Ying Wa College

S.3 History
The Second World War
(Part II-IV)

Name: ____________________
Class: __________ No.: ______

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Part II: Diplomacy in the Interwar Period
1. Definition of collective security
 All nations would protect one another against a common aggressor.
2. Attempts at collective security: the League of Nations and disarmament conferences

A. Peace Keeping Organization – The League of Nations

 Proposed by the USA President, Wilson.

 It was set up in 1919.

 Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland.

Was the League of Nations able to keep world peace? Study the Sources and answer the following
questions.

SOURCE A: Membership of the League of Nations by the great powers

Country Period
Britain 1919-1939
France 1919-1939
Italy 1919-1937
Japan 1919-1933
Germany 1926-1933
USSR 1934-1939
USA Never Joined

1. With reference to Source A, what was the weakness of the League of Nations?
 The USA did not join the League of Nations because of the policy of isolation.
 Germany, the USSR, Italy and Japan only joined a short period of time.
 The League of Nations was not supported by the major powers .

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SOURCE B: Aims and setting of the League of Nations

Aims - Keep world peace

- Improve living & working conditions for all people

Decision - Unanimous vote was necessary for important decisions

making - Permanent member(Britain, France, Italy, Japan) had veto power to stop action
of the League

Sanction - Moral condemnation: condemn the actions of an offending country

- Economic sanctions: tell other countries not to trade with the offending
country
- Military force: the League could use the military force of members countries
(the League had no military force of its own)

2. With reference to Source B, state what was the weakness of the League of Nations?
 Unanimous vote was required. Therefore, it was difficult to make decision as one member
state could veto a decision.
 No armed force to stop aggressors.

SOURCE C: The following cartoon was published in 1920.

“My offensive equipment

being practically nil, it
remains for me to
fascinate him with the
power of my eyes.”

v
3. What do the rabbit and the snake in the cartoon in Source C represent?
Rabbit represents the League of Nations and the snake represents international strife.

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4. According to Source C, what is the view of the cartoonist towards the prospect of the League of
Nations in maintaining the world peace? Explain your answer with reference to the Source.

The cartoonist viewed that the League of Nations was unable to maintain world peace.

As refer to Source C, the rabbit, representing the League of Nations, was too weak to stop

the aggression of the snake.

5. Do you agree at the view of the cartoonist of Source C? Explain your answer with reference to
your own knowledge.

Yes, I agree with the attitude of the cartoonist. During the interwar years, the League of

Nations was unable to stop aggressions from Germany, Italy and Japan.

B. Disarmament Conferences

1. The great powers held numbers of conference in the inter-war years to discuss the
disarmaments issues.
2. Attempts at disarmament

Conferences Participants Contents

USA, Britain, - Limited the construction of capital ships
Washington
Japan, France, - Limited the tonnage of aircraft carriers
Conference
Italy
Britain, Japan, - Limited the ratio of cruisers between Br.,
USA Japan & USA
London Conference - Allowed signatories to increase their no. of
battleships if one of them did not observe the
agreed limits
Geneva Conference 61 countries - Aimed at disarmament in army, navy and
other weapons

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3. Do you think the disarmament conferences were successful in maintaining world peace? Study
the cartoon and answer the following questions.
SOURCE D: The following cartoon was published in the 1930s.

(a) According to Source D, did any countries join the Conference?

No countries joined the Conference except the chairman. According to Source D,

other chairs remained empty.
(b) Do you think disarmament conferences were successful in maintain world peace? Explain
your answer with reference to Source D and your own knowledge.

No. I don’t think so.

According to Source D, no powers were attending the disarmament conference. It

means the disarmament conferences were not supported by the great powers. From

my own knowledge, the aggressors such as Germany, Italy and Japan refused to reduce

their army size during the disarmament conferences. It means that disarmament

conferences could not make any agreement on disarmament.

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C. Appeasement Policy

1. Nazi Aggression in Europe in the 1930s

Study the map on the left. If you were the leaders
of Britain and France, what could you conclude
from the map?

Write down your conclusion in the box.

Nazi Germany became more aggressive.

Nazi Germany occupied the territories lost in the
Treaty of Versailles.
Nazi Germany became a threat to peace in Europe.

SOURCE E: The following cartoon was published in the 1930s, shortly before the outbreak of the
Second World War.

Deutschland über Alles:

Germany above all

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 (a) Who did the Santa represent in Source E?
He represented Hitler

(b) What did the babies represent?

The babies represented the countries in Eastern Europe.

(c) What was the Santa doing in the cartoon?

He was taking the babies to his gift bag one by one.

(d) With reference to your own knowledge, explain why the Santa took such action as depicted in
the cartoon.
Since there was a power vacuum in the Central and Eastern Europe after

the First World War due to the creation of new nation-state, the Germans

could expand into these areas.

2. Reasons for adopting appeasement

(a) War-weariness: Britain and France did not want to have another war.
(b) Britain and France believed that Hitler could be pacified by having his limited wants
satisfied.
(c) Germany’s aggressions were mainly on Eastern Europe, it did not threaten the national
security of Britain and France.

