05/08/2024

International Relations

Historical Context:
IR from 1900 to1945
Fall Semester
By Ta Thi Oanh, MA.

Learning objectives
After this session, you are expected to have a deeper understanding on:

I/ World War I: origins and consequences

II/ World War II: origins and consequences

III/ The end of World War II and its impacts

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I/ World War I
(1914-1918)

World War I
1. Europe (the world) before WWI

2. The origins of WWI

3. Outcome of WWI

4. Era after WWI (main post-WWI problems)

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1. Before World War I - context

(10 years before WWI- A decade of peace and prosperity)

v The unification of Germany in 1871 and its emergence

in the early 20th century

vThe shifting global power (especially in Europe)

v The establishment of a system of alliances

Systems of alliances before the war

è Balance against each other

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By 1907, two rival camps existed in Europe

2. The origins of World War I

v Imperialism
v The “German problem”
v The “Eastern question”
v Nationalism

è WAR WAS IMMINENT & INEVITABLE

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A catalyst to the war

The assassination of Austrian-
Hungarian Archduke Franz
Ferdinand by Serbian “Black Hand”
(1914)
Amid the tensed relations between
Serbia and Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia

Russia supported Serbia

à The system of alliances that had been constructed over the previous
decade led to a wider war
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World War I
broke out…
Triple Alliance/ Triple Entente/
The Central Power The Allies

1915 1917 1917

Turkey + Bulgaria Serbia, Belgium, Luxemburg, Japan, Rumania, Greece
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3. Outcome

v Developments of WWI: please read

the textbooks

vOutcome: The Triple Entente won

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4. After the first world war

$U
War trophyt hs wa SD 8 Russia
ea d re 5b
n xpe illi
illio ns e ons
1 0m s of
Settling post-war
problems
World War I
Fa c red
ilitie ju
s d in
estr
War prevention
oy e Losers
ion
s
d mill
2 0

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Post-World War I era

v The Paris Peace Conference –the Treaty
of Versailles (1919)

v The Dawes and Young Plan (1924 & 1929)

v The Great Depression (1929-33)

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The Paris Peace Conference

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The Treaty of Versailles 1919

o Germany was forced to pay war reparations up to

$US 33 billion
o Germany surrendered 10% of its territory and all of
its overseas possessions
o Germany was limited its war capability
o The Covenant of the League of Nations
o…
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The Dawes Plan (1924)

Ø US V-P Charles Dawes proposed
massive private loans from US banks
to rebuild German economy.

Charles Dawes

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The Young Plan

(1929)

è The Dawes and Young Plans

(~ $US10 billion) were significant instances of U.S.
reengagement with European
affairs

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The rise of Hitler

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Germany’s
national interests

Lebensraum
(German “living space”)

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Policies of the powers towards Germany

• France: domestic political instability.

• The US: isolationism – retreated to America

• The UK: Policy of Appeasement. MacDonald Plan in

1933 (regarding disarmament & German equality of troops -
200.000 troops) è The Versailles Treaty failed???

• Soviet Union: Five-Year Plans and internal purge.

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II/ World War II

(1939-1945)

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World War II

[Link] causes of WWII

2. International relations during WWII

[Link]

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1. Causes of WWII
The origins of WWII have been a subject of even greater historical
controversy than that of WWI
The Anti-Comintern Pact

vDirect causes The Munich Agreement

The responses of Soviet Union

The WWI peace settlement

v Underlying causes The global economic crisis

The rise of fascism in Germany, Italy, Japan

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ent
em
gre
i chA
M un World War II
The
in t ern broke out
C om
A nti -
T h e
a ct
P Germany attacked Poland 01 Sept 1939

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Underlying causes of WWII

Unfair Treaty of Versailles

The rise of fascism

The Great Depression

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Sum up: the origins of WWII

• Versailles-Washington system: imminent threats

• The Great Depression 1929-33: an event for the significant change

• A. Hitler: a turning point of the history

• UK-France attitude: “nourish a snake in their bosom”

• America isolationism: “Add insult to injury”

• The policy of Russia: “So much to do, so little done”

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3. The participation of the Soviet Union

and the United States
v Operation Barbarossa (June 1941)
Nazi Germany violated the
Non-Aggression Pact (1939)

The Soviet Union was

attacked by Nazi troops

The soviet joined the

Allies

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The Pearl Harbour Attack (Dec1941)

o Pearl Harbour Attack by

Japan (Dec 7, 1941)
o US Congress declared war
on Japan (Dec 8, 1941)
o Germany and Italy
declared war on the US
(Dec 11, 1941)

è The US joined the

World War II in the Asia-Pacific
Allies
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4. Main developments of WWII

Please read the coursebook!

- The issues of opening the second front

- The Normandy Landing

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5. Outcomes of WWII

vYalta conference
vSan Francisco conference
vPotsdam conference

vBombing Japan

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The Yalta Conference (Feb 1945)

vVictory over Germany was
close
vGermany must be disarmed
and demilitarised by being
divided into zones of political
influence
vGermany would be divided into
4 zones
vThe three Allied powers
planned for the establishment
of the United Nations

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The Potsdam Conference (Jul-

vGermany’s fate Aug 1945)
v Post-war reparation? Should or
shouldn’t
v Dividing Germany into 4 zones
v German people in Poland,
Czechoslovakia
vJapan’s surrender
v the Potsdam Declaration
vunconditional surrender
v China as a victor

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• The US successfully tested atomic bomb

• The US used it to force Japan to surrender unconditionally
• Two atomic bombs were dropped into Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6-9
August 1945
• Japan finally surrendered

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III/ The end of WWII

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The United Nations was created

vThe UN replaced the League of
Nations
vGoals: to promote peace,
cooperation, security, economic
development, social progress,
human rights, international laws
(the UN Charter)
vUN Security Council: the main
body to maintain international
peace and security

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Look back on everything…

US

Depression
WW I Paris Con W. Con
29-33

END OF WWII
Hitler

Mutxolini
Potsdam Yalta Con WW II UK-Fr

Hirohito
USSR
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