of world affairs) but now they began to step in

2) The USSR:

>communist
>People could only vote for members of the commuinist party
> Everyone was closely controlled
>Individuals were seen as less important than a good society on the whole
>USSR has a planned economy
> General standard of living was much lower that USA- but unemployment was rare and extremes didn't exist
>USSR had been attacked various times so Stalin thought they could only be safe if everything was communist

USSR's Policy on eastern Europe:

> The soviet Red Army had advanced through large areas of Eastern Europe whilst driving back the Germans
Creating Satellites:
By 1948, all Eastern European states had communist governments
Tito (Yugoclavia) refused to submit to Stalin's control
>Europe was now divided- East and West, In 1946, churchill called this division the 'Iron curtain'
> Stalin created the comniform and later comecon ( a trading alliance of communist countries-) to help him keep a tight grip on his neighbors 

American Policy on Eastern Europe:

Greece:
> Greece appeared to be the next target for communist
>Greek resistance against the Germans has been divided- the royalists (who wanted the return of the king), After the war , the royalusts restored the king but were attacked from communist forces so they seeked help from USA

Truman Doctrine, 1947
> Events in Greece convinced Truman that unless he acted, Communism would continue to spread
'I believe it must be the policy of the USA to support all free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure'
>USA would not return to isolationism
>Aim was to contain Communism
> It was clear the 'Cold War' had started ( 2 sides believe in completely different political ideas) 

Marshall Aid, 1947

> Truman believed that poverty and hardship provided a breeding ground for communism so he wanted to make Europe prosperous again
>George Marshall came up witht the European recovery programme (MARSHALL PLAN)
- Stop the spread of communism
-To help the economies of Europe to recover
It also caused tensions as only 16 countries accepted it, Stalin refused it for the USSR and banned Eastern Europe countries from accepting it 

The Communist take over in Czechoclovakia, 1948
> Czech ended up being fully controlled by communism

The Berlin blockade and airlift, 1948-49
> At the end of the war, the allies divided Germany and Berlin into zones. Germany's economy and govern had been shattered
-Brit and USA wanted Germ to recover
-French didn' know whether to help or leave them
-USSR did not want to help Germ and Stalin was suspicious as to why they did

French and American and British zones merged to become west Germany
>Stalin thought they were doing it to attack him and when they introduced the Deutsche mark it was the last straw
>Stalin tried to blockade Berlin ( he closed all road and rail connections from Berlin to West Germ)
USA + Brit could withdraw or they could lift supplies into west Berlin by air= SUCCESS

STALIN TIGHTENS CONTROL: IMPACT OF USSR

 East G- run by the USSR under red army control until the creation of GDR in 1949
Poland- Comm joined a coalition govern + became leaders( forced non com leader out)
Hungary- Comm largest single party, imprisoned opposition politicians
Romania-Communist was elected prime minister within a left wing coalition (com abolished monarchy)
Bulgaria- Left wing won elections in 1945, com members then executed leaders
Albania- Comm gained power imm after war- little opposition
Yugoclavia- Tito had led wartime resis to Nazis- determined to apply communism in his own way and was expelled from the comniform
Czech-Left wing won elections in 1945 - became largest single party and when they were threatened they banned other parties

Greece: Britian and USA banned the royalist side in a civil war which defeated the communist opposition 

Comniform,1947
> Stalin set up the comniform- an alliance of communist countries (response to the Marshall Plan) To spread communist ideas.

Comecon, 1949
>Co-ordinate the production and trade of the Eastern European countries

NATO,1949
> Military alliance contained most of the states in Western E as well as USA and Canada 
>Defend each of its members
>When USSR made an atomic bomb it was very important

The Warsaw Pact, 1955
>West Germany joined NATO and the USSR version of this was the Warsaw pact

The beginning of the arms race:
>Development of Satellites- Nuclear bombs no longer have to be dropped from long-range aircraft but could be laaunched out
>'The Space Race' had begun
> Both then developed underground bases
> Both superpowers were developing weapons as a nuclear deterrent- to discourage eachother from attacking
> Soon they had enough to destroy the whole world

Krushchev and the Policy of peaceful coexistence:
Nikita: Stalin died in 1953- less aggresive leader- and talked of 'peaceful coexistance' with the west

Peaceful Coexistence:
> Kruschchev seemed to be encouraging greater freedom within USSR