3. The Munich Conference (1938)

(a) Background:
 In 1938, Hitler occupied Sudetenland,
the German-speaking area of
Czechoslovakia.
 It was Hitler’s fourth step of aggression.
(b) Britain and France was alarmed by Hitler’s
aggression and a conference was immediately arranged.

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 (c) The Conference
 It was a conference participated by Russia, Britain, France and Italy in Munich where
they discussed Germany’s aggression in Czechoslovakia.
 Hitler promised it would be the last territorial expansion.
 Yet Hitler was warned that Poland would be protected.

(d) Results and Significance

 To Chamberlain, he believed that it was a victory to Britain and war was prevented.
 ‘Peace for Our Time’ was spoken when Chamberlain returned to Britain.

Mussolini, Hitler, and Chamberlain at the Munich

Conference, Germany, 29 Sep 1938; the man between
Hitler and Chamberlain was Hitler's interpreter Paul
Otto Gustav Schmidt

Discussion: Do you think there was ‘Peace’ in Europe after the Munich Conference?

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D. Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (1939)

1. In the 1930s, the Soviet Union tried to cooperate with Britain and
France in order to check Nazi Germany, but the two countries
refused to cooperate with Soviet Union because of their suspicion
A video
towards Stalin/ Communism.
introducing the
2. In order to maintain her national security, the USSR concluded the Nazi-Soviet Non-
Aggression Pact,
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939. By this treaty, with footages of
the time.
both powers
a. Promised not to invade each other within 10 years.
b. Agreed to divide Poland and the Baltic states between them.

3. Study Source F and answer the following questions.

(a) How would you describe the relationship between Germany and Soviet Union shown in
Source F? Explain your answer with reference to the Source.

They were in a very close relation because Stalin and Hitler were dressed as bride and groom.

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 (b) What was the cartoonist’s view towards the relationship? Explain your answer with
reference to the Source.

The cartoonist questioned if their close relationship would turn bad quickly.

In the caption of the cartoon, the cartoonist asked “Wonder how long the honeymoon

will last?”

(c) In what ways did the relationship lead to the outbreak of the Second World War? Explain
your answer with reference to your own knowledge.
The prediction was correct. The cartoonist probably think that their relations would

not last long. To my own knowledge, Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941.

Part III: Course of the Second World War

A. The beginning of the Second World War

1. Germany, Italy and Japan formed the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis in 1937. They became the Axis
Powers.
2. Nazi Germany was very strong under the leadership of Hitler.
3. In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
4. Britain and France dropped the appeasement policy and declared war on Germany.
5. The Second World War finally started.

B. Early Triumph of the Axis Powers

1. Concentration Camps and Holocaust

 Anti-Jewish is one of the features of Nazism.

 Nazi Germany set up concentration camps in different places in Europe. The Jews lived in
ghettos in different European cities were rounded up and sent to the camps by railway. The
camp at Auschwitz was the best known one.

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 The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” (German phrase meaning “Work sets you free”) was placed at the
entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. The slogan's use was implemented by SS officer
Theodor Eicke at Dachau concentration camp and then copied by Rudolf Höss at Auschwitz.

In fact, not everyone notices that letter “b” in “arbeit” is actually upside-down at the entrance of the
Auschwitz Concentration Camp! There is no clear explanation why is it like this. Many people interpret
this as a sign of prisoners’ resistance. Others say it was just a coincidence.

 Nazi Germany adopted holocaust during WWII, which referred to a programme of racial
extermination of the Jews.
Compare the body figure of the Jews before and after going to the concentration camps:

The Jews became very thin as they suffered from malnutrition. They were not
provided enough food in the concentration camps.

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 2. German invasion of France and Britain (1939-1940)

 Hitler marched to Paris in 1940 and within a year, Nazi

Germany conquered France.
 In 1940, Nazi Germany bombarded Britain. Churchill War Rooms in Central
 In short, Nazi Germany occupied European continent London. As London was bombed
by the Germans, Churchill decided
and seriously attacked Britain by 1941. to move his office to underground.

3. German invasion of the USSR (1941)

Source K

“We have only to kick in the door,” Hitler said, “and the whole rotten structure will come
crashing down.”

According to Source K, what was the view of Hitler towards a war with USSR? Did his
expectation come true in the Second World War? Explain your answer with your own
knowledge.

Hitler thought that the war with USSR would be an easy victory as Hitler said “we have only

need to kick in the door.” However, his expectation did not come true as the Soviet Union

put up strong defence against the German attack after 1941.

4. Battle in Asia and America

By 1941, Japan had occupied a lot of territories in Asia and the Pacific.

a. The Pearl Harbour Incident (1941) Pearl

Harbour
 In the morning of 7 December 1941, without prior warning, Japan attacked
the Pearl Harbour, a major military base of the USA.
 The Japanese government sent the air force to attack Pearl Harbour.
 The USA was very angry about the sudden attack from Japan, she then dropped __
isolation policy and joined the WWII.
 The Pacific War broke out.

b. Japanese occupation in Hong Kong (1941-45)

 In December 1941, Japanese army invaded Hong Kong.
 The British government failed to fight against the Japanese and Hong Kong was under the
control of Japan since the late 1941.

