Aggression and Isolation

Chapter 24.1
 Failure of the League of Nations
• Japan Invades China – The League condemns Japan
– Japan leaves the League
– No action other than condemnation
 Failure of the League of Nations
• Germany rearms in direct and open violation
of the Treaty of Versailles – No action taken
 Failure of the League of Nations
• Germany reoccupies the Rhineland – no
action taken
 Failure of the League of Nations
• Italy invades a sovereign nation (Ethiopia)
– Action Taken
• Ineffective Economic Boycott (Slap on the wrist)

“It is us today, it will be you

tomorrow.” Haile Selassie
 US Responds Cautiously
• Kellogg-Briand Pact
• Americans suspect that US was lured into war
because of greedy bankers and manufacturers
• Poll – 70% believed US should NOT have
entered WWI
 US Responds Cautiously
• Girl scouts changed uniform from khaki to
green to appear ‘less militaristic’
Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy Evolves
• Enters office:
– Recognizes Soviet Union
– Nonintervention in Latin America
– Reciprocal Trade Agreement (reduce tariffs 50%)
Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy Evolves
• Congress passes the Neutrality Acts
– Outlawed loans to nations at war
– No arms sales
– No arms sales to nations during a Civil War
 Neutrality Breaks Down
• Spanish Civil War
– Francisco Franco (Fascist)
– Supported by Hitler and Mussolini
• Use Spain as a testing ground for their armies
– Cost
• 600,000 dead
• $15 billion
 Neutrality Breaks Down
• President Roosevelt refuses to enforce the
Neutrality Acts when Japan invades China in
force
Free Nations must
quarantine Aggressor
nations to prevent the
spread of war!
 Austria Falls to the NAZIs
• Anschluss – union
Austria Falls to the NAZIs
Austria Falls to the NAZIs
 Sudetenland
Sudetenland was given
to Czechoslovakia at
the end of WWI.

3 Million Germans lived

there – Hitler said the
Czech’s were abusing
the Germans.
 Sudetenland - 1938
• The Sudetenland was the most fortified part of Czechoslovakia.
Their defenses were arguably stronger than the Maginot Line in
France.
Maginot Line
Maginot Line
Maginot Line
Maginot Line
The Munich Agreement
 Poland - 1939
• Hitler violated the
Munich Agreement
and made claim to the
Polish port-city of
Danzig.
• Hitler demanded it be
brought into the Reich
or he would take it by
force.
 German/Soviet Agreement
• Nonaggression
Pact signed –
allowed Hitler to
invade Poland
without fear USSR
would get
involved.