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 5. Study Source A and answer the following question.
Source A shows the conquest of Germany in Europe and the conquest of Japan in the Asian-
Pacific Region in December 1941.

Planned route of
Japanese
military advance

Planned route of
German military
advance

How would you describe the situation of the first half of the Second World War?

Germany and Italy conquered a lot of land in central Europe and North Africa.

Japan conquered a lot of land in Asian-Pacific region.

Germany and Japan had the ambition to conquer the world and divided between them.

The two countries would continue their military advance and would meet in India.

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C. The downfall of the Axis Powers
1. Turning point of the Second World War
 The year of 1942 is the turning point of the Second World Battle of
Stalingrad (23
War. August 1942 – 2
February 1943)
 In 1942, the USSR launched a counter-attack on the was the largest
Eastern Front. confrontation of World War II. It
remains the largest (nearly 2.2
 In 1942, the USA joined the Allied Powers after the Pearl million personnel) and bloodiest
(1.8–2 million killed, wounded or
Harbour Incident. captured) battle in the history of
warfare.

2. Surrender of Italy and Germany

 In 1943, Italy surrendered and signed the armistice with the Allied Powers.
 In June 1944, the Allied Powers landed at Normandy (North France). France
D-Day:
was liberated after the Normandy landings and it was called the D-Day. Landing at
 In 1945, the Allied Powers captured Berlin, it paved the way for the downfall Normandy

of Nazi Germany. Before the coming of the Allied Powers, Hitler killed
himself.

The suicidal attack of Kamikaze Arrchive footage of Hiroshima Japanese TV programme on atomic
after 1944 led to American decision bombing by Telegraph.co.uk bombs
to use atomic bomb

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3. Surrender of Japan (August 1945)

 In February, the USA defeated Japan again at

Iwojima in February 1945.
 The occupation of Okinawa facilitated further
bombings of the mainland of Japan.
 The military government of Japan refused to
surrender and organised the Kamikaze units
in October 1944 to launch suicidal attacks.
The attack became frequent in the summer of
1945 and caused serious damages of the US naval fleet.
 In order to defeat Japan quickly, the US
decided to drop atomic bombs on Japan.
 On 6 & 9 August 1945, the US dropped atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
respectively.
 The US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan
and ended the Second World War.

Part IV: Result and Impact of the Second World War

A. Result of the Second World War

 Britain, USA and USSR were the three significant victorious countries in the Second World
War.
 They learnt from the mistakes of the Paris Peace Conference, they decided to occupy the
defeated countries to make sure democratic governments were set up smoothly.

Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were discussing post-

war settlement in the Yalta Conference in 1945.

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Italy - Italy surrendered in September 1943.
- Italy had to disarm, decolonise, pay reparation and cede land as compensation.

Germany - Germany surrendered in May 1945.

- Germany was divided into four zones, each put under the rule of Britain,
France, the U.S. and USSR.

Japan - Japan surrendered in August 1945

after the dropping of two atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
by the United States.
- She was put under American
Occupation until 1952.

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B. Historical significance of the Second World War

Decline of Europe and  The two world wars upset the traditional balance of power
the rise of two
in the world. The European supremacy was first challenged
superpowers
by WWI and then destroyed by WWII. Instead, the USA and
the USSR became the superpowers.

Rise of two  The world was divided into two blocs: the capitalist bloc
superpowers and
beginning of the Cold headed by the USA and the communist bloc headed by the
War USSR. The two blocs were suspicious of each other and the
Cold War began.

Decolonisation  The Second World War had aroused the national feelings of
Political

many colonial people in Asia and Africa. They demanded

independence after the war. For examples: India, Malaya,
Vietnam. The trend of decolonisation began.

Beginning of the  The use of the atomic bomb to end the war started the nuclear
nuclear age
age. Nuclear weapons could bring disastrous effects and posed
a serious threat to people’s life.

Establishment of  After WWII, the powers set up a more effective international

peacekeeping bodies
peacekeeping organization, the United Nations, to replace the
League of Nations.

Great economic loss  The economic losses to most participating countries were huge.
The total cost of WWII was about US$1,000 billion. Therefore,
Economic

many countries faced the problems of the shortage of goods,

inflation and unemployment when the two world wars ended.

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 Heavy casualties  WWII brought heavy deaths and casualties_, about 80 million
people died in battles. This was because of the use of massive
killing weapons, the policy of genocide and massacres or
bombing. The casualties were unprecedented in history.
Social & Cultural

Recognition of racial  For a very long time, the Europeans (the white people) always
equality
thought that they were superior to the Asians (the yellow people)
and the Africans (the black people). They abandoned this belief
gradually after WWII.

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